I have a nine month old yorkie who broke her elbow when she was 3 months old. It was a nasty break and she now has 3 pins in it. Recently she has had some problems with that leg and has seemed in pain. I took her to the vet who said he thought it was muscular and just a coincidence that it was the same leg that is pinned. She was prescribed anti inflammatories and it settled down and she has been fine. I have just been stroking her and I have discovered a lump about the size of a small nut on her elbow. It feels like it is filled with fluid. She is not showing any signs of discomfort and is fine in herself. I will be taking her to the vet tomorrow but I wondered if anyone has any ideas that may put my mind at rest.
Thanks

Could it possibly be the end of one of the pins? :( I've heard of it in people so would assune it can happen to other animals too. Hope you get to the bottom of it.

yes I have wondered that. The pins may have slipped and need removing. Oh I really hope not she has been so good so far and needed so much cage rest I feel she missed out on being a puppy. I know it isn't life threatening but I will worry until it is sorted.

If it's just the pins that need to come out and everything has healed and there is no residual infection, she should be up and running in no time!!

Is it a front leg?  I had problems with one of my Pomeranian's a number of years ago after she broke her leg.  I'm sorry to say that the outcome in my situation wasn't a good one, but I've got everything crossed for you.

Yes it is her front one. I am really worried now. She is seeing the vet later today.

Hi Jane

A few years ago my young dog broke her back leg which was operated on and had a pin put in. Everything was fine but I noticed that when she went up on her back legs she would occasionally yelp and I could feel a small hard lump under the skin near where the scar was. She was taken back to the vets and they decided to operate to remove the small lump which in the end turned out to be scar tissue which was restricting her movement. After that she was fine and never yelped again.

Hi
We've got a cat who broke his leg as a kitten, before we bought him in fact, (he's a Maine Coon so quite a lot bigger than a Yorkie, not sure if that makes any difference) and he has a plate and pins in. The vet told us they'd need to x-ray eventually to check that the pins weren't causing any problems because they were put in before he had finished growing. As it happened it was all fine and he's still got them today, but it sounds to me as if your dog needs to be x-rayed to see what is what now as she'll have grown.

Hi Jane

My Tammy broke her front leg too when she was very young and a little while after the same thing as you are describing happen to her and it was a piece of the metal that had come away but luckily for us her bone had healed enough for them to remove one of the pieces and thank god all was well.  Fingers are crossed for you.

Janet
xx

Thanks for all of your replies. Tiegan has spent the day at the vets today having xrays. The vet thinks that one of the pins has moved and probably needs removing. She said it was quite a tricky procedure and would prefer her to be seen by the orthopedic surgeon who originally operated as it was a complicated fracture. So we are going to the referral practice in Solihull on Wednesday. I can't help feeling a little worried, will be much happier when it is all over.
Jane

Hope she's better when it's done, keep us posted! :-)