|
|
Post by Scott on Aug 5, 2015 8:36:34 GMT 10
Ok, I recently aquired a Lurcher for Rabbits, we ran him out Sunday and the chase was on. 12 hours later he was slightly limping. The next day his leg was swollen to the armpit. I gave him some Dex but the swelling has continued. I don't think it's broken but however, I am uncertain on how to go about his leg injury. I've had plenty of Catch dogs & Hog Dogs, he's me first Lurcher & I am transitioning over. How would you treat this & will his chances of reoccurring injury be greater ?
|
|
|
|
Post by Tom Meulman on Aug 6, 2015 6:15:24 GMT 10
Hi Scott,
That type of swelling generally only occurs when you have severe tearing of muscle tissue.
The most common is when a muscle called the long head of the triceps tears at the top where it is connected to the shoulder blade. There are various stages of this injury from just tearing away from the surrounding muscle tissue, to fully tearing away from where it is attached.
With this injury there is not much you can do to repair it, and while it is very visible once the swelling has gone down it generally does not severely affect the running ability.
The other muscle injury that may have occurred it where some of the muscle tissue that connects the whole of the shoulder to the trunk tears away up under the shoulder blade and into the chest muscle.
Again there is not much you can do to repair it, and unfortunately this injury does leave the dog with a front leg that is no longer as stable as it was before, and does affect galloping action and speed.
Severe bleeding in the muscle tissue from torn muscles is going to take at least four weeks for the swelling to go down completely and sufficient healing to occur for the dog to be allowed to chase anything. In the between time the dog himself is the best judge as to what he is able to do and should be allowed some freedom in a small yard rather than being kept in a kennel and being forced to rest once the worst of the swelling has disappeared.
With many muscle injuries where treatment is difficult and or unproductive some physical activity during the healing process generally improves the long term outcome of the injury.
Long term effects and likelyhood of it reoccurring are impossible to judge at this stage, it's just that hunting rabbits because of their ability to twist and weave sharply will more often than not result in injuries in dogs that are build for speed in a straight line and are generally not able to stand up to this type of physical activity.
Cheers,
Tom
|
|
|
|
Post by Scott on Aug 7, 2015 10:48:46 GMT 10
I appreciate the response, unfortunatly, he was bitten by a rattlesnake and has lost some muscle tissue, he's getting great care now, but I'll be back with more prospects in the future. It was unexpected. I've raised APBT for years and have good success hunting hogs with them and Catahoula curs and have never encountered a snake bite. Just part of it. I'd love to actually get into racing dogs at one point when I'm more financially capable. I am grateful for your site and will frequent it more often as time goes by. I thank you.
|
|
|
|
Post by Tom Meulman on Aug 8, 2015 6:47:38 GMT 10
Thanks for the update.
Cheers,
Tom
|
|
