Limping After Splinting

[PatricksMom]

Henry broke his toe and had to be in a hard splint for 5 weeks (maybe too long, although it did heal perfectly). DH did stretching with him every other day when he changed out the cast padding, but despite taking it off for good on Sunday, he's still limping quite a lot, although he'd love to be allowed to run around.

He goes to the vet that specializes in physical therapy/rehab on Saturday, but does anyone have experience with this? Did your pup pick back up more mobility over time?

[greysmom]

Yes. It took a while though. He has to relearn how to walk on all four feet - especially if it was a hind foot. They get around so easily that it just becomes a habit.

 

You should check his foot *very* carefully, including between the toes and the bottom of his foot for pressure or rubbing sores. They can hide really well, so look sharp. Maybe use a flashlight.

 

The PT should really help him regain his 4x4 mobility!

[racindog]

I'm thinking he should be fine-in time. My little girl Cash had a severely broken HOCK that was NOT treated and allowed to heal with a 'twist' so that her poor foot wouldn't even set right on the ground but rather would land on its side. Despite this she did not ever limp on it and absolutely used it -loved running-to where there was no difference in muscle on that leg vs the good leg-which one of her vets marveled about. It was felt that it ultimately led to her death however, because the years of incorrect motion and alignment which resulted from it not having been treated properly and which caused incorrect twisting etc. with movement is thought to have been responsible for a horrible back injury when she was 12 that paralyzed her. So with your boy having had his fracture treated and splinted and fixed right, in time IMO he should be A-OK. It just takes a while, but he should be good as new IMO.

Edited September 20, 2018 by racindog

[PatricksMom]

Had a good visit with the rehab vet today. Mobility is actually fairly good in the foot/wrist but he has injured his shoulder (either from being in the splint, or possibly from limping when he first got it off). So we have home exercises/massages to do and he's going back M/W/S for laser treatment, therapy, and the water treadmill again. His foot/wrist is a bit swollen tonight again, but not hot.

 

She's optimistic we'll see significant improvement this week and full recovery within a month. I hope so, she certainly worked wonders with Leo. Thankfully Henry's a good boy about it all.

 

Thanks for sharing, Leo had a track injury that didn't heal and causes him problems, so I'm paranoid about jumping on problems.

[Hubcitypam]

Both my go to vets absolutely refused to splint broken toes and the said it put the pressure up the leg and made it whose. I'm not a vet and don't play one on TV./ Those were boath loading bearing to that we wrapped.

[PatricksMom]

Both my go to vets absolutely refused to splint broken toes and the said it put the pressure up the leg and made it whose. I'm not a vet and don't play one on TV./ Those were boath loading bearing to that we wrapped.

It's a tough call, but we were weighing Leo's experience, he had a toe break while racing. I don't know if he wasn't treated or what, but it didn't heal properly and it's causes ongoing problems in that whole foot, not just the toe that broke.

 

For anyone reading later and trying to decide with their dog, in hindsight I would have splinted but re-xrayed earlier, to see if it could come off sooner.