Sydney had an unfortunate accident that broke her beautiful leg.
We took her immediately to emergency care where she got a pretty pink cast. Very soon afterwards she had surgery to install a metal plate which was supposed to insure optimal recovery and perhaps full use of her leg.

After just two weeks of carefully following the doc's orders to the letter
which said to keep her housebound and ice and do daily therapy to the hip and the leg itself, she was recovering nicely when one morning without warning, not a yelp, no dangerous activity (We were never told to keep her COMPLETELY SEDATE AND STILL and perhaps CONFINE her to her kennel!!!) she started to limp again.

An X-Ray confirmed the doctor's worst fear (it would never occur to me that it COULD break) the plate broke at its weakest point...right over the break on the femur where there was a hole where a screw would have gone!!!

The doctor had put the thinnest part of the plate over the weakest part of Sydney's leg!

Rather than spend money getting another plate which was likely to have the same results as the first time, we opted to amputate with a different orthopedic surgeon at Harrison Animal Hospital and it was the hardest decision of my LIFE, causing much anxiety and depression!

She just came home moments ago, and as scared as I was to see her and as alarming as it is to hear her whimper, I and all the rest of the family love her just the same. It is very frightening, so it's good to be able to read other's similar stories.

Wednesday May 23, 2007

This is Harley.
We adopted him when he was 2.5 months old. He is a Great Pyrenees mix. At about 3.5 months, my son got tangled up with Harley while he was on his leash and fell on top of him. Harley let out the most horrible cry I've ever heard. That was on a Friday night. He was limping, holding his front right leg up.

The next day, I took him to the vet and after some x-rays she said she needed one more view which he would need to be sedated for because of the pain it would cause him. After the radiologist viewed the x-rays, it was found that he had a fracture to his growth plate.

The vet said surgery was possible, putting pins in, more surgeries ($5000 - $10,000) and no guarantees that he would ever be able to use the leg again or be pain free. She suggested amputation.

I immediately agreed, since this seemed like the best option for him. He had his surgery a few days later and came home after 2 days. She said he was the best patient. She called me and told me to "come and pick up my goofy dog." He wanted to run around and play and wanted out of his crate!

It has been about 6 weeks since his surgery, and he is doing great! He is a little slow in the mornings, but once he gets going, he is good. He loves to play and wrestle with Dixie, one of our other dogs (4 total).

I worry about his remaining front leg because of the weight he is putting on it. We have all hardwood floors and he slips a lot. I am looking into solutions for that.

I've had people tell me I should have put him down, but no way!
He is a big sweetie and a big old lover of a dog. He'll be fine!

Kat
Thursday May 24, 2007