@ Jerry thanks for the nice comments. We have looked at the books listed on the web and will be purchasing some of them. All the information that we can get to help Yogi through this we will take! We won't be shy about asking for help.  This is all so scary!

@ Linda8115 

Thanks for your nice, supportive comments. We really will stay connected. Looking forward to Yogi being pain free. Each day as we watch him right now it breaks our hearts to see him suffering!

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), 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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Typical of the Beagle breed... Yogi found his voice. Funny thing is that he barks more than he bays! When something seems amiss to him - he barks! Now and then, he will add the Beagle bay to the mix. Oh, he is SO much nosier than our first Beagle, Muttley!!

Thanks sketch!  So happy (and lucky) to have found this website and all the supportive people!

krun15 said
Hello Yogi and pack, welcome to Tripawds.

How big is Yogi?  I just adopted a 10 month old tripawd puggle I renamed Elly.  She is my second tripawd...Maggie lost her left rear leg to a mast cell tumor.

Anyway- Elly got out at her original home and ran into the street and was hit by a car, she lost her right rear leg as a result.  She was about 7 months old at the time of the accident.  She is not very big, 14 pounds right now.  She really gets around well now about 3 months post op.  She had cherry eye surgery just a couple weeks ago, right before I got her.  She didn't have much walking time at foster because of the surgeries and the fact that there were 7 other dogs at her foster.  I've been working on strength exercises with her, disguised as play, and getting her out for walks almost every day.  I use a stroller for her as we walk around 2 miles a day and that is too much for her now.  I also have a 9 year old rescue pug boy who walks the whole way with us.

I've had pugs for 16 years so I am very familiar with that breed.  Maggie was a tri-pug for almost 4 years so I have experience there.  But the Beagle part is new to me (man, she spends a ton of time smelling stuff!), and I am learning how to deal with an energetic tripawd puppy.

I'm sorry that Yogi has to lose his leg, it's too bad it wasn't taken care of when the leg was broken. 

I will be following your story closely, and may be asking a few questions!

 

Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls

Hi Karen & the Spirit Pug Girls,

Yogi is about 20 lbs. Puggles are so cute! Sounds like you keep busy with lots of pups! We are wondering how it will be with Yogi being so active and energetic as such a young puppy... hopefully, that will aid in his recovery from surgery. The difficult thing will be keeping him from doing too much. Yes, Beagles are super duper sniffers!! They will follow their noses ALL day long! Thanks for your support and we will be keeping everyone posted on how things are going. 

Yogi had a very hard day when he got up this morning. We can tell he is in a lot of pain. Helps us to know we are making the right decision for him.

krun15 said
I bet you are going to have trouble keeping Yogi quiet during recovery...a good problem to have!  Based on his young age and the amount of pain he has in that bum leg, he is going to be really happy to be rid of it.

I don't know for sure how Elly did after her amputation, in fact the dates I got from the rescue are confusing.  I'm not sure how long she was casted with her broken leg.  But as well as she already gets around I think she probably bounced back pretty quickly.

And just to be clear- I only have two dogs.  The 7 dogs I mentioned were in her foster home. 

I hope everything goes well on the 16th.

 

Karen

Karen,

Thanks for the input on recovery for Yogi. We are hopeful that he will bounce back quickly. Elly is lucky to have you.  Yogi had his pre-surgical blood work today - he weighed 23 pounds!! Yikes, he is growing fast!!

Yes, I realize that you have just the two dogs. Sorry if I confused that comment.