Tuesday, March 29, 2011

FOLLOW UP ON DRU'S TOE

Thanks for all the inquiries about the condition of Dru’s toe. She is doing quite well.

We were back in the vet on Friday for her 4 week follow up and they took new x-rays to see how the bones were healing. They look fantastic! So, big sigh of relief, no amputation is necessary. There was however, one break clearly seen on the x-ray that was not healing well that the vet was a little concerned about. I flashed back to the previous weekend when I was just getting home and the girls were doing their happy to see me dance, Dru let out a yelp and limped for the next few days. My suspicion was that one of the other girls stepped on her foot. The vet agreed, it probably caused one of the healing fractures to re-break. She’s grounded for another 4 weeks, but well on her way to recovery. Yeah!

Come to find out, after much research, the soft bandage is thought to be the best way to treat a broken toe in a greyhound; in particular because of the anatomy of a grey. As you know, there is so little fat on them that they are pretty bony. Those bony protrusions, wrists, knuckles, etc, tend to rub raw with a hard cast which in turn lends to open sores under the casting material. So the first week in a soft cast is tough while they knock it on everything, but in the long run it works out better. Which is what my vet said originally. Hmmmm… perhaps he knew what he was talking about after all. (I tend to question the experts, only to be proven wrong, time and time again. Sigh.)

My vet also prescribed something called Recovazon. It is a natural remedy that promotes the healing of bones. I truly believe giving it to Dru is the reason her seven jumbled bits of broken bone were formed into a cohesive unit in only 4 weeks. So for those of you who know of a dog or person (It is used for humans as well.) who breaks a bone in the future; I highly recommend it.

3 comments:

Sue said...

What big teeth you have:)

houndstooth said...

I never heard of the Recovazon, but our Blueberry was in her splint for a good eight weeks. Her bone broke into three places. I can't imagine seven! Poor Dru! We were lucky not to have any rebreaks, too! Poor Dru again! Give that brindle sweetie a kiss on the head from me. I am glad to hear that things are progressing normally for her!

Hiking Hounds said...

Wow, seven fractures, that's lots of healing. I'm glad she is doing well.