Arthritis?

[Mrsc924]

I have a 18 month old pitbull puppy that broke his leg almost a year ago. Sadly the way the leg was broken makes it unfixable (it is broken at the knee through the growth plate causing the smaller of the 2 bones to become tangled around the larger bone) but lately Archie has been refusing to come up onto the bed with me and sometime in the morning he will refuse to come down and i have to pick him up myself. Vet says the it could be arthritis. Does this sound like the problem?

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

Could be or it set badly. They may need to rebreak. Can you try some anti inflammatories or supplements to see if there is any improvement? Was there a tumble or roughhousing that may have aggravated? Poor little guy, he doesn't know why he hurts... You'll want to limit his activities until you find out what if anything has happened...

[Mrsc924]

The leg was broken in such a way that not even an orthopedic surgeon was willing to touch it...so set poorly is very likely. The leg is still twisted in an unnatural way, but he does still jump and run at the speed of light. maybe doggy step or a ramp for the bed? he does have an appointment with the vet very soon but the vet is aware of the problem and says that because of the condition of the leg there is little they can do....I forget if i have explained the break. It was broken at the knee(three times through the growth plate) with the smaller leg bone wrapped 3 times around the larger bone. The leg is turned in and the break has stunted his growth leaving him at a maximum of 40 pounds and very short i'm only 5'1 and he doesn't even reach up to my knees. I just feel so sorry for him because no vet wants to deal with his condition it took months to find a vet willing to take him in. There have been no resent accidents but we do have a new puppy in the home that he is fighting to keep up with.

[critters]

So his fibula is wrapped around his tibia (shin bone)? He REALLY must've done a number on the growth plate!! I'm guessing the funky and distorted growth is what torqued the fibula into twisting that way?? You can scan xrays, you know; I bet that'd be something to see!! How did he break his leg?

[CarolC]

I wonder if some kind of brace might keep him from straining it when he plays with the puppy. Here are a number of sources for splints and braces:

http://www.handicappedpets.com/splints/index.htm

http://orthovet.com/

http://www.animalrehab.on.ca/

http://www.comfysplints.com/pet-splints.htm

http://www.dogbrace.com/flb_brace.htm

http://www.woundwear.com/home.cfm

http://www.therapaw.net/marq-easy.html