Growth plate injury

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Dlmino21
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Growth plate injury

Post by Dlmino21 » Tue Jul 12, 2016 8:47 pm

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with their dogs injuring their growth plates. My English setter pup (4 months old at the time) broke his front left leg about a month and a half ago, so he was in a cast for the first 4 weeks, no surgery required. After he got the cast off, his leg was noticeably angled out. After following up with the vet he said he most likely has growth plate damage. So his radius was growing normal, but the ulna stopped growing, causing the leg to bow out. they did a surgery to cut the ulna so the radius can grow freely. Has anyone had a similar experience? I would appreciate the input.

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greg jacobs
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Re: Growth plate injury

Post by greg jacobs » Wed Jul 13, 2016 12:55 pm

Sounds bad for a hunting dog. Here in Washington, WSU vet department will talk to you. They went way out of their way on a Sunday to help me. I think I would be talking to a state university with a vet program and ask some questions if I were you.

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dog dr
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Re: Growth plate injury

Post by dog dr » Thu Jul 14, 2016 7:26 am

depending on how old he is and how advanced the curvature is, you may be able to find someone who would do corrective surgery. I had a young lab with the same problem 5 or 6 yrs ago. I cut a chunk out of the middle of the ulna, and replaced it with fat taken from the dogs flank. this allows the radius to continue its normal growth pattern unrestricted by the non-growing ulna. the dog definitely wouldnt be an all age dog after that, but could still be a good foot hunting dog, imo.

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Dlmino21
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Re: Growth plate injury

Post by Dlmino21 » Fri Jul 15, 2016 9:16 pm

dog dr wrote:depending on how old he is and how advanced the curvature is, you may be able to find someone who would do corrective surgery. I had a young lab with the same problem 5 or 6 yrs ago. I cut a chunk out of the middle of the ulna, and replaced it with fat taken from the dogs flank. this allows the radius to continue its normal growth pattern unrestricted by the non-growing ulna. the dog definitely wouldnt be an all age dog after that, but could still be a good foot hunting dog, imo.

Thanks for the response, He had that exact same procedure done last Tuesday. They cut a chunk out of his ulna and put a piece of fat in. What do you mean by he wouldnt be an all age dog after the surgery?

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Dlmino21
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Re: Growth plate injury

Post by Dlmino21 » Fri Jul 15, 2016 9:23 pm

Also this is a link to his xrays, not sure if it will work.

https://wf1.antechimagingservices.com/A ... 757131773d

they are xrays from the day of the incident, then 4 weeks later.

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dog dr
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Re: Growth plate injury

Post by dog dr » Mon Jul 18, 2016 4:20 pm

Dlmino21 wrote:
dog dr wrote:depending on how old he is and how advanced the curvature is, you may be able to find someone who would do corrective surgery. I had a young lab with the same problem 5 or 6 yrs ago. I cut a chunk out of the middle of the ulna, and replaced it with fat taken from the dogs flank. this allows the radius to continue its normal growth pattern unrestricted by the non-growing ulna. the dog definitely wouldnt be an all age dog after that, but could still be a good foot hunting dog, imo.

Thanks for the response, He had that exact same procedure done last Tuesday. They cut a chunk out of his ulna and put a piece of fat in. What do you mean by he wouldnt be an all age dog after the surgery?
I guess I just wouldnt think that the leg would be able to stand up to too much use with only 1 bone in that part of the leg. Dont have any experience with that surgery post-op. the dog i did it on moved to north carolina 3 days later!!

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