Should I splint my active dog's hairline knee fracture at home?

The bone appears broken to me but without an x-ray it is impossible for me to know for sure. Your vet should sedate him, try to put the bone back in alignment as best he can and then put on a spoon splint (from the elbow down to the toes) to stabilize the bone. That is the best chance at having the bone heal as straight as possible if x-rays and surgery are not possible. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzSIvv5g83E )

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!

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. Generally speaking, young animals heal very fast, especially if the fracture is properly aligned. Six to eight weeks is the average time that we see properly aligned fractures in young animals heal. Sometimes even four to six weeks. I am sorry to hear that you have been affected by the hurricane. If the splint has been on for 6 weeks already, I do start getting concerned about bandage sores and confining the lake for so long without rechecking the leg and changing the splint if needed. The downside with taking the splint off yourself and not doing follow-up x-rays is that the fracture may still be unstable and as soon as that splint comes off, the leg may break again. If finances are a concern I would suggest applying for Care Credit to see if you qualify because you can use Care Credit to pay for veterinary expenses and make payments on a payment plan. If you do not qualify for Care Credit I would suggest checking with the Humane Society to see if someone can check the splint for you. If you are unable to do any of these, and I would suggest waiting one more week with the splint on as long as there are no signs of discomfort with the leg and no signs of sores developing near the edge of the splint where it is taped to the skin. After the additional week of leaving the splint on, you may then remove the splint carefully. I would strongly urge that you cage confine Jackson for an additional one to two weeks following removal of the splint. You still risk read breaking the leg if the fracture site has not healed and without follow-up x-rays there is no way to fully determine how much of the fracture has healed. I hope this helps! Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions or concerns about Jackson. I am also available by phone or text based consultation if needed.

With a broken bone, Biko should not be walking around at all. You need to keep him in a kennel to allow the leg the best chance to heal. He should also be in a splint, not a supportive wrap. He may need sedatives. I recommend to call the veterinarian and tell them what is happening. They can provide a splint as well as sedation for Biko. It will take 6 to 8 weeks for the bone to fully heal. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

The image quality makes it very difficult to see the images in the amount of detail needed to properly assess them, but it does appear that the bone was fractured and is healing. The bone appears to not be healing straight, likely because the leg was not splinted when the fracture first occurred. You should definitely continue to monitor the bandaged/splinted leg. If you notice that Dixie's toes are blue or are cold to the touch the bandage/splint needs to be removed immediately and re-wrapped. I would definitely having a veterinarian re-wrap the bandage/splint as there are special bandaging/splinting techniques and materials used to accomplish different things. Your veterinarian would be the best person to do this to ensure proper healing. I hope this helps and best of luck to both you and Dixie.

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.

Thanks for reaching out about Abby and including photos. The only way to definitively determine if it is fractures is to have a radiograph taken. It could heal on its own, but unlikely to be straight and could become more complicated if left un-stabilized. A veterinary visit is recommended. Good luck.