Swollen toes and broken nails might seem like a routine reason for a trip to the vets, but two dogs recently arrived at the practice with similar symptoms and, after further investigation, ended up with the same uncommon diagnosis.

Most dogs aren’t particularly keen on having their toes touched or their nails handled at the best of times, but this was especially true for Mia and Tilly!

Mia is an eight-year-old German Shepherd. She’s a big, strong dog who really wouldn’t let the vets examine her front right foot when she started limping. Tilly, on the other hand, is a ten-year-old Berger Picard (also known as a Picardy Shepherd), a rare breed who is rather ticklish around her feet and gets easily panicked. When she arrived for an appointment to investigate why she was licking her back right paw, she simply wouldn’t keep still!

The similarities between the two shepherd dogs continued, as both needed sedation so that their toes could be examined more closely. Initially, it was thought they had injured their toes or damaged their nails, but the real problem lay much deeper.

Under sedation, both dogs were found to have swollen toes with no obvious cause. Some discharge was noted around the nail beds, so a nail bed infection was suspected, and both dogs were started on a course of antibiotics.

However, a week later, neither dog had improved as hoped. The next step was to investigate further with X-rays and biopsies of the affected toes.

Tilly’s X-ray showed soft tissue swelling, but the underlying bone appeared undamaged. Mia’s X-ray, however, revealed damage to the small bone at the end of her toe. After a local anaesthetic, tissue samples were taken from both toes using a punch biopsy, and then came the wait for the results.

Remarkably, both results came back with exactly the same diagnosis. Unfortunately, this was not the news anyone had hoped for: the laboratory results suggested a squamous cell carcinoma, a potentially aggressive form of cancer.

The recommended treatment was to surgically remove the affected toes, with the hope that the tumours had not already spread. Fortunately, dogs can adapt remarkably well to life with a missing toe, so both owners opted for surgery. Both operations went ahead successfully.

Thankfully, the wounds healed well, and both dogs recovered as hoped. The following week brought more good news, as Mia and Tilly’s owners learned that the tumours had been completely removed.

Both dogs will need to be monitored closely for any further problems, but for now, their owners can breathe a sigh of relief. What initially looked like a simple toe or nail problem had turned out to be something much more serious, and further investigation made all the difference.