Fractured Femur

[buckwildbirddogs]

Sad Sad news today. Our six month old GSP pup Lexi broke her Femur last night. She jumped out of the back of the truck and landed just right. Managed to twist it some how and break the bone clean through. So...a trip to the ER Vet last night for: splinting, morphine inj, penicillin inj, and another type of pain med inj can't remember the name. She is still there and will be going through surgery tomorrow AM to repair the Fx with an external fixation device.

She will be immobile for 2wks, then able to get up on it and move around. She will have to have the device for at least 6wks.
But the Vet believes she will make a full recovery. Though she may not be able to run this season.

[wems2371]

Very sorry to hear that. I hope everything goes well for Lexi. Best wishes...

[AzDoggin]

Ow - hurts me just to hear about it. Hope she'll be ok. They do heal amazingly quickly, but it has to be hard and confusing for such an active dog. I'll bet the vet keeps her pretty sedated for awhile. Good luck.

[jlp8cornell]

For what it is worth...my 2 cents on dealing with a pup who has had surgery. I went through this last year.

1. Crate your pup. Even while crated mine ripped internal sutures and had to have a 2nd surgery. Not fun.
2. If she is really excitable, ask the vet for sedatives. Acepromazine works wonders. For about 5 weeks it was Ace for Max, beer for me. Stressful time.
3. Find things she can quietly play with. Treat balls are great- feed her meal this way. Takes longer and is interactive. Also, if you feed them, rawhides and marrow bones entertain well. I went through countless bones in Max's lay-up time. Also you can mix things like yogurt, peanut butter and kibble together and freeze in a kong ball/toy.
4. Don't push her. Find out which exercises will help her the best for rehab. Put in the time as you will have this dog for many more years.
5. Start her on a joint supplement now. I use Dasuquin. With a break, she will develop arthritis, it is just a matter when. Research shows these supplements help BEFORE this happens, not after.
6. Go slow slow slow. Down the road, you will be happy you did.

Good luck with her. I know what a frustrating time this can be.

[buckwildbirddogs]

Thanks for the advice. She got out of surgery at approx 1pm today. And if all goes well should be home by tomorrow evening. They ended up having to cut through the muscle to set the bone due to excessive swelling. (They were just going to set it by x-ray and then insert the pins). So they said that her recovery time might be extended due to the unexpected incision. 8-10wks instead of 6-8wks.

She is BEYOND active so that is going to be a problem. But we have a wire crate with multiple access and that can be made smaller/larger depending on progress. She loves her bones and rawhides so we will stock up on those. Right now we are just concerned about her getting around to house break her again. Dont really want her lying in waste. But I will know more tomorrow on how she can get around and what limitations there are.

She was really progressing in the field on wild birds and with her yard work. I really hope this won't set her back too far. I'll post pics as soon as she is home.

[jlp8cornell]

Poor girl. I understand that the muscle/ soft tissue heeling is way more painful then the bone. My older Hound tore her CCL and had TPLO surgery two years ago. They cut the bone and reset it at a different angle. So basically she had a similar recovery as your girl. The first 3 days were very hard and Chloe is a well behaved quiet girl. Lots of ice. The gel packs work nicely with a towel b/t that and her leg. The swelling/redness is pretty bad but will diminish over a few days. Not sure what pain meds they will send her home with. With Chloe they used a Fentanyl patch- yikes! She howled and cried, it was awful. Fentanyl can do weird things. When Max had his stifle (knee) surgery, I just used tramadol and meloxicam.

Hang in there- the first few days are tough but slowly, things will improve. Ask about having some Ace on hand- boy did that help quiet Max down.

[buckwildbirddogs]

wow...picked up Lexi tonight. The vet showed me the x-rays and the femur was not just "broke" but the 2 pieces were at a 90degree angle of each other and completly seperate...ouch

Lexi is doing wonderful though she has 4pins in place with clamps and a rod to set the bone. There is also a 3in incision along the pins. this was to help in placement and to relieve swelling. She is also fixed with a large velcro collar to keep her from chewing/licking. Though it doesn't seem to work all that great.

She is up moving around. And is excited to be home. A little too excited. It is very hard to keep her calm/quiet. She has all the chew toys, bones, kongs, rawhides, etc to choose from. Doesn't seem to interested in any of them. Just wants to be outside with the other dogs.

They sent her home with abx and two days worth of pain pills. Vet said that they like them to be in a little pain that way they stay calmer and are not as willing to do things so soon. We'll see.

[AzDoggin]

Good to have her home, I'm sure.

That vet doesn't know how these guys can play through PAIN

On the chewies, I'd suggest leaving her with one at a time, and rotate them. That way there will be a little bit of novelty - maybe she won't get bored with all of them too soon.

If she's like others I've heard of with pins, that bone will eventually be stronger than the other leg. I'm sure she's going to be fine in the long run.

Your attitude about the whole thing is excellent. When this stuff happens to one of our dogs, I throw a temper tantrum over how much it cost, and make the whole experience worse for everybody. I'm going to refer back to your situation next time and maybe I can handle it a little better

Can you put her crate outside with the other dogs (weather permitting, I guess)? Maybe it would help her feel a little less isolated from her buds... Just a thought. heck, I dunno - might make things worse...make her want to move around. Maybe bring one dog at a time in the house?

[ezzy333]

Good to have her home, I'm sure.

That vet doesn't know how these guys can play through PAIN

On the chewies, I'd suggest leaving her with one at a time, and rotate them. That way there will be a little bit of novelty - maybe she won't get bored with all of them too soon.

If she's like others I've heard of with pins, that bone will eventually be stronger than the other leg. I'm sure she's going to be fine in the long run.

Your attitude about the whole thing is excellent. When this stuff happens to one of our dogs, I throw a temper tantrum over how much it cost, and make the whole experience worse for everybody. I'm going to refer back to your situation next time and maybe I can handle it a little better

Can you put her crate outside with the other dogs (weather permitting, I guess)? Maybe it would help her feel a little less isolated from her buds... Just a thought. heck, I dunno - might make things worse...make her want to move around. Maybe bring one dog at a time in the house?

It would be my opinion that she should be kept isolate from the other dogs as long as possible if you want her to be quiet. Having another dog there that can move around freely would make her fight to get out would be my guess.

JMO

Ezzy

[AzDoggin]

The more I think about, that's prolly true. It's just going to be a tough stretch for a few weeks, but heck, once she's healed, she won't recall a thing about it. It's probably worse on the humans than it is the dog...

[buckwildbirddogs]

Yeah she can hear the other dogs out side and just yearns to be out with them. She caught a glimpse of them and went nuts. We really have to be carefull about which doors we take her out of so that the other dogs are out of eyesight. Sorry to confuse you about the chews. She doesn't have all them at once we do rotate them but she still doesn't really want them.

She is finally eating normally again though. So that is a plus. She was just kinda picking at the food. She HAS to have the radio on at all times. Seems to keep her calmer.

I was worried about the cost at first. But hey, I just kept saying. It's done and broke ain't nothing gonna change that so just fix it. Once we made that decision and gave the vet the OK. Then I told myself. Well it's too late now to change your mind just gotta pay for it.

And then once I seen her for the first time after surgery...It was all worth it.

Total so far: $756.16

[MikeB]

Glad to hear she is doing well at home now. I would have expected a much higher vet bill. Will they charge more when the outside pins need to come out? OR... is everything covered in the original charges.

[AzDoggin]

Glad to hear she is doing well at home now. I would have expected a much higher vet bill. Will they charge more when the outside pins need to come out? OR... is everything covered in the original charges.

Me too (expected higher bill). heck, I just paid about $1100 on a couple of tooth extractions and a cleaning, and removal of a skin growth on one of ours.

Down here, add one digit to what you paid, and you'd be in the ballpark.

Glad to hear she's eating again.

[jlp8cornell]

$750....wow. Both my dogs have $3500+ left hind legs. My next will come with spare part

Money is nothing. Dog are worth every penny. Seriously, ask your vet for some Ace. It's hard to keep an active dog down. If you were in NY I would give you plenty!

[buckwildbirddogs]

Another trip to the vet this am. Some how through the night she managed to get to the bandage and chew through the outer layer. She even had the foam restrictive collar on at all times. So now she has the foam collar and a cone collar on. They rewraped her leg. And sent us on our way.

I also picked up one of those DAP infusers. Don't know if they work but I'm willing to try anything.

Don't know if that cost is the removal of the pins. I do know that she is going to need a few more x-rays and those costs have not been added in yet.

[buckwildbirddogs]

Well she had her first recheck x-ray since the accident. Things are not looking good so far. She has good calus formation on the outside of the leg but in the center of the femur it is not healing. Vet called it a possible non-union. But it is still too soon to tell.

They increased her Multi-vitamin (because she won't eat), increased her Calcium supplement, and put her on even stricter "kennel Rest". Will recheck in 2 weeks.

[jlp8cornell]

Sorry

Keep us posted as to her progress. How is she dealing with strict rest?

[BigShooter]

Sorry to hear. I've been through this personally & with one of my dogs. Fortunately in this day and age with bone grafting and various fixator options eventual healing has a relatively high probability of success. It's hard to be patient. I know what you're going through. The length of time it takes, the uncertainty and the money burden all take their toll.

Recently one of my dogs was ill & bleeding. As we headed to the vet I was thinking, "how much money am I willing to pay if it turns out to be a major expenditure". I knew there are lots of other dogs & pups available for not much money compared to a vet bill. I raised this now two year old from a pup. I tend to be pragmatic & business like when making these decisions. However my eyes moistened up as I was thinking about maybe having to make a decision to let her go if it made the most sense. Fortunately I didn't have to make that decision.

Sometimes it's painful to share so much with our pets. When they are broken ... you're broke too.

Best wishes for you and the dog! Keep us posted.

[buckwildbirddogs]

She is not taking it well. She has all but quit eating. She is down over 12lbs. Which on a lanky GSP pup looks emaciated. She is on a quality puppy kibble. All she can eat through out the day. I have even started mixing a can of wet puppy food with a couple of cups of the kibble just to entice her to eat more. She is getting a multivitamin twice a day and calcium supplement twice a day per vet recommendations since she is not eating. She is drinking water and when we do let her out or come into the room where she is at she does seem happy to see us and wags her tail a little.

I guess I just don't know what to do with her. She gets to excited and hyper if she is out of the kennel but she seems depressed and not herself when she is in there. And she definately does not want to go into her kennel any longer. We had gotten some ACE from the vet to help keep her calm and that really did not effect her at all.

I guess if it gets to the point of where they want to amputate we will have to take her to K-State to see what they can do.

[ezzy333]

I guess I just don't know what to do with her. She gets to excited and hyper if she is out of the kennel but she seems depressed and not herself when she is in there. And she definately does not want to go into her kennel any longer.

This sure seems like the normal reaction I would expect if I caged a pup for a few weeks. Don't think this is the time to worry wether she likes it or not but is the time to keep her as quiet as possible if yu want her to recover. I'd rather have a healthy unhappy pup than a happy three legged one.

Ezzy

[jlp8cornell]

Hi there: Hang in there. What seems like an eternity now will get better. Like I said I went through 5 weeks of crate rest with my boy when he was 9 months old. It was heck. Getting him in his crate was a process as he spent so much time in there. The Ace helped- maybe you need a higher dosage. I used enough to 'knock him on his "bleep"'. I also took him out a lot when I was home and just held him.

Do what you can to get weight back on her. Cook up meat, give canned, add oil, whatever--

If this were my dog, I would make the trip to a specialist sooner then later. I am lucky to have a few incredible ortho surgeons about a 3 min walk from my work desk. I know some people are in more rural situations and do not have that. However, if you are thinking amputation now, why not get a referral and high tail it to a different vet? Here is the link to K-state vet small an. surgery.
http://www.vet.k-state.edu/depts/vmth/S ... /index.htm

Hope any of this helps. I know what you are going through. It's not only this, it's the long term implications (arthritis being the main one) that you have to keep in mind. If you need any more info, holler. Jen

[ezzy333]

Do what you can to get weight back on her. Cook up meat, give canned, add oil, whatever--

This is an area I would not worry about. At this time she does not need weight to carry on a broken leg and I am sure she isn't starving to death. When she is crated and not real happy about itt plus no exercise she just isn't hungry and that is ok for now. As a matter of fact, when she is starting to feel better she will start eating and things will get back to normal.

You have confused me with this amputation thing. Was this your thoughts or has the vet suggested it as an outcome? Before doing that I would definitely get a second opinion before proceeding if that was the vets idea but if it was yours forget it and get the dog well even if it is unhappy.

Ezzy

[jlp8cornell]

This is an area I would not worry about.

Ezzy- I was thinking if she lost 12# she may be leaning towards emaciated. I assume people keep their dogs like I do. 12# off my boy would be very bad as he always has most ribs showing. I forget some people keep them too heavy.

[ezzy333]

This is an area I would not worry about.

Ezzy- I was thinking if she lost 12# she may be leaning towards emaciated. I assume people keep their dogs like I do. 12# off my boy would be very bad as he always has most ribs showing. I forget some people keep them too heavy.

Good point!!!

Ezzzy

[buckwildbirddogs]

No she was not heavy in the beginnig. She was in lean working condition. As we had been running her almost daily getting her ready for her first hunt tests. So -12lbs she looks sickly. The vet is the one that was mostly concerned as they were afraid that if she was not eating she would not be getting the nutrients to heal the bone. Thus the reasoning behind the multivitamins and supplements. We don't want her fat just for the reason mentioned above -- too much weight on a broken bone = not good.

As far as amputation this was suggested by the vet if the bone does not heal in the center. We will definately be getting a second opinion if it would be coming to this. But she is bearing weight on the leg, moving it with no problem, neuro seems to be intact, and she has good calus formation along the outside of the femur so we were all comfortable waiting a few more weeks and re-xraying.

As for the ACE she is maxed out for her current weight. Still doesn't seem to do much. We tried Benadryl instead and that didn't do a whole lot either. I guess I am just a frusterated "parent" and she is a bored pup. Who was use to being able to run every day.

[jlp8cornell]

Oh yeah, it is harder then heck to deal with this kind of dog being down. Have you tried marrow bones, stuffed kongs, etc to keep her occupied? Also, I would still try some different things to put some weight on. I keep my kids very lean but taking 12# off either would not be good. Peanut butter has lots of cals for a relatively small amount.

How much does she weigh and how much Ace is she getting? Also, have you tried to combine with Tramadaol (pain med with sedating effect)

[buckwildbirddogs]

We rotate her chew toys so she does not get bored with them. But she can not get to them very well as she has a large foam neck brace type collar on and a cone collar on. She seems to prefer the compressed chopped rawhide bones over all others. Don't know why as they are not the basted ones and do not have any flavoring or anything on them. But what ever keeps her happy.

We are also dealing with ear troubles due to her cone collar and all the moisture that builds up. No matter how much cleaning or what kind of drops we use she has large amounts of wax and is just plain uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong when we are home she is out with us and I take the collars off and she lays down on the couch or floor. But it still is not enough.

As for the pain med the Vet did not want her on a pain med. Not sure why. She is approx 30lbs now (started at 42-45lbs). She was getting 30mg of ACE in the beginning (did not work). Even with her weight loss 30mg does not do much. The vet did not want to go up on the does because of the weight loss and lack of appetite.

Thanks for everyones suggestions and support. It is nice to know that there is a place you can go to ask questions or just vent about the ones we love and care for.

[fuzznut]

Here is a recipe that I about guarantee will help put the weight back on her.
Satin Balls Full Recipe
10 lbs cheap hamburger (high fat %)
1 large box Total cereal (about 12 cups cereal)
1 large box uncooked oatmeal (about 15 cups oats)
10 raw eggs
1 15oz jar wheat germ
10 packages Knox unflavored gelatin
1 and 1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 and 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
Pinch of salt

Notes:

"Whole Wheat Total" cereal (blue box) comes in large 1 lb 2 oz size (about 12 cups settled) and a smaller 12 oz size (about 8 cups cereal), which would work in Little Dog or Half Recipe. But in the long run, the large size is more economical. Don't get Raisin Total or Lo Carb Total.

Uncooked Oatmeal like "Quaker Old Fashioned Oats" and less expensive supermarket house brand, come in large 2 lb 10oz size (15 cups oats) or smaller 18 oz size (about 7 cups oats).

15oz jar of wheat germ is about 4 cups. Some stores only carry a 12oz jar of wheat germ, which contains about 3 and 1/4 cups of it.

Vegetable oil -- use a good one. I use olive oil.

I have used this on dogs that wouldn't eat enough to keep weight on. It works. Fed one boy this diet (with some kibble) for over 3 months.
Make up meatballs and freeze them.
Any dog will eat these!!!

Good luck with her.
Fuzz

[jlp8cornell]

Buck--

2nd the Satin Balls recipe. Was just going to post that- good for getting weight on.

Have you tried marrow bones form the grocery store. I feed them raw, sometimes frozen. They will go at them for hours. I took Max's cone off when I was home and could watch him. Can you do that with her?

Also, I used a comfy cone, which is a soft cone. Worked really well and much more comfortable for the dog. Here is a link.
http://www.amazon.com/Comfy-Cone-E-Coll ... B000XY7C7C

[jlp8cornell]

Half recipe of Satin Balls. People on another GSP chat I am are swear by these to put weight on quick!

Satin Balls Half Recipe
5 lbs cheap hamburger (for high fat %)
1/2 large box Total cereal (about 6 cups cereal)
1/2 large box uncooked oatmeal (about 7.5 cups oats)
5 raw eggs
1/2 of 15oz jar wheat germ (about 2 cups)
5 packages Knox unflavored gelatin
5/8 cup vegetable oil (this is pretty close to 2/3 cup)
5/8 cup unsulfured molasses
Pinch of salt

[dog dr]

check out vetstem.com. might be an alternative to amputation, if you dont mind shelling out the $$.

[jlp8cornell]

check out vetstem.com. might be an alternative to amputation, if you dont mind shelling out the $$.

Doc-- I understand through my ortho guy that there are more companies who will be coming out with this in the near future. That would be great as Vet Stem has the cost pretty high. They need some competition. Do you know any more info? I have checked around here (Cornell) in a while. Jen

[dog dr]

they are the only one i know of right now.

[buckwildbirddogs]

There is a place in Manhattan KS that does the stem cell according to the site.

K-State has a procedure that I seen an article come out in the last news letter. Where they put the rod under the skin instead of externally. They are able to leave this rod there for longer periods of time to allow for better healing, less infection, and the dog does not have to be so confined for such a long time. The only catch is that they can't do it on all breaks. This is the procedure that we would most likely be consulting if there is no improvement in the next couple weeks. To bad I didn't see the article sooner.

[BigShooter]

The use of the Ilizarov fixator has been well documented in canine studies for osteogenesis. It has been successfully applied to situations of non-union due to trauma. Unfortunately the orthopaedic surgeons skilled in its application are relatively small in number. The geometry of the frame & the rigidity with which it secures the bone fragments makes some weight bearing possible prior to complete union.

[buckwildbirddogs]

well another wrong turn down the road to recovery. on Thursday night I woke up to take her out and noticed she did not want to put any weight on her front paw. We were afraid that she had gotten her paw stuck in the kennel when she streatched out then jerked it back and possibly broke/twisted/sprained did something to it. I called the vet that had been taking care of her and they were going to be out until next Thursday. So we ended up taking her to another vet but couldn't get in until SAT.

By this time she was not eating or drinking much. She had a 104 temp. But was putting more weight on her front paw so we got an abx for a suspected infection and just watch the front paw. It is amazing how quick they go down hill.

Now it is monday. We are forcing her to drink with a syringe and she has absolutly NO interest in food. She is putting less weight on her back leg then she usually does and even growled at us when we tried to help her up which is not normal.

So we have an appt at K-State tomorrow at 10:30am

[wems2371]

Sorry to hear she is having such a tough time with this, and I know it's got to be horrible to watch her suffer, when you're trying to help her. Hopefully they can find a plan of action for her tomorrow. You all are in my thoughts.....

[BigShooter]

As you already know infection is the first thing to rule out with a non-union. I assume the vet that did the surgery sent you home with instructions to watch for infection & monitor her temp. So sorry to hear the continuing bad news.

[buckwildbirddogs]

Well I have great news!!!

The bone is healing. No signs of infection in the bone. The bottom two pins were very loose and moving. That is what was thought to be causing all the pain and inflamation in her leg. And possibly causing her decreased appetite. She still had a 103 fever and was thought to have a slight skin infection from the irritation from the pins and an ear infection from the moisture that builds up in the cone collar.

They removed all the pins. No more cones or foam collars. She will be on abx for the infection. And she should start to perk up in the next day or so.

Well they must have a magic touch because by 7pm she was eating dry kibble (we were previously mixing canned in it to get her to eat), drinking on her own (I was forcing fluids through a syringe), she was excited to see us and licked my face for the first time in over a week. She will still need to be in the kennel for 5wks then another x-ray. But they think that come this fall she should be able to run 20-30min hunts/day. It ain't much but it is better than the alternative.

Thanks for everyone's support and prayers. It is much appreciated.

[BigShooter]

Thanks for getting back to us. That's awesome!

[jlp8cornell]

Good news! So glad things are turning around.

[wems2371]

That's terrific news! When she gets to putting a few pounds on and looking like herself again--post some pics please!