Building Muscle Waste

[remyd 68]

so my bitch got injured at the being of january and was completely lame for about 3\4 weeks! she was took to the vet on day 1 because she had also got a deep cut on the inside of the knee joint straight too the bone on the same leg. Anyway after going away and being told she would be weight bearing in 3\4 days 2 weeks went by 2 courses of antibiotics and still not weight bearing, so i make the called to get her x-rayed results showed no breaks or chips which was good new but the vets said the joint was very swollen and might be infected so put her on bacterial antibiotics for another 2 weeks. He also mention the kneecap look high!!! after 4 weeks she started to put the leg down but was still not happy with it, i got very good advice on another thread on here off of j darcy who told me if the leg muscle takes a really big bang everything can tighten up and pull the kneecap up (lactating patella) and to put her on loxicom which she had been on since day 1, all this made sense to me so gave to hope that the end was just around the corner but some time down the line she was not progressing so took her to a boneman and within 5 mins he told me she'd banged her kneecap out of the groves and popped it back! absolutely p*ssed off with the vet for not spotting it on the x-ray!!

Anyway now she's good to start the physio and build her leg up quadricep mostly, she had weeks of lead work and I've had her off the lead free running (wrong i know) but she didnt limp after which was a good thing as she was running as normal.

my question is her leg seems tight but its not as i can easily stretch it out no problem but when she walking around the house it don't straighten it out like the other and when she stands still she always puts all the weight on her good leg! Is this because the muscle is not there? or is it her remembering whats happen?

any advice or your pass experiences would be very welcome is I'm worried she'll not be right for next season at this rate!

cheers

 

[desertbred 5,490]

Give her plenty of swimming she will have to use the leg for that but it wont put any stress on her joints it will build up equal strength and muscle mass. Mentally she will have come accustomed to favouring the uninjured leg it will take time for her to readjust to normal limb function.

[mushroom 12,352]

Was going to say the same, get her into a therapy pool if you can mate. A few sessions you should see results.... failing a therapy pool a river/lake/pond etc will do just keep a long line on her to control the pace and make sure she warms up in the sun after

Edited June 15, 2016 by mushroom

[slip lead 862]

White-E will help build muscle and also repair damaged muscle.

 

I would massage the leg as often as possible.

[remyd 68]

cheers lads I've been looking into a therapy pool but unfortunately she's just broke down so can't take her till she's finished. I've been getting her to retrieve out of a big lake but her interest go's after 10 mins! I've been massaging her leg with Bone Radiol treatment every other night, does white-e work well?

[slip lead 862]

Yes mate it does,(white-E) and after a couple of months you see the difference in muscle tone..

 

Massage as much a possible 2/3 times daily,also to increase blood flow.

[Maximus Ferret 2,055]

Hi Remyd, 10 mins is probably enough swimming to begin with anyway. If you try yourself 10 mins walking and then 10 mins swimming you'll know the difference. Swimming is slower but heavier pushing.

One of my own bitches got injured towards the end of last season, colliding head on and splitting muscle. I won't go into the early 1st aid as it doesn't apply to your case but when the healing started there was a lump on the muscle and then a dent under her skin. I swim the dogs through a river pool anyway a couple of times most days before exercise at this time of year because of the heat. I then did a couple of miles fast trotting by the bike, increasing to 5 or 6 miles over a couple of months. To my surprise she's completely recovered and I can't even detect where the injury was. I gave no supplements, just meat, bone, left over veg and a handful a day of gain record breaker.

As I say, this injury was different from yours but dogs can have a surprising ability to recover given the chance.

Edited June 17, 2016 by Maximus Ferret