Why is my dog's fractured hip lumpy and leg flopping after 8 weeks?

Hello, sorry to hear about Max. Given the fact that he is improving, you could continue to monitor him at him and keep him rested to allow him to recover. Young dogs can heal very quickly from injuries such as this one. However, if your veterinarian believes, this injury should have surgery, you should follow their recommendations. Otherwise, continue to do what you are doing as it sounds like Max is slowly getting better. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Poor girl. : ( It sounds like she is tweaking it a bit when she tries to do extrenuous exercise, which is expected, especially since she still has hardware in place in the leg. Her muscles also can grow tired quicker and become inflamed, which can cause some limping after increased movement. This sounds pretty normal at this stage in the healing process. However, if you are noticing any excessive swelling around the area, drainage or signs of infection, then she should be seen by your vet. Otherwise, follow-up your vet as scheduled to check on things and hopefully the leg is healing well via the post surgery x-rays that they will take. I hope that Olly's leg heals well. Best wishes and take care.

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!

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.

I’m not sure there’s much more you can know about the underlying cause of Prancer’s lameness without a radiograph to see the bone. Certainly all the things you mentioned would not help to heal any injury either. The first concern I have is related to the hard area on her hip for some type of mass or cancer. Hopefully it’s not that and it’s unrelated. The fall could have injured the hip/joint and certainly being dropped didn’t help that. She could also have ruptured her cruciate ligament. The fact that she is still lame after two months makes me worried about an injury to the bones or a ligament injury. A trip to the vet for a thorough palpation may give the answer and a radiograph (x-ray) may be needed to look at the bones. At home you are doing the right thing by resting her. Do not allow her jump, go for walks or even use stairs. She needs to be rested. If a fracture is present somewhere however, it needs to be completely immobile and may take 8 weeks to heal (although non union fractures can’t heal properly). There’s not much you can give her to heal bone injuries but omega 3 fatty acid supplements and adding in a joint supplement such as Dasuquin can help to naturally decrease any inflammation. I hope this helps and I hope you get things figured out quickly. Please feel free to post any additional questions you may have. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I suspect that lump is related to the plate removal but I do recommend to call your veterinarian. They may want to see her before three days. Sometimes pets don’t realize that the previously broken leg is fixed. Sometimes there is still residual pain. I recommend to discuss with your veterinarian if physical therapy would benefit Kenya. This will help to retrain her brain to use the leg as well as improve the musculature which will make it more stable. I hope this helps and best of luck.

Please make an appointment to have Tammh seen by a vet as soon as possible. She is likely in pain, and may have a muscular or nerve injury, a fractured bone, a mass, or a foreign body in the leg. Your vet can assess the leg during the physical exam and may recommend x-rays to help determine the cause of Tammh’s limp. Pain medications meant for humans can be very dangerous (and even deadly) for dogs, so I do not recommend giving any to Tammh without consulting with your vet.