healed fracture?

[abelmanalo]

my pup,Martouz, completely broke his distal femur when he jumped from a table last April. He can walk now, but stll has a stilted gait... his left leg (the one which broke and healed), when stacked, now looks straight and stiffer than the right. In effect, this has made his gait look bad.
Is there yet any hope for my poor puppy?
he is now turning 8 months old.
My vet teacher told me it would fix by itself due to the rapid changes in the bones of a puppy like this. But i bought him for showing and want a show gait. what can i expect or do?

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[Nancy Estes]

I've only had one experience with a dog with a broken leg. A male puppy I had broke his leg (tibial crest tuberosity) at 5-1/2 months. He was operated on & the broken piece pinned & wired. The operation was successful. However, another x-ray several months down the road showed that the bone that had been reattached had dissolved, been reabsorbed, who knows - it was gone... Audace never limped but he was quite straight in the rear anyway so his movement wasn't what you want to see on a Rott. I have known of one other that had a fracture in a rear leg that was allowed to heal on its own (at about 5 months). The movement wasn't affected but the bitch did have lameness and stiffness during cold & wet weather. Audace also at about 7+ months had a bone infection in a front leg. It healed with antibiotics and his front leg didn't bother him in the future.

Nancy

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von Dorow Rottweilers
doggo1@apex2000.net

[abelmanalo]

yes, his left foreleg is still stiff and he still favors the other leg especially just when he gets up.
i wonder if he'll still be able to gait good for show in the future...

[Nancy Estes]

I'm guessing that you've already made sure there's no bone infection? I don't know if this would work but you might try swimming for exercise. It should help strengthen the muscles without the stress of hitting the ground and supporting weight on that leg. I do know that the bitch I referred to w/ the fractured rear leg (canon bone) did not have a cast or surgery either but crate rest was recommended while it healed.

Nancy

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von Dorow Rottweilers
doggo1@apex2000.net