Dog Hit By Car...

[Andowen]

hi everyone, ok so i have my cousins dog here with me, he was hit by a car yesterday and fractured his elbow. he had ran away from his house to come here, which means he had to cross the highway.

the vets cant do surgery till tuesday because they dont have full staff on untill then (today being a public holiday).. i have never had a dog that has been hit by a car. so this is all new to me. his leg is all bandaged up and he cant move it at all. he is only 1 yr and 4 months old, so he is till very young. i have him confined to my room and he is only going outside on the lead for toilet breaks. he is not a biting dog, when the vet was checking him out yesterday and he felt his elbow, he let out a yelp then turned to lick the hell out of the vet. i just feel so usless, he cant tell me what is wrong or anything.

we have wooden floors in the house, but i have laid blankets all over my room so he doesnt slip. i've set up a nice squishy corner for him with pillows and blankets for his to rest in i just dont know what else i can do for him. if anyone has any advice on what i can do then that would be much appreiciated. he will be coming back here after the surgry also (my cousin works all day then is busy most nights so he cant stay there) is there anything else i should be doing for when he comes home? thanks heaps!

[lucknow]

hi everyone, ok so i have my cousins dog here with me, he was hit by a car yesterday and fractured his elbow. he had ran away from his house to come here, which means he had to cross the highway.

the vets cant do surgery till tuesday because they dont have full staff on untill then (today being a public holiday).. i have never had a dog that has been hit by a car. so this is all new to me. his leg is all bandaged up and he cant move it at all. he is only 1 yr and 4 months old, so he is till very young. i have him confined to my room and he is only going outside on the lead for toilet breaks. he is not a biting dog, when the vet was checking him out yesterday and he felt his elbow, he let out a yelp then turned to lick the hell out of the vet. i just feel so usless, he cant tell me what is wrong or anything.

we have wooden floors in the house, but i have laid blankets all over my room so he doesnt slip. i've set up a nice squishy corner for him with pillows and blankets for his to rest in i just dont know what else i can do for him. if anyone has any advice on what i can do then that would be much appreiciated. he will be coming back here after the surgry also (my cousin works all day then is busy most nights so he cant stay there) is there anything else i should be doing for when he comes home? thanks heaps!

Poor boy, must have been terrifying for him but it is great that he will be 'put back together again', good on you for helping out.

He may well continue to get even sorer over the next few days, as well as the fracture there will be bruising and associated soreness. I presume he was x-rayed to diagnose the fracture, hopefully the vet checked for any damage to lungs etc.

He must be kept very quiet as you have been doing, so continue to restrict his movements. If possible have him where you are spending the most time so as to keep him company. Have his water where he can reach it easily and make sure he drinks it. Food needs to be very high quality to help with healing of damaged tissue.

He will possibly have medications, if so make sure you are completely sure of dosages and instructions, it can be very easy to get them confused.

To be honest it sounds as though you are already doing exactly what needs to be done, using your common sense and finding solutions to make things as easy for him as you can

I hope recovery is swift and trouble free. Good luck!

[Andowen]

thanks heaps Lucknow. i am keeping him in my room and i am staying with him (gives me an excuse to lay in bed all day ) he is drinking plenty of water and eating a little but only out of my hand. i know that the vet x-rayed his leg, but i dont know what else he checked him for. he breathing is very short and sharp when he is awake, but i think that might be more to do with the pain in his leg... my Rottie helps him when i take him outside, she lets him lean in her when he is tired from hopping from tree to tree, seeing as i have another male dog here he has to pee on the trees, make it known he is there. with a bit of luck he will be all good after tomorrow.

thanks again, i will give updates after the surgry tomorrow.

[puggy_puggy]

Poor boy.

As lucknow said it seems you are doing everything you can.

Keep him confined to the spot you have him in. After the surgery he will also need to be confined for two weeks or more. It might be useful to invest in a crate or puppy pen to keep him in during this time.

The short sharp breathing is probably due to the pain he is going through.

Is he desexed? If not you might as well get him done when he goes under for his op.

Goodluck.

[lucknow]

Poor boy to be feeling so sore, I may just take to my bed also in sympathy...

Maybe mention the breathing to the vet when he goes in for surgery (and defiantely ring them if it gets more noticeable). It is very likely due to pain and if so they may be able to increase or change his analgesia. Other thing to be aware of is lung damage is relatively common after hbc and can take hours to become obvious, vets need to be aware of everything so as to be able to assess his surgical risk accurately.

Once again I hope all goes OK, he is a very lucky dog!

P.S. go your Rotti, I love a dog with empathy!

[pebbles]

puggy-puggy - the dog belongs to the cousin - I don't think de-sexing needs to be mentioned at this point

[Andowen]

i just dragged out the old puppy pen we use to have for our Jack Russle pups. with a few modifications, it sits nice in his squishy corner for when he comes back after having his leg fixed. and i take it by the face licking i am getting at the moment that he needs to pee. thanks god he was toilet trained!

[lucknow]

Andowen, I hope you all got a good sleep last night and that todays surgery goes well.

[Andowen]

thanks Lucknow, well i had a fantastic sleep... i got up about 3 or 4 times... i cant remember. he was drinking alot of water, and i guess it needed to go somewhere. then he learnt how to jump onto my bed, i have a very low bed mind you, and seeing as it was a warm night, he decided that he wanted to sleep right next to me, and sunggle up. so that was nice. the vets rang today and let me know that the op went well. that his leg is all fixed up. and that he was resting. so he will be coming home with me tomorrow. i am hoping for the whole time it takes for him to heal, but my cousin has other plans. he wants to take the dog home with him, which i guess i have no say in, but i know that he wont give him the care he needs to heal. i love my cousin, but when it comes to pets, he has no idea. he was more worried about the cost of the op than the well being of the dog. i'm trying to scare him into not taking the dog home till he is healed. just dont know what to say. i was thinking about ringing the RSPCA and telling them that the dog shouldnt be going home with him at the moment, because of his lack of care towards him. but i dont want to do that to my cousin. dunno. i might word then vet up tomorrow if i can and see if they can talk him into letting me care for him. well now i have had my ramble! thanks heaps for the support guys, i will keep you updated!