Dog Broken Leg

Question
It did swell, and I took of the wrap. It was getting infected where the bone came through the skin. I left off the wrap for about 2 days, and applied neosporin to it and have been giving him antibiotic shots. I have now re-aligned the bone, and made a splint out of plastic and re-wrapped it. I'm worried about the open skin not getting enough air, though.
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-----Question-----
12 yr old mixed breed, long hair blonde, medium build. Broken front right leg [completely into]- below elbow/knee. 2 weeks ago. Wrap is comming off, Very swollen all the way down. Re-wrap? Let be? ...Thank you.
-----Answer-----
Hi Shan :-)

Did you have the broken leg confirmed by a Vetinarian and did the Vet provide the Wrap for your Dogs leg?

The broken leg does need to be re-wrapped but you will need a Vet to do this because it can be a tricky procedure in dogs and applying a Wrap too tightly can delay healing to the broken bone and also cause severe circulation problems which  go into more problems such as infection setting in.

I would contact your Vet and meanwhile apply a ice-pack to your Dogs leg to help with the swelling.

Take care and all the best and please leave me a comment.

Trisha x

Answer
Hi Shan :-)

I can understand your worry hun. The main worry is the infection. A infection can spread and become quite severe and cause a lot of problems for the Dog.

Infections are prone to breeding in warm and moist areas. I would recommend you purchase some Daktacort Cream from your Pharmacist. It is for Humans but will do the trick. Apply this for 7-9 days to the affected area and bathe the affected area 2 times a day and re-apply the cream afterwards and this will help to fight the infection.

Because of the broken bone, you do need to keep the leg wrapped. A plaster would be preferrable but you will need to see your Vet about this.

There will be swelling when there is a bone injury. This is nothing to worry about hun and very common. Just apply a cold compress to the swelling and it will help to keep it down. Apply the cold compress every 3-4 hours and see if this helps.

If you notice numbness in the injured leg and a wrap is on the leg, this means the wrap is fixed too tightly and you need to loosen it a bit.

The problem with not wearing a wrap is that the bone will not heal. A bone needs a lot of pressure to help the separated bones fuse together and if he is not wearing the wrap, then his leg will heal incorrectly, surgery might need to be performed or worse, it might heal in such a awkward way that blood has stopped flowing through the leg and this results in amputation.

You need to take your Dog to the Vet. Honestly you do. If you cannot afford it then explain to your Vet you cannot afford it and you will pay him weekly or monthly in installments. Or failing that, ring around and find a Vet who WILL let you pay in installments. Then you're sorted.

The open wound and the break is a great concern as I've mentioned above. It sounds like the wound may need stitching together.

Don't worry about any air getting to the wound. Just do what I've advised, purchase the Cream and see your Vet. Or if you have a PDSA...see them.

Take care & all the best & please leave me a comment.

Trisha x