Tale of the foxtail and toe

About a month ago Jake had a swollen, weeping toe on his left front foot. Off to the vet he went for surgery to remove a foxtail. Those foxtail can migrate thru the body and be hard to find, but we got lucky and it was found and removed. Jake was a sight in his Elizabethan collar and bandaged foot. Believe it or not, I didn't take a photo as John carried a sleepy-from-surgery Jake into the house that Friday night. Foot was to be soaked in a solution and that went well, as did the meds, and Jake made what seemed to be a full, uneventful recovery. OOOPS! Not so fast, because this past Sunday he didn't seem to be his usual self. Monday morning the same toe on left front foot was swollen and had been licked raw during the night. Back to the vet. At this point we don't know if it is some material that eluded us in surgery or another foxtail or left over infection we didn't notice earlier. Jake is back on antibiotics and back into the collar, which he detests. At least by last night he was acting more normal and had perked up, but then he walked with John and the foot began to bother him again. We're more careful than ever about foxtail and even other tall grasses now. All our years of living with dogs and this is the first foxtail "event." They can be fatal and are definitely painful for the dog, painfully expensive for the owner!

A friend suggested Dog Booties. She uses them for her Boxer. We have to keep Jake's foot open to the air while it heals, but these Dog Booties look like such a good idea for Jake in winter when we have snow and ice. His feet will stay dry and protected from salt and other things people put down to melt the ice!