Cracked pelvis -sedation advice

[pony&cow]

My poor baby JRT got hit by a car on friday, the ********'s drove off and left her. Took her straight to vets and xrayed. They found a hairline crack in her pelvis and sounded hopeful that it would heal itself with "strict cage rest". Vet wants to xray again in 3 weeks. I made her a tiny run on the front big enough for just a toilet training pad and drink. This was working well until last night she climbed out!!! This is great that she's feeling well enough now to do this but the fear is this crack becoming a fracture. Ive now shut her fully in the cage and plan to just give her toilet breaks supervised in the tiny run. Shes not a happy baby crying and clawing at the cage. Im waiting for the vet to call back but in the meantime does anyone have any experience with sedating dogs? And can it really be done for 3 weeks?

 

[Bellasophia]

Pony and cow...sorry to hear about your little dog. You will need both courage and patience...this happened to me with my first dog.I was only twelve years old and my corgi was hit by a car.I was told by the vet to leave him to rest and heal and his smashed pelvis would either recover or we'd have to let him go.
My instruction was to watch to see if he could still wee and poo...both would be very indicative of good prospects.
He didn't wee for two days and we had a moment of clarity...the dear boy was so houseproud he was holding things......we carried him carefully outside ,massaged his abdomen and he weed for England.
he did recover and went on to live a long and healthy life.....
we did not have x rays or crates in those times....but lots of rest and attention.
I'd say to use the crate,force the dog to have the rest she needs...wire over the top of the cage if she is a climber.
id give bones to chew on...get her out and keep her on a lead at your side to sit quietly if she will comply,keep her as quiet as possible. brush her,stroke her,but do not give in to let her race around. the next 3 weeks will be hard ,but a good recovery will be for the rest of her life.
the fact that she is both young and small are really good for her prospects of a good recovery.
I'd ask the vet about using natural sedatives. Eg melatonin,valerian,rescue remedy etc...if she is too restless for her own good.

 

[Alec Swan]

A 'Hair-line' fracture? I'm not surprised that your puppy's going stir crazy, confined to a cage! Follow your vet's advice, and you will drive the poor creature to a state of despair. The problem with caged containment of a naturally exuberant puppy, is that all the good which is done by the restriction of exercise is undone when the puppy is released.

So, it's a baby terrier. What's a baby, and how old is she? Hair line fractures are amazingly common place with such 'green' and juvenile bones, and again, the potential for further stress is actually worse following containment. In your shoes I wouldn't allow a great deal of jumping on to and off of furniture, but as your puppy doesn't seem that bothered by her apparent injury, I'd simply carry on as normal.

Regardless of what others will tell you, energetic, full-of-beans and generally 'loony' terrier puppies will not benefit from being caged, injured or not and I don't care what your vet says! A hair line fracture will mend itself, trust me.

I wouldn't even consider the prospect of sedation of any sort, and most certainly not for 3 weeks.

Alec.

 

[thewonderhorse]

Pony and cow...sorry to hear about your little dog. You will need both courage and patience...this happened to me with my first dog.I was only twelve years old and my corgi was hit by a car.I was told by the vet to leave him to rest and heal and his smashed pelvis would either recover or we'd have to let him go.
My instruction was to watch to see if he could still wee and poo...both would be very indicative of good prospects.
He didn't wee for two days and we had a moment of clarity...the dear boy was so houseproud he was holding things......we carried him carefully outside ,massaged his abdomen and he weed for England.
he did recover and went on to live a long and healthy life.....
we did not have x rays or crates in those times....but lots of rest and attention.
I'd say to use the crate,force the dog to have the rest she needs...wire over the top of the cage if she is a climber.
id give bones to chew on...get her out and keep her on a lead at your side to sit quietly if she will comply,keep her as quiet as possible. brush her,stroke her,but do not give in to let her race around. the next 3 weeks will be hard ,but a good recovery will be for the rest of her life.
the fact that she is both young and small are really good for her prospects of a good recovery.
I'd ask the vet about using natural sedatives. Eg melatonin,valerian,rescue remedy etc...if she is too restless for her own good.

I would definitely go with the above. Keep her as quiet as possible - its not forever. I probably wouldn't sedate but give her lots of attention and things to chew on. Its not ideal but neither is a broken pelvis.

 

[Aru]

I would not carry on as normal with a fractured pelvis..hairline fractures can and do fragment when stressed....esp when this injury was caused by the blunt force trauma from being hit by a car.The muscles around the area will not be as able as normal to stabilise the pelvis.

Jumping up and down off a couch/chair or a bang off the wrong thing and you can have a displaced fracture...

Its called strict confinement and is advised for a reason.Some fractures will be fine and hold in place in spite of movement..others will displace easily....the hairline fracture seen on xray is just a 2d picture of one aspect of the bone.Its difficult to know if the underlying structure is steady enough to stand up to the stress of a dogs active movements,the crate rest is to insure you are not one of the unlucky ones who have a hairline turn into a moving fragment.

Get a crate so no danger of jumping out over the top.
have her out with you on a lead as much as possible when things are quiet and you can control her..ie have her sitting by you etc..not going nuts and bouncing.Lead walks in and out for toilet breaks and loads of kongs toys and mental stimulation games. It is going to be tough and you will feel terrible but its only for a short while.

I wouldnt think of sedating her tbh,to many risks..though there are some benign thigs that could be tried like zylkene..or an adaptil collar. She willnot like the crate but she will get used to it in time.

 

[pony&cow]

Thanks for the replies guys. This puppy (6 months old) really is our baby and we just want to do whats best for her. Luckily she has always been trained with toilet pads although she was generally out on the farm with us all day. She has happily reverted back to toilet pads. We are sticking with the cage rest although are letting her out to toilet, eat and drink in the back kitchen almost hourly (exept for milking time and overnight). She is staying suprisingly calm to be honest but then since she was vaccinated we never activly encouraged playtime indoors.
Will keep our fingers crossed she continues to play the good patient and take each day as it comes. Thanks for the advice.