need advice on helping my girl's leg heal

[da kang3]

i have a now 9 month old rott/chow mix. our problem is we have all tile floor and she has a really hard time catching traction when she is following us. if we walk slow enough she most of the time does not slip and fall all over the place. but normally we walk at a normal pace, which she runs all over the house at trying to see what we are doing and whatnot.
the problem occured about 4 months ago when she was running and fell and her back legs did the splits. we took her to the vet cause she would not walk on that leg unless she was really excited, she's always excited, and they gave us some medicine to numb the pain. well she interprets that as her leg being better and goes to running around again. is there anything we can do to help keep her from running so much and helping her leg heal. the vet said she had a slightly fractured knee bone or something like that. any advice would be appreciated. thanks

[dirtyj70]

I have tile in a large portion of my apartment. I put down long non skid runners in the hallways, atrium and before the door to the veranda.

The rugs deifinitely help. I have 4 running at me when I get home and it's a race as to who will muckle me first!

[targonrotts]

did they do an xray to verify what is wrong?
if the injury was recent, you might need to cage rest her or get some running mats for the floor to help her keep her traction to avoid more slips and falls.

[targonrotts]

sorry. re-read your post and you say it happened 4 months ago?
did she go and get a recheck to see if it healed?
regardless, it is best to get some king of running mats or rubber backed throw rugs to help her keep her traction while in the house.
make sure she gets exercise to help rebuilt her leg muscles such as walking and swimming.

[da kang3]

she does a lot of running and some swimming when we go to the lake. but she will start limping again i'm guessin if she comes down on it wrong. does anyone know of places that sell rubber backed throw rugs. we need them for our whole house becasue the whole house floor is tile. we went and bought some rugs temporarily and they are okay, but we need a lot more space covered.

and yes we had her leg x-rayed to verify what was wrong. i know what part of her leg exactly it is, i just cant remember the name of the part or describe it very well. thanks for the help so far

[Ninasmom]

Chows are notorious for having bad knees, due to the stiffness in gait. You might want to ask your vet about seeing an Orthopedic doctor. If it was four months ago and still not healed, she could have permanent trouble.

[Anne]

This dog needs to see an orthopedic specialist. Also get some carpet rugs to put on the floor. I have timber floors in my house and have rugs and carpet runners all through the house.

My girl suffered blown cruciate ligaments for which she had surgery. There is no way I will put any of my dogs at risk by leaving slippery floors without carpet rugs. Though I am not keen on the look of all these rugs and runners, the dog's welfare comes first.

How does the vet know she has a 'slightly' fractured bone if xrays were not done? You need to do further investigations here as the condition will worsen as she gets older if nothing is done at this stage to correct the problem. Then there is her pain issue.

[da kang3]

i said x-rays were taken. thanks ninasmom. i will have to see if we have an orthopedic vet around so i can have her looked at. thanks

[StephanieandToby]

You can get rubber runner mats at any janatorial outlet or Home Hardware...it comes in rolls.
Or...you can get the small ones at almost any department store.

I would suggest keeping your dog on a leash and not letting her overdo it because she's feeling a bit better... that's the downside of pain meds....dogs stop resting because they feel better.

Good luck!

[brunie's mom]

We took out all of our carpeting and put in hardwood floor. I HATE it...the poor dogs have been skittering around like they are on a skating rink.

I went to Walmart and bought a bunch of rugs 6'x8', and a bunch of rubber backed runners. The runners are 5' long each. Our beautiful floors are all covered up with rugs and runners now and the dogs love it once again.

I think your dog may have a partial tear to the ACL? If so she needs crate rest, and only quiet leash walks...so that it can heal. Also getting her started on glucosamine/chodroitin may also help.

I would not be letting this go on...arthritis will be setting in and the poor dog may end up crippled. Go buy a bunch of rubber backed runners, and some baby gates to put up in your house...so that she can not go running around like a maniac.

Gina

[Jake3 mom]

ANNE ,

My 3 year old male has also suffered a cruciate ligment tear resulting in the total destruction of his knee...the misnescis as well he has had the surgery and is doing great after 4 months but is not back to 100% i was just wonder how llong your girl was recovering?

Also anyone else who has had similar problem can leave me a note!! TKS