Guest jturchi2 Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 Hi everyone! Dye has been home now for a couple of days. While she was at the hospital and when she first got home, she was doing great as far as staying off of her external fixators. Now, I think she is getting annoyed with laying on the same side all of the time and has started to try and lay on the other (hurt) side. She has the fixators in order to provide stability for her stifle (since she tore her outside ligament that holds the femur and tibia in place). This was her 5th procedure to try and stabilize (and our suspicion for why the internal sutures failed was because she kept trying to lay on her knee). Needless to say I'm extremely worried now, and I don't really know if I'm 100% trusting that the external fixators aren't going anywhere and are going to do the trick. This is the end of the road for Dye. If this fails we will have to amputate her leg. So I guess my question...at what point to I stop watching her like a hawk and say "she will be a dog" and if she wants to lay on that side (with the external fixators) then she will and there's not much I can do about it? And how harmful is it for her to be laying on them? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burpdog Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 I asked Marilyn and she said assuming they are padded (look like ear muffs), yes she can lay on them. You have to be very careful she does not get them caught in or on anything. Quote Diane & The Senior Gang Burpdog Biscuits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NevadasMom Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 Padding them popped into my head too. I've taken care of humans with external fixators..........I can't imagine they are real comfortable to lay on. Ouch! Quote Carol-Glendale, AZ Trolley (Figsiza Trollyn) Nevada 1992-2008...always in my heart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest grapecat Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 Humph had an external fixator on his front leg after breaking it last summer, so laying on it wasn't really an issue - we did have to really wrap it up though to keep him from catching it on stuff - before we did he scrapped up his back foot on his front leg's "scaffolding"! Keeping him from licking was hard. best wishes for you and Dye - and fast healing too! sounds like you're doing an amazing job - hang in there! -Karly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jturchi2 Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 Hi everyone! Thank you for the replies. Dye's bars are pretty padded up. I guess I'm just nervous about her sitting on her leg because we are using it to provide support around her knee while scare tissue forms new ligaments. We tried fixing it internally with non-soluble sutures, but they kept breaking. So, now I'm worried that she'll sit on her leg wrong and cause her tibia to shift outside of the joint again, since she doesn't really have any ligaments to keep it from doing that. She's been great about not messing with any of the spots on her leg (her bandage sores, fixators, etc). And I'm going in to my vets today to be shown exactly how to clean her "tracks" and we are going to have them make sure that things are still in their rightful place. Wish us luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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