I have a labrador who is 6 weeks in whelp and unfortunately slipped and hit the floor the other day. She has ruptured her cruciate ligament and cracked the knee bone. As you can imagine she is in a lot of pain and very down.
My vet says there is nothing he can give her for the pain until she has weaned the pups. Obviously once she has had the pups, I will wean them as early as possible and get her in for an operation. At present we are swimming her at the hydro pool, she has on a bioflow, is seeing an animal healer and having complete rest.
Is there anything I can give her for the pain. Its so hard to see her suffering and not be able to do anything but cuddle her and reassure her. I am also worried about the extra weight of the pregnancy on her other leg. She was scanned and has approximately 10 puppies the vet thinks.

Hi Nicolla

Sorry to hear about your bitch. What would be the risks to her of a spay at this stage so that she can be treated and safely get pain relief?

Christine

Vet says as she is full of pups he will not put her on the operating table. He says the hormones raging though the body would make any operation extremely difficult and very dangerous.
I had another bitch spayed 4 months after whelping a litter earlier this year and she nearly died so I'm afraid I have to agree with the vet.

I do know that vets are often reluctant to spay during or just after pregnancy unless necessary because of the risks of sudden loss of fluid. I was not trying to be heartless just thinking what I would do if she was mine.

Would icepacks be of any help - heat increases blood flow to the area and therefore can increase the inflammation - athletes use R.I.C.E. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation for some muscular/ligament injuries?

Christine

My gosh - that's a nightmare situation.

I wonder if support bandaging would help, although if course for the circulation to keep going, you'd have to keep changing the bandage, and of course make sure it's on properly in the first place. You can get cold/hot dressings for horse, I believe.

Apart from that, all I can safely suggest is Arnica - not much help, I'm afraid, but loads of sympathy.

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

hypericum in tablets/tincture/cream.it is the homoeopatic painkiller,it is particulary good for shooting pain in cases of injury to tails and other extremities.it is also good for cuts and wounds and can be used as a tincture along with calendula to clean wounds,you could also use a combination of calendula and hypericum for painful wounds,.
i get all my products from HELIOS HOMOEOPATHY ON 01892537254 will post out with in 24 hours.

I have a heat pad and am using it about 4 times a day. I have some arnica but didn't know whether it was safe to use for the pups, I will give her some now.
She is a little happier today and her tail is wagging. We've been sat on the sofa together today which is really boring but I'll do anything to get her through this.
We've had a horrid year so I just keep smiling and am really looking forward to 2003, it couldn't be any worse.

What a bad situation. Have you considered Acupuncture at all on her? It might help relieve some pain at least for a bit.
good luck with your poor puppy.
toodles

If she is in a lot of pain then I would give pain killers anyway - if anything happened to the pups so be it, but at least she would be comfortable :-(

Christine

The only painkiller the vet will give is remidal (sp). I have had really bad experiences in the past with this drug!

what about metcam from the vets only.but if it was me go for the naturel one;

Have rung up for the natural painkiller so hopefully get it before the weekend.

I would check with the vet about the arnica, Nicolla, my understanding is it alters the blood clotting rate and therefore may be harmful to the pregnancy. Personally I would do as Christine suggested and go with the pain killers and have the pups checked out as soon as they are born. I would think there is less risk to the nervous system with pain killers than some other drugs but even so I would prefer to run the risk than see my dog in such pain. Its a very personal decision though and one I do not envy for you. :(

sorry I cant suggest anything but good luck

Hi

I am told that there is a very good orthopedic surgeon in the Exeter area for Brooke's operation, but my problem is I need a referral. My own vet has said no he will do the operation and he has done it before.
Can I force him to give me a referral or do I need to change vet?

I want Brooke to have the very best chance of a normal life after recovery. At the hydro pool we use they say the dogs operated on by this specialist do better and make better recoveries.

my vets have alway referred me to speaclists surgeon when i need it,you must think that your vet is like a gp, he would send you to the surgeon,beacuse the gp skills only cover a small area,i would tell your vet that you need to go and see orthopedic surgeon i would not let him do it incase anything elis go;s wrong with the speclist he knows more and have the backup if need be.
if not change your vet,

Nicolla - it's a lab we're talking about, isn't it? They may have a notorious (possibly lethal) reaction to Rimadyl, also Metacam (the same basic chemical) so I would try any other avenues of treatment first, as you're not only risking your pups, but also you bitch by using these.

Glad she's a little easier; keep us posted

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

Thanks Jo

Yes it is a labrador.

Brooke had a reaction to Rimadyl when she was about 10 mths of age and now I always refuse it. I don't like Metacam either. My rottweiler was treated with rimadyl 2 yrs ago and it resulted in black poo and sick which smelt like tar, we stopped treatment straight away but the vet to this day still claims it was nothing to do with rimadyl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Found out recently that when the vet spays a bitch or does a c-section they use rimadyl and I was not impressed.

Have ordered the natural painkiller and am hoping it will arrive today. Her leg is extremely swollen but she is not so depressed.

All vets quite rightly give a pre-operative pain killer when doing an operation of the type of spay or C-section. What they give will depend on hpw well the companies are competing. The two biggest products in the market are Rimadyl and Metacam. Metacam is a family run pharmaceutical company, admittedly its big but nowhere near the size of a corporate lawyer run company like Pfizer.

MY own recommendation would be find a site that owners have set up because Metacam kills their dogs and then stop using it. There isn't one but there is BARKS for Rimdayl
perhaps that says something.

You can demand a second opinion she is your dog.
I wouldnt leave a dog in pain for the sake of puppies,theres nothing stopping you ringing another Vet up.

Hi, when we had our last c-section here, the bitch was given Rymadil for a week and she was fine on it. Was she just lucky? I have read so many negative posts about it am worried whether to use it again if its offered. Was it just that those posters whose dog had a bad experience with it posted about the problems and those that have used it succesfully didn't bother to comment? I dont seem to remember many postive opinions about it.

Hi again, I have just been reading Jo Flatcoats post about acupuncture, very interesting. I just wondered whether acupuncture might help this dogs pain /condition. Can you have acupuncture whilst pregant?

Yes you can, I know of several women who've had it done for various conditions.

Fiona
x x x

Briedog how much was it if you don't mind me asking at the speciaist surgeons? A friend had a 6mth old Rottie with HD and the cruciate problem- needing referred which is no problem just that she has to pay first then claim back the money from the insurance. She was wondering how much roughly she'd be talking:)

Nicolla sorry about your dog- hope everything turns out okay. Could you please give any more info you may have on the two drugs Metacam and Rimadyl as this is what the vet's putting the bitch on, on Monday (not sure which one).

Stacey x x x

Jo is the best person to ask about rimadyl and metacam but if you put them into a search engine and read alot of the stuff that comes up, I don't think you'd use it.

I don't know how much money the drug companies give the vets but my vet seems to think that rimadyl cures everything.

the dogs was not refered for cruciate,it was for heart,teeth,cancer,this was all going back 8 years ago the two dogs have pass away know,but my vet always refered me to other surgeons in the feild that they new best in.the 5 i got know touch wood are healthy and hope one is having babys in oct

Just thought I'd let you all know how Brooke is getting on.
We have been swimming her and have also been to see an animal healer and she is now feeling much more cheerful. The swelling around the knee has gone and she is managing to get around well.
She is absolutely huge and looks very similar to a beached whale!!!!!!! Her pups are due on Monday, so I'll let you know how we get on. Here's to a very quick and easy whelping. I hope!!!!!!!!

Happy to hear that things are going ok. Good luck with the whelping :)