Hi,

As some of you know Bella has had big problems with her front leg and had a plate removed two weeks ago after finding 4 snapped screws me and my vet were sure that was causing bella all her pain and that things would hopefully now settle down.

Well there not, she is more lame now than before and i am so worried that we will not be able to get this problem under control.

Anyone who had a plate removed...how long was your dog lame for after the surgery?
She is due to be re-xrayed in 3 weeks time but i am so worried, she 7.5 and for her breed she is getting on, i dont want to put her through any more surgery and my vet has said the only option left would be amputation...this scares me to death with her age i am not sure it would be right for her but couldnt part with her when she is happy in every other way.

So worried about what to do for the best for my girl....god i wish they could talk!

Any advise or experiences of a similar thing would be very greatfully recieved

Mandy

Can't offer any advise re the plates and lameness, but I had one of my boy's front legs amputation for Bone Cancer.  Sadly we only go an extra 3 months before it spread and I made the easy decision to send him to the bridge.  i knew that what I did what I thought was for the best and he did not suffer unnecessarily.  

He coped considerably well following the amp and within a few weeks was trying to run around and cause chaos.

this is a very good site  for advise and I know your girl does not have bone cancer(thank god) but there is a good section on amputation that you might find useful.  http://www.bonecancerdogs.org/main/maindocument/15

Jill

Slighlty different but my cat broke his hock a few weeks ago (car accident we think) and similar to your problem the pins have been remove as he was in pain and lame but 3 weeks on there is no change am taking him back to the vet tomorrow for the next opinon on what to do now. She has told me that another operation to fix the joint may be the only soloution.

My previous dog had bone cancer at about the same age as your dog is (thank god yours isn't that) amputation was suggested and my research did show that most dogs recover well. I will let you know what happens with my Bentley although I am not sure of the implications of fixing the hock. Sorry i havn't read Bella's story so may be barking up the wrong tree so to speak 

Would it be possible for you to get a 2nd opinion from an ortho surgeon? They might be more up to date on alternatives.

Thanks, my vet is a great orthopedic vet and i have full trust in him, the original op was done at the RVC 6 years ago and she has been fine for all them years, just suddenly went very lame. My own vet was not impressed with the original surgery for many reasons which he explained to me, he was shocked she had done this well all them years.

She is going in for xray next week so once we get that done we may know a bit more, it is just horrible to see her hobbling around, though she is very happy in herself but you just never know how much pain they are in do you. I am very worried as this has been going on now for so long