My dog has a broken femur. What are the treatment and recovery steps?

Hello. If you follow all instructions from the surgeon & there are no unforeseen complications, then Sophie should have a complete recovery. She will be uncomfortable for awhile, but she is young & young bones heal very quickly. She will probably need to take things easy for 6-8 weeks, but if the break did not penetrate the skin nor involve any joints or growth plates, she should do great. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hip dysplasia means that the dog has poor hip conformation, with the ball of the femur not tight into the hip joint. Due to the joint looseness arthritis usually develops as the dogs age. A hip joint fracture sounds more like it was from a specific injury. With rest a hip fracture should heal over six weeks but if the hip joint is involved then Jenny may get hip arthritis and pain in her hip. Heat will relax her muscles and increase the blood supply to heal the fracture so it is a good thing to do. Please keep her in a small area and take her out only to the bathroom for a month. That will give her the best chance of healing the fracture. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Jenny.

That looks like a pretty nasty fracture. My first recommendation would be orthopedic surgery. The surgeon may recommend plates or other devices to get the bone back in alignment so that it can heal. If that is not an option in your area, then amputation would be my next recommendation. Due to the location, a cast or splint will not provide enough stabilization to allow the edges of the bone to knit back together. If the bones can be re-aligned, a hobble can be attempted, but the failure rate is quite high.

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear that Muneca is limping. Based off the radiograph, it looks like her fibula, the smaller bone in her lower leg, may be fractured. It is difficult to know for sure without an orthogonal view, but that may be the reason for her limping. I recommend restricting her activity to cage rest and leash walks only, do not let her run or play for at least 4 weeks to allow time for the bone to heal. I recommend having her evaluated by a veterinarian who can perform bloodwork and see if it is safe to prescribe her anti-inflammatory pain medications to help her feel more comfortable. NEVER give human pain medications to dogs as they can be markedly toxic. I hope this is helpful!

I am having a little trouble determine what is going on in the elbows. It looks like they are both fractured if these are pictures of different legs. The pelvis is also fractured. Treatment options would depend on the current condition of the pet and the cause for the injuries. Pelvic fractures often heal with strict cage rest for 1-2 months. The fracture of the elbow appears to have affected the joint, and it likely needs surgery to fix or amputation of the leg. If it is in both legs, surgery to fix the fractures is the best option.

Hi, sorry to hear about Penny's injury. Unfortunately orthopedic surgeries are expensive. There is a credit option called Care Credit you can apply for where you get money to use at the vet and pay them back monthly. You can apply on their website. There are many vets in the US who accept this form of payment. Amputation is not a bad option. If you cannot afford the surgery to fix the fracture, the amputation is a lot less expensive. Dogs can do great on three legs! In a few weeks it will be like she doesn't even know there's a difference. She can still run, jump and play like she used to. Good luck, I hope this helps!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sadly that type of fracture should be treated surgically. There is are tendons that attach there and a tension band wire is needed for an avulsion fracture of the olecranon. I would suspect it will not heal. If it has been 3 weeks you should have another X-ray taken to see how it is doing. I wish you the best!