Guest ccoggins13 Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 We adopted a 4 year old grey who had had a surgery to attach a torn tendon in left front leg. All was ok until few weeks ago when tendon tore again. Surgery to re-attach was successful for only 3 weeks. Tendon tore again yesterday. Anyone have any experience with this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marion Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 Normally tendon injuries do heal extremely slowly. After the healing of the tendon, the hound has to start bit by bit the normal walking in order to reinforce the recently healed tendon. If that is done properly the tendon will be strong enough to resist normal exercise. A tendon injury requires at least 1 month of immobilisation and after that time another 3 weeks with a bandage and limited walking. I wonder if in the case of your hound the healing periods were respected properly... Quote -------------------------------------------- Marion, Ivy & Soldi Perseverance is not a long race... it is many short races one after another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burpdog Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 Sounds like the rehab has not been good. What kind of instructions were you given? I assume leash walking for an extended period of time to start with. Maybe crate rest too? Quote Diane & The Senior Gang Burpdog Biscuits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest multigrey Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 I am a bit confused......how many surgeries has this dog had? What were your discharge instructions? Did the dog just have a wrap on the leg...a splint....a fixator? Was the surgery done by a board certified orthopedist, a vet who does this sort of surgery every day or a vet who seldom does this? Most dogs who have ortho surgery need to go home with a serious set of instructions for amount of exercise, crate rest, medication and bandage changes. If this was not the case for your poor dog, he may need a visit to a different surgeon. Tendon and ligament surgeries are sometimes more difficult to deal with than the normal fracture rrepair surgery. If you can get a few more detials, we can probably help you decide what needs to be done. Your greyhound deserves the chance to have a leg that works well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3DogNite Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 My boy Rascal had Achilles Tendons rupture in both back legs,,,, at the same time. They were reattached, he had PINS in each leg/foot holding the foot in extension, keeping the tendon as soft as possible and he endured 6 weeks of FULL LEG CASTs. bandage changes every 3rd day. when the pins came out (another surgery) instructions: slow, minimal walks, NO stairs for many months,, rehab after in a water tank/tread mill, and lots of acupuncture and chiropractic. He had one foot that healed too tightly, and we had to actually cut the tendons under the toes to release the foot from it's tightness. He now trots around the back yard and will do about 1/2 mile walks. He really doesn't run, I won't let him. He does wear booties on both back feet when he goes for any walk, it seems to help him, we use Neo-Paws. Rascal is now 12yrs old, happy and healthy! 3 years after the accident, i no longer feel like he is a fragile boy. Good luck with your greyhound! It was a struggle, but well worth it to see him enjoy life now! Quote lorinda, mom to the ever revolving door of Foster greyhounds Always in my heart: Teala (LC Sweet Dream) , Pepton, Darbee-Do (Hey Barb) , Rascal (Abitta Rascal), Power (Beyond the Power), and the miracle boy LAZER (2/21/14), Spirit (Bitter Almonds) 8/14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ccoggins13 Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 Normally tendon injuries do heal extremely slowly. After the healing of the tendon, the hound has to start bit by bit the normal walking in order to reinforce the recently healed tendon. If that is done properly the tendon will be strong enough to resist normal exercise. A tendon injury requires at least 1 month of immobilisation and after that time another 3 weeks with a bandage and limited walking. I wonder if in the case of your hound the healing periods were respected properly... When grey came to live with us, he was completely healed from first surgery. Only instructions that we were given was to make sure he didn't jump down off of beds, couches etc. which we respected. He has been with us for 4 years without incident. Only time he jumps down is out of car and that is very seldom. After recent surgery, leg was completely immobilized. He went outside on leash only when necessary, gets up to eat and is in crate when we cannot supervise. He has very little activity. Don't really know how it could have torn again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gracegirl Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 What was he doing when the tendon tore again yesterday? Quote Poppy the lurcher 11/24/23 Gabby the Airedale 7/1/18 Forever missing Grace (RT's Grace), Fenway (not registered, def a greyhound), Jackson (airedale terrier, honorary greyhound), and Tessie (PK's Cat Island) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ccoggins13 Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 I am a bit confused......how many surgeries has this dog had? What were your discharge instructions? Did the dog just have a wrap on the leg...a splint....a fixator? Was the surgery done by a board certified orthopedist, a vet who does this sort of surgery every day or a vet who seldom does this? Most dogs who have ortho surgery need to go home with a serious set of instructions for amount of exercise, crate rest, medication and bandage changes. If this was not the case for your poor dog, he may need a visit to a different surgeon. Tendon and ligament surgeries are sometimes more difficult to deal with than the normal fracture rrepair surgery. If you can get a few more detials, we can probably help you decide what needs to be done. Your greyhound deserves the chance to have a leg that works well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marion Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 Obviously something has gone wrong. After the immobilisiation period it's necessary to rehab the hound and accustom him bit by bit to regular walking and exercise. If this isn't done properly, the tendon cannot recover strength, so too much inactivity after the immobilisation time can be bad too...the hound has to recover the use of the tendon...poor hound, he must have a hard time. Best wishes for recovery! Quote -------------------------------------------- Marion, Ivy & Soldi Perseverance is not a long race... it is many short races one after another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ccoggins13 Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 He has had 2 surgeries. Original surgery was with prior owner. He has been with us for 4 years without problem until recently. Second surgery was done by our vet since pin was already in placefrom first surgery. While he does not do this every day, he had done it before. Leg was wrapped and immobilised. He was leash walked only as necessary for potty breaks. He had 2 antibiotics to prevent infection. Went back for bandage changes every 5 days. We have an appointment with orthopedist on Monday for evaluation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Energy11 Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 Sending prayers, love and good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ccoggins13 Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 What was he doing when the tendon tore again yesterday? He went in for simple bandage change and vet found tendon torn again. You must think i am a terrible mom but i have no idea how he could have done this. hope the ortho can provide better insight. just hope we have option to repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest multigrey Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 It's possible that the original surgery wasn't exactly what was called for.....each injury is a bit different and he may have needed a plate and screws instead of pins. Sometimes pins just don't hold well enough. The ortho vet on Monday should be able to answer all your questions and help you decide what's best for your dog. Wishing you lots of luck and good stuff t come for all of you. And....please.....you are not a bad mom. You did just what you were told to do and no one could possibly expect more than that. Waiting to hear good things on Monday!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gracegirl Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 What was he doing when the tendon tore again yesterday? He went in for simple bandage change and vet found tendon torn again. You must think i am a terrible mom but i have no idea how he could have done this. hope the ortho can provide better insight. just hope we have option to repair. Oh my gosh, that's not at all what I am implying! I'm sorry if you got that impression. I was wondering if maybe he got spooked and jumped in a weird way, or got his leg stuck in the couch or something like that. I hope the orhto has some answers for you. I know how frustrating it can be. DBF's lab tore his ACL in June and had surgery to repair it. He's recently started limping again so now Bama has to go in twice a week for underwater treadmill physical therapy. Not fun at all to have an injured dog. Quote Poppy the lurcher 11/24/23 Gabby the Airedale 7/1/18 Forever missing Grace (RT's Grace), Fenway (not registered, def a greyhound), Jackson (airedale terrier, honorary greyhound), and Tessie (PK's Cat Island) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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