Cooks Hill Veterinary Clinic: March Hero of the Month

Meet Teddy

Teddy is a seven-month-old male Labradoodle.

Teddy presented to us late February with a sore front left leg. Teddy was sedated and given some nice opiate pain relief and had some x-rays taken. Teddy had a complete mid-shaft fracture of the radius and ulna (see x-ray 1) in his left front leg.

Teddy was given more pain relief (methadone, fentanyl and some others!) and his leg was placed in a supportive bandage and surgery was booked for the following day. Teddy was a little bit high, but comfortable while surgery was organised to repair the broken leg.

Dr Darren performed corrective surgery on the left front leg. This involved realigning the bones and placing a metal plate to the front surface of the radius bone, the plate was fastened by some screws through the bone, and a wire was placed around the bone to secure a small fragment in place (see x-ray 2). Teddy’s skin was stitched closed and some more pain management medication and some antibiotics were given to make sure no infection occurred.

Teddy was then looking at a recovery period of approximately 8 weeks, during which time he would require continued support and home care to ensure a successful outcome.

After surgery home care can consist of; crate confinement to give the bone time to heal, the cone of shame so Teddy can’t lick the wound, bandage changes every 3-5 days (as required), exercise restrictions for 8 weeks, no access to slippery flooring or stairs, no playing with other animals, no running, no jumping, controlled walking (be on a leash), anti-inflammatory medications, nutritional supplements for joint support.

Excessive activity can result in poor healing or complications.

Teddy has been so brave during his recovery period, and has been healing very well. It's almost like nothing happened.