Meet June Bug Hummer, a three year old spayed female golden retriever. She was running to catch a ball in early January and caught her leg in a picket fence, breaking the right femur (the large bone extending from the hip socket) in numerous pieces (see x-rays below).
Her owner, Penney, initially took June Bug to a nearby emergency clinic for stabilization, but she was transferred to Care Animal Hospital for fracture repair by one of our roving orthopedic surgeons.
Dr. Randy Willer of Front Range Mobile Surgical Specialists came in to Care Animal Hospital and performed the surgery. He had to use both wires and a plate to stabilize the leg, since it had a long, oblique fracture and two separate bone pieces floating freely. It was a very difficult fracture repair but Dr. Willer was up to the challenge (see x-rays of the leg following repair below).
Following surgery, Dr. Donna Harris took over primary care of June Bug, helping her through some post-operative nausea as well as controlling her pain.
June Bug stayed at Care Animal Hospital for another day prior to discharge. She went home on antibiotics, pain control drugs, and a plan to be able to rehabilitate the leg at home using physical therapy directed by Dr. Willer.
She has to be tightly controlled through the entire healing process, with the owner using caution and having her on a leash at all times when outside. She has also had to be watched closely indoors, with no running, stairs, jumping, or rough housing with other dogs until fully healed. It has been a little over a month and June Bug appears to be getting stronger every day. She will be x-rayed in another month to be sure the bone is healing. The x-rays will be reviewed by our board certified radiologist, Dr. Chuck Pugh, and both Dr. Willer and Dr. Pugh will determine when June Bug can return to normal activity.
Fractures of the long bones can be very painful and, when pieces are floating freely, are a tough surgical challenge. In general, the plate and wires are left in place unless down the road JB has problems with them.
Here are some pictures of June Bug using her repaired leg!
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