Hi all My 6 1/2 month old Poppy has a greenstick fracture and is now needing to be crated for several weeks. She and I had an unfortunate outing last friday where she had a rough interaction with a young male dog, which we suspect was the cause but not for certain. She walked away from that with no apparent problem, and had a walk that evening. It was the next morning she woke up lame. Her injury is in the right front shoulder and x-rays point to a fracture with no bone displacement. She also has mild pink eye which is also frustrating, trying to administer eye drops without having her do anything abrupt with shoulder. All in all feeling like a real bad spell! I'm trying to find novel new chewing things for her and the pet store recommended raw beef bones. She loves them, has had 2, and her bowels have been fine. But was just reading on the site here about risks with bones and blockages (potentially) so am not feeling really good now about these...... I'm using stuffed kongs with wet food, bully sticks, peanut butter. Any advice and tips about how you have dealt with extended crating with an injury would be appreciated! Thanks, Lisa
Maggie broke her shoulder running into a pvc pipe out of house and had to be crated for much longer than your having. You will need to stay tough. Don't get weak and think she will settle with you out of crate, esp after being stuck in there, in a split second she may take off and jump up and down off things out of frustration and her injury won't heal as fast/good. It will be frustrating for you all. Look around at different links you can still do some fun things with her. I would keep her on leash inside and hide her food under cups, if you have the time this is fun and mentally wears them out, its also great because you can practice the down stay at the same time. Yes the stuffed Kongs were great I had to watch pb though it made her extra thirsty and she had to drink even more. Maybe a no salt one. But it will be hard because you obv don't want her up and down with the shoulder. I did play really soothing music at different times of day to help her stay calm and sleepy. The vet also gave me a calming med. She suggested 1 pill (50 g) but I only had to give her 1/4 pill to take the edge off. I didn't do every day just days she was so wound up, if I had to give another 1/4 pill I did, but never had a full one. The first 2 weeks she had nothing, and she was going crazy in crate which I thought was harder on shoulder jumping all around in there, and pawing to get out. Good luck!
Thanks for the feedback backtoblack. The first few days she was not wanting to move and that was easy, and then the sedation drugs for x-ray made her very inactive. But yesterday she was feeling a bit back to herself and was wanting to do something so now we are keeping her strictly crated and when out, on leash and with eagle eyes. The concern with her is to not have anything cause hers to fully fracture. Thanks for tip about calming med as that may be helpful route to go if she gets too worked up. I'm curious if Maggie had a splint? And how long did she need crating for her break? Our vet consulted with radiologist and orthopaedic specialist with xrays - and they had different reccomendations for treatment. I decided after consulting with vet not to go with splint (recommended by ortho sp.) as these can be problematic. The radiologist recommended conservative treatment, ie. crating and pain meds.
Sorry it was a 100mg tab of trazodone but 1/4 was just enough to all her. This happened back in feb. My first vet took X-rays and said at her age 2 weeks total kennel rest. She had pain meds but she did not show any signs of discomfort after the first few days. No limp no nothing. I went back for another X-ray and she said it was much worse. She talked about strapping (tucking up her arm) but didn't, I didn't like the sound of that anyway. She called a friend surgeon and showed him texts of the X-rays and said she would need surgery that the muscle was pulling away from bone and sticking out now... she would need this piece put in her shoulder etc. Even went as far to say I would never be able to do any agility with her. This all just didn't sit well with me, so I got a referral to a neighbors vet. Totally different opinion. said she was not reading the X-ray correctly. There was no muscle pulling away from bone. an X-ray after 2 weeks will appear to be worse (he went into more detail but I can't recall exactly) he said it was healing totally fine but he wanted her to be in crate another 4 weeks.After the 4 weeks he re x-ray and he said she looked to be healing exactly like she should, he couldn't see anything wrong but he wanted another week just to be safe this was more relaxed she didn't have to be crated unless I couldn't calm her and then after that nothing crazy, no long walks etc The first couple feet flying tail tuck runs around the yard or jumping up and down off something had me cringing, she jumped through the air and it was quite a leap, so he said jokingly "well I guess she passed the stress test" It was hard keeping her somewhat settled after being in a crate so long. She is doing perfect now. She has never limped after the first few days. So glad I got a 2nd opinion. puppy growing so fast heal fast, but obv not to the first vets "text book says 2 weeks fast sorry so long
Again thanks for response. Your comments about your experience are helpful & help me process what the vets and specialists have been telling me here....it's a bit frustrating the differing opinions when sorting out the diagnosis and treatment. I would have thought it would be more straightforward reading x-rays. For Poppy's greenstick fracture I'm being told 2-3 weeks but I am feeling like being more conservative and doing 3 to 4. Especially with the variable opinions. One of the specialists did say that too that she had age on her side and that young bones just want to heal.
Sounds like a nightmtare situation. I raw feed so my dog has a lot of bones as part of his diet and have never had a problem with bowels and blockages. I am careful to balance with boneless meals though. Try to get hold of lamb or venison necks and spines (my butcher gives them away) they're nobbly and challenging to eat so keep them busy for longer.
Yes, and Maggie was much younger so lots of growing to do, that 3-5 months was a lot for her. Im not sure they are hard to read...she was just not as experienced as the older gentleman. He was definitely cautious but we both know how hard thee labs go! For me the extra time was such a piece of mind, and in the long run it will have been worth no surgery, that was just not a risk I was willing to take.
Poppy really loves the raw bones and I've decided that while she is rehabilitating to let her have them a few times a week. It is the only thing that she will be occupied with for half an hour at least.
Yes that will be good, the frozen things in the Kongs seem to last equally as long. Rotate things so not to let the bored of that. Bully sticks where a hit, I would get the super thick long one so I wasn't always worried she would swallow it. Hows it going? Feels like its never going to end doesn't it
It's going to be a long month ahead..... argh. Overall she's being pretty agreeable, as long as I keep giving her a steady stream of chew treats and visits. Rangy though. When she comes out of the crate I have to be on her. Not surprising Sadly she's lost interest in the bully sticks at the moment. She's always been a bit fickle with treats and toys and needs a lot of variety and rotation. But there is only so many things I have to offer. A frustrating side effect of this is that the progress we had made with her fears/phobias has been affected. Being contained in the crate now , appears to have lessened her confidence. Anyhow, that will be addressed again when the shoulder heals! Trying to take it one day at a time and not be too doomed. After a week of rest she is now walking almost completely normal which is really nice to see.
She goes through that with chews, but never seems to tire of a stuffed kong Did you ask the vet about something to calm/take edge off? Maggie has some of the fear thing. Using the LAM helps but some days I can not get her attention. Tomorrow we will do it with sardines what a mess. The better she feels the harder to keep her under control. I feel your pain,lol
The vet did not suggest anything for calming her, however, I have some trazadone that I didn't end up using for her phobias a few months ago, which I may give a try. Tomorrow is a raw bone day for her so I am super excited ..... ha
