broken leg

[011011]

I am sorry to hear about that, hope he heals fast, I too worry about that as mine are big jumpers we have a foot stool by the couch and bed they use the foot stool by the bed but prefer to jump off and on the couch by themselves.I would probably take mine to work with me alot of noise but his mommy is with him. Good of you too send something with him to the vets I always send something along too if they have to stay makes them and me feel better.

[bubbles4blossom]

Also something that i did to keep the cast clean was put one of my sons socks over it and change it every day.Also Neos cast came up to his arm pit so i took the sock up past the cast so that it didn't rub under his arm pit.He was rubbed raw intill i did this.Just an idea





Heather

[mstemason]

went back to the dr today - they changed his cast and said he was doing great. It's a little shorter now, not all the way under his arm but i'm afraid now he's going to chew it. I'm going to get one of those circular things to put around his neck if he keeps it up. He is walking now on the leg some and i go back in another week to have his cast/bandage checked and they said if he did as good as last week it might be gone for good. He'll still have to stay in his crate until they x-ray and tell me he doesn't. Minimum stay in the crate is 4 weeks. He will be x-rayed in two more weeks for the first time if everything continues as planned and they will x-ray every month or so for 6 months. There are times they said when they have to take out some of the pins and they are concerned about the break being so close to a growth line. They will give me physical therapy exercises to do once we get to that point.

I'm so glad my baby's home and doing so good. We now have 3 crates, 2 carriers and a canopy bed for him. And he got a new fluffy teddy bear today.

you guys are great!
harley's mom

[Marie]

Harley's Mom,
Im so happy that Harley is improving and doing so well. I hope everything keeps going well so the vet can remove his cast soon. I will have him in my prayers. Oh i know you are giving him a lot of TLC and he must love his new Teddy Bear alot. Thank you so much for the update.

[MamaLuvsFrankie]

I went through the same thing with a female I had about 8 years ago. She jumped off the couch and broke her front leg. We took her in they supposedly set the bone, put a cast on her & sent us home. A month later they took the cast off & sent us home again. They never x-rayed her before they released us. The next day she went down a stair and it broke again. Come to find out when he set the bone they weren't even touching.
We went to a new vet. She then had to go through the surgery and get a pin put in her leg. She seemed to do fine with it although I felt terrible. She was in the hospital for 2 days max. I remember when it was all said & done, cast was off, her poor little leg was soooooooo skinny. Good Luck.

[MamaLuvsFrankie]

When Johnny (my lil old man yorkie) was 8 years old his parents were getting rid of him for snapping at their granddaughter. I took him home & fell instantly in love. He wasn't a pretty yorkie, he had all but chewed his hiney off. He had very little hair. I felt what I call hot spots down his back & took him in for x-rays. He had crushed vertibraes all down his back. Doc was amazed he was still alive. The ex parents had no clue what happened to him. ?????????????

Anyway, I built him stairs everywhere in the house he wanted to go. He had stairs up to my bed, another set up to the couch. Anywhere he spent any time I made stairs. I then put carpet on them & really enjoyed em. I could tell it was so much easier on his back. He let me know how much he appreciated them.

[mstemason]

Harley is doing well. Next wednesday will be 6 weeks since his surgery. They took his cast off about two weeks ago and i have been scared to death since then. He was crated all the time up until the last week. They did x-rays last week and said he was doing great. He can go for up to 4 short walks a day up to five minutes. When I'm in the kitchen I block that room off so he can stay out with me. In the den, he stays in his playpen when we are watching tv unless i hold him. He still has to stay in his crate if we are not here. He's done really good. I'm lucky to be only 5 minutes from work and work for great people. I go home at about 10:30-11:00 and again between 2:30 and 3:00.

Last week he got fleas! He'd never had one. We don't know where they came from. Our outside dogs are on frontline. It's been a real mess. I had Harley groomed on friday by a friend since I could not take off from work It took her about 4 hours doing a little at a time and letting him rest. Anyway, I think a flea must have bitten him on his incision or something. Yesterday his incision looked a little funny. It really scared me so i took him to the vet today. He's had a little reaction or something at his incision. The vet here, said the bone felt fine and gave me some antibiotic ointment to apply and bandage his leg. I'm supposed to have it checked in a week to make sure it's okay.

I put some frontline on him today and have had the house and yard sprayed. He's getting some children's benedryl twice a day. He skin is so red.

This has certainly been a rough week. I'm attaching a picture of harley from friday once he got his first bath since surgery.

Thanks for the latest post - It's good to know when someone else goes thru the same thing. I think we all feel guilty somehow just cause they depend on us so much.

Harley's Mom

[Marie]

Im glad that Harley is doing better after the surgery and that his bone is healing well. So sorry that he got bitten by a flea infecting the incision. I will keep him in my prayers. Please keep us posted.

[SoCalyorkiLvr]

It is so good that there is a happy ending to this story and he is healing nicely.

[Roxie's Family]

Roxie recently broke her leg.

Roxie is 3.2 lbs, 7 1/2 moths old and broke her front left leg August 1 (15 days ago).
She wiggled out of 12 year old Nicole's arms just 12 inches before being set down on a carpeted floor. The force of the wiggle, the angle of lag contact and the non-slip traction of the carpet cause both bones in her forearm to snap with a loud sickly sound. Touch her arm or paw would cause Roxie to squeal - a good thing (the vet told us later) as this suggests the nerves were not damaged).

Aug 1 was a holiday here in Ontario; we raced to the Emergency Vet Clinic with Nicole holding Roxie; her paw clearly bent around towards her elbow. Roxie was quiet and content to try to sleep. After three hours the Vet got to us, spoke to us, gave us a quote, and made excuses as to when Roxie would begin to receive treatment due to possibly more urgent cases that would preempt Roxie’s treatment.

A sedative was administered in hour 4 to ease the pain during X-ray.
X-Ray taken that confirmed 2 bones, one break each, away from the joints and growth plate - great chance for normal healing.
Roxie would be treated within the next two hours pending completion of a current surgery in progress.
At hour 6 we were told another case was put ahead of Roxie.
At hour 9 Roxie had finally received treatment, however...

The larger bone was to be aligned by external manipulation, splinted then X-rayed from two angles to confirm 90 % or better alignment. The smaller bone would normally align itself (sufficiently) and "knit" with a bone scare.

The proof X-ray from two attempts showed the larger bone could not be externally aligned. Orthopedic surgery was required.
Roxie was returned to us with a splint and a bill of $839.

We were able to schedule Roxie for surgery 36 hours later at 8:00AM on August 3rd with an Orthopedic Surgeon who was recommended to us by Roxie's breeder (who was all to familiar with broken-leg horror stories).

We brought in all the X-rays and records from the emergency clinic the night before surgery. The Surgeon was confident the 100% recovery and 100% motion would be regained.

Following surgery the Surgeon called (noonish) to confirm a perfect operation and that Roxie was already up and about. Roxie could be picked up around 6 PM following continued observation.

Upon arrival, we could hear Roxie's familiar plea on the other side of the clinic "let me out of this crate".

The Surgeon explained to us that the "knitting" of both bones had already begun before he started his work; underlies the importance of setting the bones right away. He further explained what he did to access and to repair the bones for re-alignment, and how the plate and six screws were installed to hold the bones for the healing process. The plate and screws do not normally need to be removed ever.

When we finally saw Roxie, she was perky, very alert and clearly happy to see all of us.
We left with a happy YT, an appointment to return in 14 days to remove the splint and stitches and a bill of $1,181.

Roxie had adapted well to the splint. She was at reduced speed 3-legged running in the second post-surgery day and full speed 4-legged running at the end of the first week. Note Roxie is walked on a leash, has freedom to roam a completely enclosed rear yard (supervised always!), gets out to malls and stores and road trips (she sleeps anywhere she likes and at night in a crate in Nicole's room.

On the 14th day we woke up to Roxie having chewed of her splint and 2 of 5 stitches.
We took her to see the Surgeon who in turn snipped the remaining stitches and confirmed the alignment was still perfect.

The final words from the Surgeon:
- do not encourage risky play or movement for 4-6 weeks,
- get Roxie some hydrotherapy (make her swim in the bathtub) to exercise motion without stress from her body weight
- 12 weeks the bones should be fully healed.

Final word from Nicole's Dad:
In Canada, www.petplan.com said they would have covered the entire expense.

[shecass]

Originally Posted by mstemason

my baby harley 4 lbs yesterday and 71/2 months old jumped off the chair in our den and broke his leg. our vet here said they could not repair because of break and we drovehim yesterday to a specialty clinic in memphis, tn. the surgery was today and he came thru surgery good and is awake. i hope he will be able to come home friday. the dr said he would need to be crated for months instread of weeks. he broke his left front leg between his ankle and his knee. they put in a plate and some tiny screws. I am devastated. I don't know what to expect and have been trying to find any post about this to get more information. does anyone have any ideas? or has anyone had any experience like this. My last yorkie never had any problems and i feel like such a horrible mother! :

Don't blame yourself these things happen. I would feel just like you and blame myself for not doing something just right. At least he is on the road to recovery. I hope he gets to felling better soon, and try not to beat yoursel up too much, it can happen to any of us.

Sheila

[red98vett]

I'm so glad he's doing well and fleas at this time must have really made you upset - I know he'd have trouble scratching - he may have picked them up at the vet but at least it's not serious - Poor little guy - I hope he gets stronger every day and is running around playing soon...Good luck !

[mstemason]

I am so sorry to hear about Roxie! I don't know what the difference is between the two but Harley is just now allowed to be in his playpen and out with us in a confined area. I am so glad to hear some confirmation about healing completely. I was so afraid from some other post that he would never be able to run, play etc. which greatly upset me since he is still but a pup. Harley will actually be 9 mos old this week and now weighs 4.1 lbs. Please keep me posted on Roxie. The surgeon here said he had seen the same thing happen within 6 inches of the floor. Please feel free to pm me if you have any questions that I may be able to answer. My husband did all the talking to the surgeon on our initial consultation because I just couldn't look at the x-rays. I don't know if would have been better or worse if I had been there.

Several people have told me that I could expect a long recover. Harley is actually on a mild tranquilizer now just to try to keep him from jumping and getting over excited.

I was thinking of calling the surgeon about some water therapy. How is that working for Roxie.

PLease keep me updated. Welcome to YorkieTalk!

Harley's mom

[Roxie's Family]

Hi Mstemason,

The water therapy worked well on Roxie. She, believe it or not, hates water! So when we finally coaxed her into the tub, she began to paddle furiously around. We would support her by holding her stomache, as she paddled. She was extremely tired at the end, so please take it easy on Harley.
Looking forward to your response!

Sincerely,
Roxie's Family

[Marie]

Im glad that Harley and Roxie are doing well after the surgery. I will have Roxie and Harley in my prayers for a complete recuperation.
Gucci loves to jump down from my bed. She weights almost 5 lbs but I worried' more after reading your experiences.