Broken Leg At Birth

[Guest Bethroze]

How well does a broken leg at birth heal? Will there be problems later in life related to the leg? Looking into a young one with this issue and wanted to know what we might have in store.

[RobinM]

Is should be OK but there could be residual "issues" later on.

 

But all of mine have some sort of leg issues and non of their legs were broken as a pup.

[Guest Cris_M]

Seems to me there would be fewer problems than with a break later in life. Newborns have softer bones which would increase healing, and they won't be doing any weight bearing for a bit. Would one have problems down the road? Probably depends on the setting of the break as much as anything else.

[Guest nanzi]

I have a broken leg boy. We got him at 5 mos old and I noticed a 'strange hitch in his git-a-long'.

The vet agreed and xrayed him while he had him under for neutering. It was partially healed, and not correctly. Vet suggested we do nothing and watch it. He said it would involve many surgeries to rebrake and reset with bars on the outside and changing them often as he grew. Vets biggest worry was whether the leg would grow the same as his other leg. It did grow just fine. He holds that foot up a little and uses more of the front part than he does the good leg. He runs like the wind, chases and is chased by his Jack Russell Terriorista all over our 2 acres. If you did not know his story you would never guess he has an ill healed leg. He is absolutely the most loving dog we have had in 42 years of marriage and having dogs.

We wouldn't trade him for anything. He is my heart dog and is now just 6 years old.

Good Luck on your decision.

Nan & Rich

[Remolacha]

no experience with puppies, but one of my cats had a broken leg at or shortly after birth. It had already healed when I got her, and she had quite a noticable limp at 3-4 months, but by the time she was a year old, you couldn't tell unless you knew to look for it. She's 9 now, and doesn't limp at all

[Guest LynnM]

If it's treated immediately, it's no big deal.... everything is growing and developing so quickly that healing is fast! The challenges might be supplemental bottlefeeding and helping the pup void while keeping a cast clean.

 

If they're not treated immediately, you get pups like Franklin... maybe Marilyn will chime in here. He was a pup we got off a farm a few years ago. Nice spiral fracture that happened at birth (don't pull too hard!!!!) and formed a false joint by the time we got him at 6 months old. Marilyn and her team of vets did great work and still has 4 legs, but it was a long and expensive recovery.

[Guest turbospeed]

I would check with your vet and ask questions concerning whether or not the required operation would affect your hound's growth plate in his leg. That is something we asked when our boy, Bullet had to have orthopedic surgery on his broken leg.

 

Turbospeed