linda8115 said
Love love love the name Yogi for a beagle!  It makes me smile.  How very lucky Yogi is to have pawrents like you to make his life pain free from that fracture.  We'll be sending pawsitivity and healing thoughts to you and Yogi on his surgery day.  Keep us posted on his recovery but I have a hunch he's going to rock his recovery!  He's adorable and he can't go wrong with the loving care you are showering him with!

Linda and Max

Thanks!  Well, since one of Yogi's favorite pastimes is eating rocks...we can only hope that he does "rock" his recovery!

We will keep everyone posted. We really appreciate all the positive, supportive comments from everyone!!

We will be posting updates on our blog for Yogi too.

https://yogibea.....press.com/

yogibeagle said
We got Yogi as a 12-week old puppy from a breeder on July 27th.

The fun began almost immediately. We had weekly vet visits...sometimes twice a day for the first month we had him. In that first month, Yogi experienced round worms (live ones coming out his A$$), giardia (at the same time as the worms) and an endoscopy to remove a rock from his belly. Luckily a second rock had worked its way almost out and the vet just had to give it a little help from the back end. Maybe we should have named him "Rocky".

Almost immediately, we noticed that Yogi stood funny when he ate and that he had a funny 'puppy gait' when he walked. Two vets looked at him and initially thought he would outgrow some of the gait abnormality. Well....nothing with Yogi can be that easy! One morning, Yogi took a tumble when coming down the steps off our bed - we told the vet about it so he suggested while they were taking X-Rays to diagnose what was going on with his intestinal tract (vomiting and diarrhea caused by rocks and round worms) they could also take some X-Rays to get his hind legs in the picture. The vet was totally surprised and shocked by the leg X-Rays (and so were we.) Yogi's right hind leg was about one inch shorter than the left hind leg. That explained why the right hind leg was always up off the floor when he was at his food bowl!

Next up was a visit with an orthopedic specialist veterinarian. Can you see the $$$$ signs.... His diagnosis at the time was wait and see. Check him again at about age 6-7 months.

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Long story short (no pun intended). At a very young age, before we ever got him, Yogi suffered a fracture to his right hind leg. The fracture was at the growth plate and caused significant damage. The damage was done and could not be corrected. As far as we could tell, there had been no treatment provided at the time of the fracture.

Initially, it looked like the femur was growing straight and not bent / at an awkward angle which could make things even worse. Second set of X-rays taken two months later, show that his femur is growing odd and even connects a little weird at the hip joint.
What we know for sure - the fracture caused permanent damage at the growth plate resulting in a deformed and shortened femur. As he continues to grow - the femur will only grow at one end (not from both ends like it should). There is also some friction between bone and cartilage (crepitus) at the point of the fracture (near the knee). At first the vets thought it possible he may need some reconstructive surgery at some point when he got a little older. With the most recent set of X-Rays (October 16th), it is clear that the discrepancy in the leg length is getting more pronounced, he is in pain and likely with the way he walks and carries his body will probably do more damage to his left hind leg, hips, and spine. Reconstructive surgery would only serve to add some length to his leg, it can't "fix" the area where the fracture occurred so Yogi will continue to have the pain/discomfort in his knee. Both vets agree that it is not a matter of "if" his leg should be amputated; but "when" to amputate. The decision based on Yogi's current pain/discomfort level is sooner rather than later.

To make matters even more fun... Yogi may develop arthritis as he gets older and will need medication for that. Maybe if the leg comes off now, we can prevent arthritis before it ever gets started.
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We started Yogi on Rimadyl October 16th, it helps but we can tell that he is still experiencing some pain and stiffness.
Yogi is scheduled for surgery on November 16th for an amputation. Yogi was six months on November 3rd... it is also time for neutering - so we will have that done at the same time. We will also get him micro-chipped while he is under anesthesia. May as well get everything done at the same time and only need anesthesia one time! What a bargain!

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Yogi is a sweet and super friendly pup. He charms most everyone he meets. The only people he seems afraid of are children. We wonder if he was handled rough while at the breeder by some children and if that has caused his fear of children. We are hopeful that in time he will outgrow that fear.

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Yogi had his pre-surgical blood work on Monday (Nov 9th). All blood work is good, only elevated level indicates inflammation in the bones. We know that and with the amputation, we are hopeful that he will be better off and free of the pain he is now experiencing.

Well, Yogi's surgery went very well. He tolerated all the pain meds, his vitals were good all through surgery. We brought him home late Monday afternoon - on some very heavy pain meds. Yogi had a restless first night (so did we!) 

We went for a follow-up visit on Tuesday (17th) and the vet was very pleased with how Yogi was doing. Yogi had a Laser Therapy treatment on Tuesday and will have another one on Thursday when we take him to the vet to remove the Fentanyl patch. Our little "zombie" from all the pain medication is doing incredibly good. 

Yogi was up late Tuesday afternoon walking. He urinated outside a couple times already! He has been a little wobbly on his feet, but getting better as he learns the 'new normal'. He is eating and drinking good...but of course, he is a Beagle! Next up - we watch for his first poop.

Mike &kris - thanks for the comment. Sorry to hear that we share a similar story, rough start for our pups. 

Yogi is 5 days post-op and having more problems now then with his surgery day!  Lots of weeping from the amputation site - started just watery, but is thickening up and getting gooey. Our vet tried to drain it yesterday but nothing came out. 

Anyone here have experience with this?  I also posted on the "treatment" forum.