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dog with failed elbow fracture what would you do


jcbbracken
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i have a 8 year old male lab who is very fit weighs 26kg  has had fractured elbow surgery 3 months ago now has arthritis in the elbow

has just started walking on 3 legs been to the vets and they seem to think one of the screws has come loose  so might have to have 

full surgery to fix so back to 3 5 min walks a day for a further 4 months  or should i have the leg taken off get rid of the arthritis and he will be

running about within  a month what would you do

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21 minutes ago, jcbbracken said:

i have a 8 year old male lab who is very fit weighs 26kg  has had fractured elbow surgery 3 months ago now has arthritis in the elbow

has just started walking on 3 legs been to the vets and they seem to think one of the screws has come loose  so might have to have 

full surgery to fix so back to 3 5 min walks a day for a further 4 months  or should i have the leg taken off get rid of the arthritis and he will be

running about within  a month what would you do

They should know.

The best person to answer your question would be a vet who specialises in that type of injury.

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1 hour ago, bruno22rf said:

I assume the second operation will be free as they messed up the first? Give it another go - if I were local I would walk him for you - what choice would you make if it was your child? Arthritus can be controlled.

no will be £2000 plus £380 for x ray   they would say i have over excercised him

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Good luck with whatever you decide. My large strain ESS at 26+ kg is very fit - too fit probably for her 11 years which is why she detached a cruciate ligament from the bone. The bone was re-profiled and the ligament re-attached. The 5 day post op check was good but then she made very little progress and I started to worry so held back on increasing the exercise regime as was specified. But then, just one day before the 4 week check she became much better. The check was good and the ligament is holding firm - it was the possibility that this might not have been the case which was worrying me. Now just a few days later she's walking on all four with just the occasional 'hop' and is more than ready for the off so needs keeping in check for another two months. In our case it's me with the arthritis and she's playing hell with my rotator cuff now she's feeling a tad more perky.

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2 hours ago, jcbbracken said:

no will be £2000 plus £380 for x ray   they would say i have over excercised him

Ask them to prove that - unless you told them directly of course that you had been pushing him. To my mind the screw should not have come out - I'm guessing none of the others did? If they dont play ball I would explain to them that you will have the operation carried out by another vet and ask his opinion - of he thinks the screw was poorly fitted you will sue for the cost of the second operation. Labs are, generally, large and heavy - how can him walking a little too far cause the screw to fail, it should have been more substancial or supported?

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brother broke his arm many years ago elbow shattered upper arm plated watch turn over in bed while asleep  his arm flopper about and the pain on his face      a different surgeon tightened the screws afterwards  no problem to date      could be didnt have a good grip on the screwdriver and didnt know when bottomed out    maybe a tighten up  jobbie    job not done properly another vet needed   or a redo  no charge     

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10 hours ago, bruno22rf said:

Ask them to prove that - unless you told them directly of course that you had been pushing him. To my mind the screw should not have come out - I'm guessing none of the others did? If they dont play ball I would explain to them that you will have the operation carried out by another vet and ask his opinion - of he thinks the screw was poorly fitted you will sue for the cost of the second operation. Labs are, generally, large and heavy - how can him walking a little too far cause the screw to fail, it should have been more substancial or supported?


They can’t prove he over exercises they dog, just like the OP would look a fool suggesting the vet used the wrong size screw for the job. 
 

No surgery is guaranteed. It’s not like they just go get a box of screws from Homebase and think “those look about the right size”. 
 

It’s unfortunate the screw has come loose, it’s very unlikely to be negligent, and making threats of suing the practice is only going to end up with the OP falling out with his vets, and if he goes down that route would most likely cost him solicitor fees with no chance of getting anywhere. 
 

They don’t make you sign all those forms before doing anything for nothing. 
 

 

 

Now the OP has to decide what he wants to do. The dog is 8 years older. It’s for what, 2-4 years left? On one hand it might be better off with all 4 legs, but I’d say chances of Arthritis and pain (especially when cold) are most likely high. 
 

Taking the leg off might put extra pressure on the other legs, but the dog may not live for years and years anyway. Sorry to be blunt just got to be realistic with these kind of things. 
 

I recently had my 11 year old lab PTS. She had a growth and they offered to take the leg off but I didn’t think she would survive the surgery. 

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Vets need to be responsible for their work, end of. Should he spend another £2k and simply hope that the same doesn't happen again? NO - the vet had a job to do i.e. repair the Dogs leg and he has failed to do so - in fact he has made it worse by increasing the recovery time. People treat vets like gods and think they can do no wrong but they can, and do, and are accountable for such mistakes. £380 for an X-Ray!!! - you can see what kind of vet we are talking about here, mine charges £140 which is still a rip off - many years ago I did voluntary work for ,what became, St Tiggywinkles - Les Stocker had an old X-Ray machine that he had been given by a local Hospitol - to take an image cost pennies.

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1 hour ago, bruno22rf said:

Vets need to be responsible for their work, end of. Should he spend another £2k and simply hope that the same doesn't happen again? NO - the vet had a job to do i.e. repair the Dogs leg and he has failed to do so - in fact he has made it worse by increasing the recovery time. People treat vets like gods and think they can do no wrong but they can, and do, and are accountable for such mistakes. £380 for an X-Ray!!! - you can see what kind of vet we are talking about here, mine charges £140 which is still a rip off - many years ago I did voluntary work for ,what became, St Tiggywinkles - Les Stocker had an old X-Ray machine that he had been given by a local Hospitol - to take an image cost pennies.

thanks for all your replys  but it is all ifs and buts at the mo x ray will be done on thursday  morning  9.15  see whats happens on the day will keep you

informed

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On 08/11/2020 at 08:54, jcbbracken said:

thanks for all your replys  but it is all ifs and buts at the mo x ray will be done on thursday  morning  9.15  see whats happens on the day will keep you

informed

a decent vet would offer to go in and make it right    then he would learn from his mistakes as any other trade does     as with my brother a small incision to get to each screw  tighten up and stitch no dramas     not open from shoulder to elbow as before 

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11 hours ago, Saltings said:

a decent vet would offer to go in and make it right    then he would learn from his mistakes as any other trade does     as with my brother a small incision to get to each screw  tighten up and stitch no dramas     not open from shoulder to elbow as before 

if the screw has come loose i would say fracture has broke as  well you can feel  play  in the fractured area

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Let your vet deal with it after the x-ray on Thursday. Things will be clearer then,,,, no guessing what might/could have happened. At the end of the day you need to do the best thing for the dog, not for yourself 👍 Hope all works out well 😉

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