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Interesting cases
"Chops" the big Black Labrador.
Chops was hit by a car and arrived as an emergency call-out one night with a suspected broken back leg. All his other clinical signs checke  d out well, apart from some serious discomfort which was quickly relieved. The swelling in the upper part of Chops's back leg was considerable, making a fractured femur highly suspicious.X-Rays were taken to confirm this diagnosis, revealing a mid shaft fracture of the femur. The break appeared to be reasonably simple with only some small fragments near the fracture site. Often this type of fracture is repaired with a steel pin inserted down the central shaft of the femur. However, in this fracture, where the bone is broken at right angles to the bone's axis, there is nothing to prevent rotation of the bone ends which could lead to what is called a 'non-union'. With this in mind and the large size of Chops, it was considered best to use a compression plating system that we commonly use at The Vet Centre.
Surgery under a general anaesthetic allowed the application of an AO Synthese Orthopaedic Compression bone plate to Chops's broken femur. This is a Swiss designed and made system that is also used in people. Each c
 omponent is perfectly engineered with the highest grade stainless steel. Special tools are required to apply these plates to allow the screws to be offset in the bone plate holes so that as they are tightened, the two fractured bone ends become 'compressed' against each other to facilitate quicker healing.Two days after the surgery, Chops walked out of the clinic using his injured leg and he is doing very well at home under rest and confinement and probably enjoying all the attention!! Rastus  Rastus, a 2 year old Border Terrier, was brought into the Vet Centre paralysed, unable to move any of his legs. His owners were unsure how it had occurred. He was immediately assessed and blood tests and xrays were done to determine the cause of the problem. Xrays revealed Rastus had a neck injury; he had fractured one of his vertebrae, and dislocated another. Although recovery wasn’t guaranteed, Rastus had dedicated owners and he received intensive care at the clinic. Over the next few days Rastus improved steadily, 5 days after injury he was walking, albeit unsteadily. After 3 weeks he was almost back to normal, only having trouble with hills and rough ground. Now, he walks with an occasional wobble but gets around well, he wears a harness instead of a collar and lead, and his owners remain vigilant for any further damage. Bruce 
Bruce is a lovely retired farm dog who has managed to live through an epic adventure! Back in May Bruce was run over by a tractor, ran away scared and was swept away in the flooded river at the end of the farm. Bruce's owners searched high and low, but were beginning to believe that Bruce was lost to mother nature and the injuries sustained. A week later Bruce was heard down the farm barking for her owners - much to their amazement Bruce had hobbled home!
With a broken eye socket, damaged eye and fractured humerous Bruce was actually incredibly lucky! Bruce did have a few reserves around her mid-drift being a very loved retired working dog and therefore looked in wonderful health considering her tale. We gave Bruce a nice warm bed for the night and the next day she had surgery to repair the fractures. The humerous, which is the upper bone in the foreleg, gave our orthopaedic surgeon quite a challenge to straighten out. The muscles, ligaments and tendons had retracted so badly the owner had thought that Bruce's injury was to the shoulder, but the fragmented bone had just been pulled up to stick foreward out of the shoulder area. Ouch! After a gruelling 3 hour surgery the surgeon was very happy with the result, with the bones re-alligned and a full recovery expected for Bruce. The eye socket was fractured and the eye very swollen, but being so fragile the area has been left to heal naturally. To this day we are still trying to save Bruce's eye with the possibility of it having to be removed later on down the track. But for now, Bruce is on the mend and happy to retire by the fire to dream of the drama that she has been through!
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Cnr Gladstone Road & King StreetRichmondNelsonNew Zealand
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Ph: 03 544 5566 (24 hours)Fx: 03 544 5561
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