Sweetest little puppy on earth now has a badly broken leg

[dewey]

Poor little innocent baby. She's the most gentle, loving, sweetest little puppy and weighs 4 pounds and is 5 months old now. She's had the best life ever since she was rescued literally out of trying to dodge traffic on a busy hot street as a starved, dehydrated, 5-6 week old baby, and we've all been so careful to make sure she's had the best of care and never known pain or hunger or fear since that almost fatal day...and now she's in pain and has a long miserable recovery ahead all because a careless adult stepped on her. Here's the little angel just after arriving home from the emergency vet and still heavily medicated. Today she began to give us kisses again.

 

[RHRanch]

Thats so sad.... I broke my own dogs toe when I shut it in a door.... Accidents happen, but I still feel bad about it 5 years later.

 

[dewey]

Glad your pup was ok, and I can imagine how feeling bad about things like this would hang around for a long time if not forever.

The ER vets were saying the same thing that accidents happen and to try not to be too hard on the person that did it. Jury's out on that one in this case, lol.

Both bones are broken, and not clean breaks. They say it'll be 4 months weekly treatment if everything goes perfectly, with them changing the cast/splint 1x every week (or immediately as an emergency situation if it ever gets wet), and new xrays every other week. It has to be wrapped with plastic to keep it dry to avoid mishaps while drinking and potty mishaps. She has to be held and carried constantly like a newborn human infant because there can be no pressure on the leg. She's so confused about the zero-mobility and all the potty stuff with her having to be held during everything. A wiggly-squiggly sometimes messy puppy being physically contained 24/7 is no easy task and it must feel like some sort of punishment to her.

We have pre-loaded syringes of pain meds and anti inflammatories which she gets every 8 hours and we hope helps with the pain. Most of all we just hope she heals up ok from this type of break.

 

[Mountain Man Jim]

This is really sad. At least she's young and will probably recover well. I can't believe someone could step on a little creature like this. I bet that was a horrible event.

Jim

 

[dewey]

Thank you....it was horrible. She was scooped up instantly and immediately rushed to the ER clinic. And yep, you're right, she has a better chance of healing being so young...the docs said if breaks like that happen to older dogs they don't heal. We've had tiny dogs forever and never once stepped on them or injured them because we're careful, and I know accidents do happen, but someone's, in my book, total carelessness with a tiny baby that caused such a terrible injury to her is not something I'll ever get over or get past. Ever.

 

[Mountain Man Jim]

I’m sure your puppy will recover just fine.

One of the must awful events I’ve experience was when my sisters Boxer slipped on our stairs and broken his leg. He wailed in pain and was biting use in frustration was we immediately tried to carry him to a car to drive to the emergency vet. Thank goodness we have such great veterinarian services in this day and age. He recovered just fine but, was very wary of stairs and such.

Jim

 

[dewey]

Thanks so much. I'm so glad to hear your Sis's boxer healed up good -- how awful for him, and awful for you to witness...those wails of pain and distress are something that's branded into one's mind. Totally understand how he'd have a stair aversion after that. Poor baby.

Years back some guy drove wildly into my property and ran over my dog. Fractured her shoulder and leg. An awful thing, and a long painful drive to the vet at that time. She was young and healed up mostly alright.

Yesterday the puppy's cast slipped down a little. She was already pre-scheduled to have it changed yesterday so it worked out ok.

 

[dewey]

Adding...and it was really good news from her regular vet yesterday. They believe she should heal in 4 weeks (not 4 months minimum). They put a different style cast on her and it also goes up to her shoulder and encloses her toes for stability. Her weekly cast changes will be on mondays.

She's so gentle and loving...not once at the ER clinic nor at the regular vet has she whimpered or whined no matter what they've been doing to her. Yesterday while DD held her during the cast change, sweetie-pie puppy just looked the other way and gave kisses the entire time to a tech that had came in to get a dose of lovins from her. She is just precious and stole our hearts, and anyone's that meets her, from moment one.

 

[theathomemom]

Hate to hear about your baby. We are currently in week 3 of our 4-6 week splint for a broken leg. Our 6 week old lab broke her front leg the day after we got her and we have been nonstop with the vet ever since. It is a lot harder that one would think to keep the bandage clean and dry and ON. Especially with puppies because you can't keep them still. Luckily with ours both of the bones fractured but were still aligned and she is able to walk (to go potty and to go eat) putting light pressure on that leg. Good luck with your puppy!
Word of advice-when they say keep it covered when she goes potty and keep her in her crate, it is best to just do it. We tried so many ways around doing what they told us to do because we hated to keep her stuck in there. And unfortunately, the dogs leg will sweat under the bandage so pay attention that it is not wet underneath. That is a little harder to notice but we had to go through that and she actually ended up with a sore under her splint that had to have cream put on it. It's easy to make sure it isn't wet on the outside but make sure if you notice any strange smells that you take her in right away. The tape that is on the under-side of the splint pulls at puppys sensitive skin and can cause tiny sores and because that area stays covered it is a breeding ground for bacteria. You won't know it is infected until you smell it (this sounds bad I know). We tried to make a splint last one more day because she was due to be changed the next day and ended up at the ER vet all night. Its so hard with our fur-babies to know when you are making the right decisions because they can't tell you whats wrong. Good luck! Hope she heals super fast!

 

[dewey]

Hey

!

And thank you! I'm so sorry about your little puppy, and I hope she recovers well! So totally agree...when it happens to a puppy it's like caring for a newborn human baby...tons of 24/7 care needed.

OMgosh, yes, moisture is an emergency that can set off a chain of terrible events. Even with the best fanatical care they can still develop infection from skin moisture under the cast. I'm glad to hear your little girl is coming along ok after that. Her developing a sore has been one of our biggest concerns and we hope

it doesn't happen (my close human-friend has spent a couple of years+ in the hospital from bed sores that have ended in out of control infections and bone removals)...we've seen where things can lead and we abide by instructions carefully.

Since day one, she is 100% of the time either held in our arms, being held to do her business, or in crate rest, no exceptions, and although we always crate train, it's still hard to know she has to be in there unless we are holding her. She does get held

most of the time, though. The docs backed her off the pain meds just a little because she was becoming harder to rouse when she dozed off in her crate.

Wishing your little puppy a full, speedy recovery! (And some rest for you...it's a lot of work!)