# confused about a tiny puppy with a broken leg :(



## setareh (Apr 15, 2013)

Hi all, 

Im a bit confused about my lil maltese x puppies broken leg, pup jumped off a couch two weeks ago and broke his front leg. Poor baby was screaming in pain and I raced him to the first vet I could find that was Open at the time. 

Xrays were done up and it was confirmed that lil one had a broken Leg. I have attached a picture of his X ray here too.... 

They definitely gave him an anaesthetic and put a proper cast on. I got him back late the next night. I have googled this so much out of concern for him and I keep reading conflicting stories about casts, splints, pins, screws and plates etc.... vet thinks surgery would just be unnecessary and he said even the pins and screws they make are bigger than his bones at the moment - so its highly unlikely they would even stay in place during this growth phase.... The vet is convinced that it will heal Okay with just a cast because he was only 9 weeks when this all happened and he is entering a big growth phase of his life. Im due for the next x ray in 5 days. I took him last week for a check up on the cast to check for sores, infections etc and he was Okay. 

Does this all sound Okay - and looking at the X ray does this seem to be the best option? I took his Xray to another vet and they said it would need to be casted too. NO mention of surgery either ?

Has anyone had experience with this and did you have a cast, did it work, or was surgery needed later down the track???

Thanks and any advice would be so much appreciated so i can stop freaking out about the poor little guy  

PS he does not seem in pain and is so happy and chewing on everything in site!!


----------



## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

It's common and almost always successful with young puppies with a fracture of just one of the bones in the foreleg to cast or splint instead of pinning. Young puppies this age heal fractures very well (some surgeons joke that the ends of the bones just need to be in the same room together) and the other bone helps keep the fractured one stable.


----------



## setareh (Apr 15, 2013)

Thanks sassafras, that is comforting news! I may have read into it too much for my own good!!


----------



## FarmerMee (May 4, 2013)

I am going through the same thing and stumbled across your posts while trying to research our issue. My 8 week old Pomeranian did the same thing, jumped off the sofa and broke his forearm. He however broke both the radius and ulna. He was sent to an Orthopedic Surgeon immediately after seeing the vet and they casted him. I have been going back every week for a new cast and check up and we are now 3 weeks in. Today he will get X-Rays to see how he is healing. I was told that there are 3 possible outcomes. 1. They will move him to a soft cast today if all is well, 2. they will have to do surgery and place pins and a metal brace on the outside or 3. if the blood flow is or was restricted and the arm is not healing then they will amputate the leg. Last week the surgeon was reluctant to say too much until they X-Ray him, but they did measure his arms and they were equal in length and she said that is a good sign as the leg would not be growing equal to the good arm, but still reluctant to say too much. I am worried, but staying positive that all will be well. I think you are "luckier" as your pup only broke one bone. I will post back after we return from the Surgeon and let you know his next course of action.


----------



## setareh (Apr 15, 2013)

Hi farmermee

Sorry to here about your pom. That's so unfortunate. 

My pup is doing much better now thank god. 

We took him in 3.5 weeks ago for an xray and the bone was in a perfectly straight line. We were over the moon!

The vet re cast it with lots of soft padding so he had room to grow . 

We kept that cast on for two weeks ( in total he had a cast for 4.5 weeks) 

He went back just last Thursday and had another x ray which looked great and te cast removed. 

He is still limping very badly and yelps if he gets his nails stuck in anything!! 
It looks like his muscles definitely need to develop further where he had the cast on. The other leg has much more muacle mass. 

Vet said this is normal for a few weeks and to get him some exercise and movement. 

It's such a worrisome time especially when they mention or you read about the amputation etc !! 

I sent the X-rays off to a surgeon the day of my initial post here , to get another opinion. 

He called me and said he wanted to put pins in it and do surgery and sent me a quote for $3000. He said if j wanted my dog to have a good quality life this was the option!!! I am so happy I listened to my vet in the end. 

My dog is so happy and playing around like nothing happened at all. 

Their Lil bones are just so tiny and they are still growing so hopefully you don't need to go through surgery this is what my vet kept telling me all the time! 

When is your next x ray ??? that was out turning point when we stopped freaking out so much!!! 

We had our 2.5 weeks after cast was set then 2 weeks after another xray.


----------



## setareh (Apr 15, 2013)

Sorry just saw you are having X-rays today oops ! Let us know how you go 

Good luck!


----------



## FarmerMee (May 4, 2013)

setareh, so glad to hear your pup is doing well!

We had great news yesterday, the bones are healing very well and he was moved to a soft cast and the splint was removed so he can start bearing weight on the leg. He is on very restricted activity so that he doesn't refracture the leg, but he must know this as he has been so calm all day yesterday and this morning. They will keep him in the soft cast for the next 3 weeks and change out the soft cast each week to keep it clean.

I didn't get to speak to the surgeon yesterday, but the radiologist said "That is the great thing about puppies, they heal so fast and so well". So why did they scare the living daylights out of me? Why couldn't someone have just said that in the beginning? LOL


----------



## setareh (Apr 15, 2013)

Yay!! That Is such good news, you must be relieved after all that! :whoo:

Yeah I know... Depends on who u talk to as well I think. Our vet was positive because of his young age and healing quickly but the surgeon was so negative on his reports and just wanted to do surgery  

Does he have to wear the little head cone?! Our poor Lil fella had one on for weeks made him a bit unhappy but he kept pulling all the padding out. 

Im finding It's very hard to keep them on restricted activity! Mine has been inside all the time but he gets these very sudden energy bursts where e will just start tearing around the carpet in circles!!! He goes crazy for a few minutes then sleeps again lol


----------



## FarmerMee (May 4, 2013)

setareh, He never had to wear a head cone and I kept a puppy rain boot on him when he would go out for potty. Last week he started chewing the cast and pulling out the stuffing and the Vet recommended putting a sock over the cast to keep him from chewing it and pulling out the stuffing. So far it is working.

It is really difficult keeping him restricted because he has so much puppy energy. He is doing the same as your pup, gets these burst, tears up the carpet, terrorizes our other animals and family member's feet then passes out. He gets a little aggressive at this time too, so I have been putting him into his crate when he gets too crazy and starts biting everyone. He calms right down. Another new trick I discovered a few days ago, I have a long sweater coat that I wrap him in and cocoon him close to my body and it shuts him right down. He becomes very docile. I have been carrying him around like this for the last few days so he doesn't run wild and re-injure the leg. Although, he has been calmer than usual since they removed the splint and put him into the soft cast. Either his instincts know that he cannot run around or maybe it is he is maturing and getting better acclimated to our home ????? We have only had him a little over 3 weeks and this fracture occurred the day after we brought him home. He just turned 11 weeks a few days ago.

It has been very challenging and exhausting to say the least, but have learned a lot through this experience!


----------



## edrivick (Dec 26, 2020)

My 9 week old golden doodle also fractured front leg...just from running in the house. She gets crazy and toppled over. I am also so worried about it healing properly and I'm hoping she recovers completely. I also have a hard time limiting activity. Did your dogs have a complete recovery?


----------



## LeoRose (Aug 20, 2015)

The OP hasn't been on since this thread. 

If your vet has said to limit activity, you need to crate your puppy, and use a leash for potty trips.


----------

