Our Whippet Injured

[dragonfly]

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I am so sorry to hear about this dreadful accident. There is a vet called Mr Bartholomew in Oxford, he is a greyhound vet and is very highly thought of by many whippet coursing people for leg injuries. He is an expert . I would definitely call him before putting a cast on. He is kind and knowledgeable. Give him a ring if you can. He is very reasonably priced. I would drive across half the country to take a dog to his practice.

Another route would be a referral to a practice such as Davies White in Hitchin or Dick White Referrals in Newmarket where you get Grade A treatment at a cost. They have the best guys there but it is really expensive. They scan with human equipment, but if you are insured then you will get that paid. Your vet has to refer you if you request it. They have orthopd specialists.

I wish you luck, and hopefully things will seem a little less black in a few days. :luck:

Cathie

 

[CHRIS DOYLE]

I am so sorry to hear about this dreadful accident. There is a vet called Mr Bartholomew in Oxford, he is a greyhound vet and is very highly thought of by many whippet coursing people for leg injuries. He is an expert . I would definitely call him before putting a cast on. He is kind and knowledgeable. Give him a ring if you can. He is very reasonably priced. I would drive across half the country to take a dog to his practice.
Another route would be a referral to a practice such as Davies White in Hitchin or Dick White Referrals in Newmarket where you get Grade A treatment at a cost. They have the best guys there but it is really expensive. They scan with human equipment, but if you are insured then you will get that paid. Your vet has to refer you if you request it. They have orthopd specialists.

I wish you luck, and hopefully things will seem a little less black in a few days. :luck:

Cathie

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I know that Cathie's post was meant mainly for the owners of Tegan but I have made a note of the the names Cathie quotes and have got their websites saved just in case I have to find some one at short notice. Thanks LAMPY :thumbsup:

 

[~elizabeth~]

Mr Bartholomew in Oxford, he is a greyhound vet and is very highly thought of by many whippet coursing people for leg injuries. He is an expert . I would definitely call him before putting a cast on. He is kind and knowledgeable. Give him a ring if you can. He is very reasonably priced. I would drive across half the country to take a dog to his practice.

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I would second that, he has been our vet for quite a few years now and we often meet whippet folk in the waiting room, some coming long distances for treatment. Good luck - let us know how you get on.

 

[Lanakeshena]

Thankyou!! for this recommendation (Andrew Batholomew) a few people have p'md his name to us, Thankyou!! :huggles:

 

[Hilary & Hounds]

Any news Rachel? How is she today? :huggles: :huggles: :huggles: :huggles:

 

[Tony Taylor]

One of our whippies has had an accident this afternoon whilst running, We've just got back from the vets, and it looks like she has snapped both tendons either side of her wrist joint in her front leg, we've been told this is not good and she will always be lame they dont usually heal, in a few days once the swelling has gone down she is having a cast put on it.After that, we'll just have to wait and see, as there is an option to have the joint plated but then she will loose all movement in it, but in the meantime, i have read on other threads that whippets have leg protectors, this maybe a nessecity for her to have on when walking to help support her, Please could anyone tell us how supportive are they? and does anyone know where we can get some from?

Would be grateful for any info at all..

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Hi

One of my whippets had the same injury (unfortunatly she did both wrists at the same time)

I think your options are

1) leave it and hope some repair by scarring gives some stability

2) repair the tendons with wires or polythene fibers

3) plate the joint to make it solid

option 1 is wishful thinking really and will leave a lax joint that offers no support

option 2 would perhaps be ok for a pet dog but if your whippet runs i doubt it will hold. If you look at any of the photos of whippets running where the front leg has landed you'll see why

option 3 will leave the dog lame with a peg leg but IMO will be the strongest repair and the least likely to need revision.

As far as support for the joint goes the are problems with long term use. Whippet skin is very thin and they all rub and cause pressure sores. We had bought splints and custom made splints in fiberglass, poly methyl methacrolate lined with silicone rubber, bandage,meolin, vet wrap etc and they all rubbed over time.

Very sorry about your dog. It's a bad injury and there is no wonderful outcome. If it were my dog I'd plate the joint.

 

[wild whippies]

Bendy foot pik

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v626/wil...=scoobydont.jpg

Wishing your dog the best possible outcome Lanakeshena

 

[~elizabeth~]

This is what it says about treatment in 'Care of the Racing Greyhound' by Linda Blythe:

Rupture of th Extensor Carpi Radialis Tendon and/or the Common Extensor Tendon [i.e tendons that hold the wrist in position]

If both tendons are severed the foot drops at a 90 degree angle to the forearm, since no extensor mechanism remains to counteract the flexor muscles. Should the trainer not realise the nature of the injury with either of the tendons damaged, the greyhound will recover to walk and even race again, but with a greatly reduced performance.

Treatment

Optimum recovery is achieved with surgical repair by suturing the tendon ends together in acute or recently ruptured cases. With long-standing rupture of a single tendon there is a contraction of the muscle and tendon together with adhesions between the severed tendon and adjacent structures. This may create too great a difficulty of repositioning and suturing the tendon back together.

Post surgery a support bandage with a splint or light cast to hold the wrist in extension for 12 to 21 days reduces tension on the sutures and assist healing... Supplemenation with zinc and vitamins A anc C during recovery aids fibrous collagen tissue formation in the healing tendons. Post surgical exercise is limited to 3 weeks of kennel rest, following by 5 weeks of [lead]walking or swimming before returning to work.

This is only what it recommends in this book, I don't know if techniques have changed in the 12 years since this book was published (and there may be other complicating factors that are unknown), vets may have different opinions based on their own experience, but it seems if the problem is treated promptly and correctly, there is a good chance of a positive outcome. Timescales on recovery/rest would probably be more conservative for a pet whippet than a racing greyhound too.

 

[Lanakeshena]

Hi Everyone,

Tegan has been to our vet this morning, and is having an xray tommorrow to establish exactly whats happen, the bruising is now up past her elbow, her leg is so badly bruised, and still swollen, so they wont be putting a cast on as yet.

Thankyou for the information..

Rachel..

 

[wild whippies]

Sorry here's the pik I was referring to

 

[~elizabeth~]

Sorry here's the pik I was referring to

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Slightly off topic, but I've often wondered about that. Studying pics of racing/lurecoursing dogs at this point in their stride (at full pelt) the difference in wrist flexibility between individuals is very striking.

 

[Rae]

Just to add that Holly had very little movement in her wrist for the last 9 years but she compensated by using her shoulder more, so she could still move about quite well, and could still do an hours walk, she just couldnt run about as easily as she can now. Dont worry that her leg would just be a 'prop' she would still be better off with it than without it I think.

They can also fuse the joints together without using a plate but it's quite a nasty op (a ortho specialist will need to do this I presume) - this was one of the things we looked at for Holly. The plus side is that there is no plate left in afterwards.

:luck: to Teagan.

 

[Tony Taylor]

They can also fuse the joints together without using a plate but it's quite a nasty op (a ortho specialist will need to do this I presume) - this was one of the things we looked at for Holly.  The plus side is that there is no plate left in afterwards.
:luck: to Teagan.

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I think the point about using the plate is to fuse the joint.

 

[Rae]

They can also fuse the joints together without using a plate but it's quite a nasty op (a ortho specialist will need to do this I presume) - this was one of the things we looked at for Holly.  The plus side is that there is no plate left in afterwards.

:luck: to Teagan.

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I think the point about using the plate is to fuse the joint.

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That's not how I understood it. I thought they wanted to use a plate to keep the 2 peices together and therefore leave it in permanently? A plate wouldn't actually 'fuse' the joints would it? It would just stablise the leg? (I hope this doesnt come across as me sounding argmentative as I'm not trying to be, I'm genuinely interested)

We looked into having Holly's existing plate removed and instead having an op to fuse her wrist with cartlidge and without the need for a plate. I think the op was called 'ankelise' It was going to be quite gruesome, ie breaking her leg again and putting a lot of cartlidge in the break so that it all fused together when it healed, so we opted just to have the plate out due to her age. At least that's how I understood it. :wacko:

I do think the plates bothered her as she often licked her legs, but hasnt done since they were removed. Mind you, if that's the only option then it has to be.

On a more positive note for Teagan, if her leg does have to be fused, Leia still raced and went lure coursing with a fused wrist. She was slower than previously and was obviously better on one leg than the other, but she led a perfectly normal life. (We will still race her on a straight but I wont lure course her now that she has damaged the tendon again)

 

[Rae]

They can also fuse the joints together without using a plate but it's quite a nasty op (a ortho specialist will need to do this I presume) - this was one of the things we looked at for Holly.  The plus side is that there is no plate left in afterwards.

:luck: to Teagan.

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I think the point about using the plate is to fuse the joint.

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Yes I see what you mean but I thought they wanted to use a plate to keep the 2 peices together and therefore leave it in permanently? A plate wouldn't physically 'fuse' the joints in the true sense of the word would it? (I hope this doesnt come across as me sounding argmentative as I'm not trying to be, I'm genuinely interested)

We looked into having Holly's existing plate removed and instead having an op to fuse her wrist with cartlidge and without the need for a plate. I think the op was called 'ankelise' It was going to be quite gruesome, ie breaking her leg again and putting a lot of cartlidge in the break so that it all fused together when it healed, so we opted just to have the plate out due to her age. At least that's how I understood it. :wacko:

I do think the plates bothered her as she often licked her legs, but hasnt done since they were removed. Mind you, if that's the only option then it has to be.

On a more positive note for Teagan, if her leg does have to be fused, Leia still raced and went lure coursing with a fused wrist. She was slower than previously and was obviously better on one leg than the other, but she led a perfectly normal life. (We will still race her on a straight but I wont lure course her now that she has damaged the tendon again)

 

[Tony Taylor]

They can also fuse the joints together without using a plate but it's quite a nasty op (a ortho specialist will need to do this I presume) - this was one of the things we looked at for Holly.  The plus side is that there is no plate left in afterwards.

:luck: to Teagan.

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I think the point about using the plate is to fuse the joint.

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That's not how I understood it. I thought they wanted to use a plate to keep the 2 peices together and therefore leave it in permanently? A plate wouldn't actually 'fuse' the joints would it? It would just stablise the leg? (I hope this doesnt come across as me sounding argmentative as I'm not trying to be, I'm genuinely interested)

We looked into having Holly's existing plate removed and instead having an op to fuse her wrist with cartlidge and without the need for a plate. I think the op was called 'ankelise' It was going to be quite gruesome, ie breaking her leg again and putting a lot of cartlidge in the break so that it all fused together when it healed, so we opted just to have the plate out due to her age. At least that's how I understood it. :wacko:

I do think the plates bothered her as she often licked her legs, but hasnt done since they were removed. Mind you, if that's the only option then it has to be.

On a more positive note for Teagan, if her leg does have to be fused, Leia still raced and went lure coursing with a fused wrist. She was slower than previously and was obviously better on one leg than the other, but she led a perfectly normal life. (We will still race her on a straight but I wont lure course her now that she has damaged the tendon again)

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As I understand it the point of plating the joint is to support it and prevent movement during the healing phase of the op to fuse the joint. I wouldn't have thought a plate would be sufficient to hold the leg stiff pernamently on it's own.

I would generally agree about having plates out as they cause all sorts of problems and prevent proper healing in fractures.

 

[wild whippies]

Not strictly true, you can't beat the real thing but there are plenty of humans and animals walking about with titanium bone plates inside them that never cause any bother. We used to routinely remove plates following jaw surgery until we realised that they don't always warrant their removal, certainly in recent audits I've done the incidence is usually a 1/3 of patients and if a problem occurs it's almost always within a 5 year period.

However our plates aren't subject to the range of movements and forces that muscles / ligaments etc are with a plate within a leg. The problem with dogs and plating is 5 years is a long time and by the time a problem is evident the dog could be unfavourably too old to cope as well with the operation as say a human 5 years from now.

'ankylosis' is a term used to describe fusing a joint. It's usually done by removing the joints and allowing the bone ends to grow together. I think there is some plating involved but I think they use pins? There are other methods though like packing bone grafts into an area to cause fusion but I suspect in areas where there would be a load beared on the joint, pinning / plating the area prevents any movement of the bone as fusion occurs. Ankyolosis does strengthen the joint but mobility is lost in that area. Hope this helps.

I had a manchester terrier who had to have her leg plated as a pup and she lived to be 14 years old with no problems although I do suspect as she reached her last years she felt the cold a little more in the leg but this could be down to arthritis being slightly more prevalent in that area.

 

[doris]

oh Rachel, poor Tegan and poor you! hoping for positive outcome :luck: :luck:

 

[Lanakeshena]

Tegans xray results have shown all the ligamants have snapped , and she also has fractured her ulna.

She is strapped up lightly to help support her, until the swelling has gone down enough to have a cast put on, early next week.

Our options are much the same as before the xray, and we are waiting to see which is going to be the best one for Tegan. :unsure:

 

[Trish]

poor love,she must be in some pain,all the best to you and her :luck: :luck: :luck: