Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / December 2005

While surgery is often the best option for long-bone fractures, I'd have no
problem whatsoever casting that leg.  A 4 month old puppy will heal in no
time.  I'm currently treating one of my technician's dogs who had a much
worse fracture of her tibia (spiral fracture, couple of butterfly pieces).
She couldn't afford referral, we don't do plates which is the only thing
that would've worked for her dog's fracture.  We're now 10 wks into it, have
been through several casts, and the healing is slow, but it is healing.
She's also a 2-3 yr old dog.

Anyway, from what I can see on your xrays, you've got a non-displaced pretty
much mid-shaft oblique fracture of the tibia -- I'd think it'd be very
amenable to casting.  A Thomas-Schroeder splint is really only necessary if
you are trying to immobilize the femur.  I'd just use a regular fiberglass
cast.  It's more likely to slip on a rear leg (hard to cast it high enough
up the thigh), but it's easy enough to redo as needed.  The puppy will be
growing anyway, so you'd probably need cast changes every 2 wks anyway.

Regarding cost, can't tell you much.  We'd only charge about $400-600 where
I am for an IM pin, and only about $150 for a cast, so we're obviously a lot
less expensive than where you are!!!!!

Good luck

Deborah, DVM

best wishes to your dog until it gets better. bones can take a while.