Little bite by a hog, may have ruined best dog

[djhogdogger]

 Earlier this year our number one dog was bit by a large hog right in the elbow joint of his front leg. It happened on the edge of a rice field. The injury itself didn't look all that bad so we didn't tend to it until we got home later that night. When we went to clean it out, we noticed that it had rice stuck in it. I bet we pulled 20 or more pieces of rice out of that little bite. And you really have to pull rice out because it sticks to the meat like velcro or something. Anyway, we cleaned it up real good and it healed up pretty quick. But now months later, the dog is only good for one hog or a couple of hours on the ground and then he goes to limping on that leg. Im thinking that maybe we left a piece of rice in there....or maybe the bite to the joint may have left him crippled. Do yall think that the body would absorb that rice or should i have it xrayed?

[Reuben]

x rayed

[djhogdogger]

Thats kinda what im thinking.

[matt_aggie04]

I would xray as well, the rice is long gone for sure but the bite may have damaged the joint.

[djhogdogger]

 Ive never had that kind of surgery done on a dog. Whats the success rate? Anyone ever had that kind of surgery done on a dog? He is fine, he just may not be our top dog anymore. So i wonder if the surgery is even worth the risk or the cost. Open to any ideas.

[scdogman]

An xray is not surgery.

[T-Bob Parker]

I bet she knows that, but she's probably taking about joint reconstruction surgery.

My uncle had a cold blood greyhound who blew out one of his knees and he paid for like $7000 worth of surgery for this dogs quality of life. But he was never a contender in coursing again.

Best of luck to y'all

[jdt]

i'd say , at this point , x-ray or not   he'll either get over it or not .    no matter how much you spend !

[djhogdogger]

An xray is not surgery.

 No, but xrays lead to surgery, and yes i was refering to repairing a joint injury.

[Reuben]

I would have the xray done to make sure that there is nothing still in between the joints.

Also there is some type of fluid that is injected in peoples joints that is fairly new and it works . I bet something like that would work on a dogs joint.

This fluid works for at least a year and it might be all the dog needs to get well. There's no dought it would work on a dog but don't know if it is available.

[dan]

djhogdogger,

One of my dogs has had a bad back leg for years.  He still hunts and catches.  The limp bothers me more than it does him.  He's a running catch dog in the morning, and a walk in catch dog in the afternoon.

In your dogs case, the front leg is a little harder to overcome.  You can buy, and feed a box full of dogs for the same money as surgery.  It might be a good time to use the injured dog as a puppy trainer.  You will have to decide for yourself, but if the dog will still hunt, let him. 

Dan

[firemedic]

If this is your best dog why wouldn't you take him to a vet and have it checked out at the very least. It may not be that big of a deal and it may be a crippling injury that ends his hunting days, but you won't know without a vet doing some looking, bites are super bad to infect and his injury may still have some infection in it even though it appears to have healed.

[coach]

If it is some type of ligament or catilage damage it can be fixed and healed with some surgeries. Although if it is a joint related injury this dog may only be lightly hunted. Try some glucosomine and asprin may help with rehab. putting her bowl high to allow her to stretch the joint may help also.

[lonewolf]

I had the same tpye injury to one of my dogs! It was in the knee joint of the left back leg. This happened on a hunt last February the same day I broke my leg in three places. I don't think me are the dog are the same! She would hunt a couple hours and then go to carring the leg or after a hog was bayed she'd carry it. What I found was the more she hunted and the better shape she got in the longer she would go without carring the leg. I've had her trail and bay hogs half to a mile away lately and she is doin fine. It just takes a while to heal and then to get back in shape. If you think about it your dog has lost a lot of muscle in that leg while on the injured list and it will take time to get it back! An Xray won't hurt, But be sure you take him to a vet that is not knife happy and greedy!

[djhogdogger]

Thank you everyone for your input and ideas. As always ETHD is the place to turn to with any and all questions related to hogs and dogs.