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.

[RangeViewKennels]

Sorry to hear the bad news.
The good news is that My Murphy broke his femur when he was 12 weeks old and made a full recovery! You would never know that he had broken it. With the right care and therapy your dog will be fine.
We used a water therapy where they put him in a pool to exercise it. There is no stress on the bone and it helps to build all the mussels back up. Highly recommend. Don’t rush your dog to hunt this season. He will have plenty of seasons in the future. You don’t want to cause any Permanente damage.
Good Luck

[buckwildbirddogs]

Thanks for the advice. She got out of surgery at approx 1pm on Wed. and came home Thurs 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. 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

So far she is doing wonderful though she has 5pins 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 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 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.

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

[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.

[RangeViewKennels]

Glad to hear she is doing well!
If you’re only in to your vet for $750 so far you are doing well. We spent over $2000 on Murphy’s surgery and another $500 on the water therapy. In the end it was totally worth it. I had considered having him euthanized, but I am glad I didn’t.
I would again recommend looking into the water therapy. I believe it made all the difference in the world. They have been using it on horses for years.
Keep us updated on her progress.

[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.