Can I safely remove my puppy's broken leg splint at home, 6 weeks?

Question

My now five month old pug puppy fractured his leg six weeks ago. The vet said it was a clean break and put a splint on it and said or to six weeks for healing. He has an appointment later this week for a final exam, and x-ray, and to get the cast off. We just suffered through her cane Irma and now cannot afford the vet bills and he will not work out a payment plan. Do you think it would be safe to take the splint off ourselves? Pet's info: Dog | Pug | Male | unneutered | 5 months and 2 days old | 10 lbs

Daniel Fonza, DVM · Accepted Answer

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. Generally speaking, young animals heal very fast, especially if the fracture is properly aligned. Six to eight weeks is the average time that we see properly aligned fractures in young animals heal. Sometimes even four to six weeks. I am sorry to hear that you have been affected by the hurricane. If the splint has been on for 6 weeks already, I do start getting concerned about bandage sores and confining the lake for so long without rechecking the leg and changing the splint if needed. The downside with taking the splint off yourself and not doing follow-up x-rays is that the fracture may still be unstable and as soon as that splint comes off, the leg may break again. If finances are a concern I would suggest applying for Care Credit to see if you qualify because you can use Care Credit to pay for veterinary expenses and make payments on a payment plan. If you do not qualify for Care Credit I would suggest checking with the Humane Society to see if someone can check the splint for you. If you are unable to do any of these, and I would suggest waiting one more week with the splint on as long as there are no signs of discomfort with the leg and no signs of sores developing near the edge of the splint where it is taped to the skin. After the additional week of leaving the splint on, you may then remove the splint carefully. I would strongly urge that you cage confine Jackson for an additional one to two weeks following removal of the splint. You still risk read breaking the leg if the fracture site has not healed and without follow-up x-rays there is no way to fully determine how much of the fracture has healed. I hope this helps! Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions or concerns about Jackson. I am also available by phone or text based consultation if needed.

Can I safely remove my puppy's broken leg splint at home, 6 weeks?

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