Singh's Broken Leg Adventure

[Guest bonnebike]

Our 3-year old male broke his leg last week. We're documenting the "adventure" of recovery for our own history and for anyone who might be interested...

 

 

Vickie and I arrived home at exactly the same time Wednesday night, 11/07/2012. As we came in from the garage we heard Mary barking inside (normal) and a loud scream (not normal). We came into the living room to see Singh standing on the couch hold up his right foreleg with his paw dangling down. He'd broken his leg!

 

We're not sure what he did, but it had just happened. We know this because there was no swelling yet like we observed later in the evening. Both dogs get excited when people arrive, but Singh is a bit crazy. He jumps around, throws toys, and hops up on the couch to look out the window. We're sure it was in this sort of frenzy that he did whatever he did. He's not talking.

 

After freaking out a bit we hauled him over to the emergency vet to get him x-rayed and splinted so things were stable. For some reason (kick-backs?) they wanted to refer us to a hospital 90 miles away. Oregon State University is here in town and we have been to their vet hospital before. We decided to take Singh there.

 

 

 

Two days later on Friday Singh went in for surgery. They implanted a plate to hold his radius bone together. The ulna is too little to do that with plus it's not weight bearing. They also did an omentum graft to help speed healing of the bones. They take the omentum tissue from an incision in his tummy and wrap it around the site of the fracture. The graft increased the blood supply to the area, but it also causes the limb to swell and ooze a lot of fluid. This necessitated 2-a-day bandage changes for a few days. Note the massive bruising -- he may have a clotting deficiency.

 

 

 

 

Singh gets extremely stressed when kenneled or confined. This was something we told the staff at OSU and something they got to experience for themselves. The instructions we got when we brought him home were to keep him off the couch to keep him from getting hurt. But Singh got a reprieve from Dr. Baltzer when I mentioned how much he kept trying to get on "his" couch. I think this calmed him down more than his meds.

 

 

 

 

Speaking of meds, Singh is taking Tramadol (pain), Cephalexin (antibiotic), Trazodone (anxiety), and Aminocaproic acid (clotting).

 

 

 

 

By Sunday night Singh was starting to act more like his old self. It was nice to see the grumpy, hurting dog fade into the background. He's really missing going on walks, but now he's excited when we head out for a bandage change. Go figure.

 

 

 

Vickie made a sleeve out of fleece to try to keep him from chewing on the bandage. It's not a 100% solution, but may reduce his time wearing his "cone head."

 

 

 

For now we're all adjusting to the current reality. I'm looking forward to the time that his leg starts looking like a leg again and not like a raw pork tenderloin.

[Guest IrskasMom]

Wowww , quiet an Ordeal . Hugs to all of you

[jamngrey]

Wow what an adventure. Hope he heals quickly

[4My2Greys]

Good wishes for a speedy and problem free healing for Singh.

[tbhounds]

Did they happen to biopsy any of the bone? Glad to see they prescribed Amicar (thank you Dr Couto!)

[Riverhound]

Poor Singh! He does look very comfy on his sofa.

[Feisty49]

Thanks for the documentation. It is interesting and will be helpful. Poor sweet boy of yours looks so broken. I hope he gets better quickly.

[greytpups]

Sending lots of good thoughts for a quick recovery...thanks for the timeline, it is very interesting and funny at times Not laughing at you Singh, honest.

[Guest bonnebike]

Did they happen to biopsy any of the bone? Glad to see they prescribed Amicar (thank you Dr Couto!)

The plan was to send a piece of bone off for testing. We haven't heard back on that yet. They said the bone looked healthy and it was a nice clean break.

[GeorgeofNE]

The odds of a greyhound having a leg just break and it NOT being osteo are horribly low I'm afraid.

 

I mean your dog is home in the house and you come back and his leg is BROKEN? I'd make sure that all your x-rays get sent off to Ohio State ASAP.

[revamp]

he's only three. Dogs spontaneously break their legs running all the time (as the number of broken leg dogs in my local adoption group can attest to). It's far from unusual to see a broken leg on a dog that jumps on an off furniture all crazy-like. He could have landed wrong, tripped, or got his paw stuck in a blanket or cushion when he jumped.

 

There's no need to be alarmist and scare an owner for no reason when the dog has been properly tended to by skilled vets. He was operated on and had pins placed, for goodness sakes. Pin placement requires drilling into existing bone. If there were abnormalities in the bone of any kind, it would have been noticed.

Edited November 14, 2012 by revamp

[Guest mld]

What a crazy week for your family and Singh!

Looks like he is comfortable on his couch Sending healing thoughts to Singh and hope he has a speedy recovery.

Keep us posted and thanks for the step by step documentation, very interesting.

[LBass]

Poor sweetie!

 

That initial x-ray looks remarkably like the one from MoMo's break about a year and a half ago. The surgeon here did a wonderful job of pinning Mo's bones and she has healed beautifully. I can see the outlines of the metal plate in her right front leg but, other than that slight visual reminder, she is doing beautifully. There is no indication that the leg bothers her at all. It sounds like there is every reason to hope that Singh's leg will heal just as well.

[Houndtime]

Wishing him a full and speedy recovery.

[deboosh]

Oh my, what an ordeal! Singh, I hope you A nice poofy comforter on the floor by "your" couch would help in case you have any running doggie dreams.

[racindog]

he's only three. Dogs spontaneously break their legs running all the time (as the number of broken leg dogs in my local adoption group can attest to). It's far from unusual to see a broken leg on a dog that jumps on an off furniture all crazy-like. He could have landed wrong, tripped, or got his paw stuck in a blanket or cushion when he jumped.

 

There's no need to be alarmist and scare an owner for no reason when the dog has been properly tended to by skilled vets. He was operated on and had pins placed, for goodness sakes. Pin placement requires drilling into existing bone. If there were abnormalities in the bone of any kind, it would have been noticed.

You beat me to it but you said it better than I would have anyway. Yes I certainly would NOT be alarmed or fearful over a broke leg in a young dog. Slim broke his leg too when he was only about a year old and he wasn't doing anything at the time. He was standing in the yard and stareted to move and there was a yelp. You are lucky you had competent e vets available. In Slim's case the incompetent er vet barely looked at him; took no x-rays; and sent me home with a referral for his knee! Although I am not a vet I KNEW there was a serious problem (it was quite obvious) and begged the ortho vet to see him ASAP. When he did almost 2 weeks later (instead of the usual 4-6 week wait)it took him almost 5 minutes to diagnose the leg was broken. Poor Slim. When you have a broke leg, that HURTS, and can be dangerous, and it needs competent care- but he certainly didn't get it although I certainly did pay for it. Lucky he was a tough guy.

Edited November 14, 2012 by racindog

[tbhounds]

I don't think anyone here is trying to alarm anyone--simply asking if all the dots were dotted and the T's crossed.

Of course legs break and sadly many do because of disease-sad truth. Of course everyone here is praying for a good outcome.

[Guest grey_dreams]

Sending prayers that Singh heals rapidly and well.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Singh

 

And thanks for the story and photos!

[galgrey]

What an ordeal! I hope Singh heals quickly and completely and is back on all fours in what seems like no time.

[Guest bonnebike]

Surgery + 5 days:

 

Singh's chest, shoulder, and upper foreleg are looking terrific now. No swelling there and the color is almost totally correct. There is still a lot of swelling from just above the sutures down to his toes. It's not seeping as much so we are only changing bandages once a day. Dr. Ho is adding a smear of manuka honey to the telfa pads that are contacting the leg. Manuka honey has special antibiotic properties over regular honey. I'm not sure how much it helps, but it looks like it makes it easier to wrap the leg when the pads are stuck there with the honey.

 

OSU made a CD of Singh's X-ray showing the plate and 11-screws holding the radius together.

 

 

 

They said not to worry about the ulna, but it would seem to me that it would be better if it were all lined up. Then again, when I broke my foot my final X-ray showed that the bone had not healed together. The doctor said it was OK and the scar tissue would keep it all in place. That was 18 years ago, so I guess he knew what he was talking about.

 

Singh is adjusting the the cast -- perhaps better than he should. I let him outside this morning after breakfast. When I stepped out to see what he was doing he ran at me from across the yard. Yelling at him to slow down had no effect. He's not the smartest dog.

[JJNg]

Singh can't be allowed outside off-leash, much less unsupervised. It has nothing to do with how smart he is. Dogs don't know that they need to take it easy to allow injuries to heal, and if they feel good, they're going to act like it. It's our job to keep them from doing more than they should.

 

I also wanted to address your comment in the initial post about the emergency vet wanting to refer him to a facility 90 miles away. Did you ask them why? Vets don't get kick-backs for referrals (in fact, I believe it's illegal). But some vets may choose to refer to specialists farther away due to a bad experience with the closer referral center, or out of familiarity and trust for a particular specialist. Some people do not like dealing with teaching hospitals because they tend to be more time-consuming and less efficient than a private referral center. So there are many potential reasons for this that do not involve money. You may not have meant to imply this, but honestly, it upsets me that so many people seem to assume everything vets do is out of greed. If we were so focused on money, veterinary medicine is probably the last medical profession we would have gotten into.

 

Sorry, off my soap box. I wish Singh a fast and full recovery and hope that this was just a freak accident.

Edited November 15, 2012 by JJNg

[GeorgeofNE]

I don't think anyone here is trying to alarm anyone--simply asking if all the dots were dotted and the T's crossed.

Of course legs break and sadly many do because of disease-sad truth. Of course everyone here is praying for a good outcome.

 

Exactly--thanks.

 

I have NEVER met a dog, aside from a toy breed who jumped off a bed who just spontaneous broke a leg while home alone. About 40% of osteo cases are not discovered until a leg "spontaneously" breaks.

[kudzu]

I let him outside this morning after breakfast. When I stepped out to see what he was doing he ran at me from across the yard. Yelling at him to slow down had no effect.

 

OY! Guess, he's taught you a little lesson there. You're not the first & certainly won't be the last. Me, my BF & my critter sitter learned the same lesson. You are stuck with leash walking. No way around that. No matter what, do not let him off leash outside & do not use a long leash. I prefer a 4 foot leash for this purpose. Even a 6 foot leash can allow them too much zoomie & bouncy ability when you are protecting an injury. You have my sympathies. Around here we hate keeping dogs on restrictions but have learned the hard way that sometimes slow is fast. Keep that dog slow to help the injury heal as fast as possible.

 

What an ordeal you are going through. Sounds like Singh has a dedicated nursing staff at home. Wishing the best for all of you as you continue on this adventure. May it me more of a boring rather than an exciting one.

[Guest bonnebike]

Surgery + 9 days:

 

Singh went in for a bandage change this morning. The swelling is continuing to go down. His color is normal except from just above the surgery site to his toes. It was nice to see that his toes are almost normal sized now and not giant. They thought his leg was starting to smell a little funky so his leg got a chlorhexidine "bath" and wipe down. The goal was to remove the dead epithelial material and sterilize the surface of his leg. Dr. Ho did a thorough cleaning between his toes.

 

Otherwise Singh is doing fine. Everything else is functioning normally. He still wants to go on walks with Mary, but doesn't complain as much when left behind. He really wants to chew on his bandage now. It may be feeling itchy.

 

 

He's an excellent patient, too. He gets compliments on being such a good boy.