My turn...

[draggonlaady]

...to convince them to try a splint instead of putting the dog down.

Mine's a 2 day old gunshot wound. They didn't bring it in sooner, because they didn't want to pay an emergency fee. Guess what--they also wouldn't pay for radiographs, or anything more involved than cleaning/debriding the wounds and putting a splint on the leg. So I don't know how badly the leg is fractured, except that the bone is visible where the bullet passed through the leg. There's a gouge out of the back surface of the bone (jnau--tibia, gastroc tendon appears intact), but I've no idea how far up the bone the cracks have gone.

So...bets anybody? I'd do a poll but apparently I have to have a paid account to do that. so just drop your votes in the comment section. How will this case go?

1: Several weeks of bandage changes and splinting, dog'll heal up relatively fine.

2a: Bone will fracture completely, owner opt for amputation.
2b: Bone will fracture completely, owner opt for euthanasia.

3a: Exposed bone will die, forming sequestrum, owner opt for amputation.
3a: Exposed bone will die, forming sequestrum, owner opt for euthanasia.

Comments

[draggonlaady.livejournal.com]

3 means that a chunk of bone dies and breaks off but doesn't fall out of the leg, so it sits there and creates a source of chronic irritation and/or infection as the body tries to break it down. Leads to recurrent abscesses and/or draining sores.