Havana needs Surgery

A few weeks ago the team at Hamilton Adopt a Dog contacted us to see if we were in a position to help a very special little girl in their care. We asked if they could share her veterinary history with us, it reads like this...

History:

Staff noticed deformity of left hind leg. Limps after increased activity. Seen previously and started on metacam for dogs 2kg dose. Improvement after metacam started.

Eating well

No other concerns

Physical Exam:

BAR. Friendly. Vitals WNL. Good body condition. Grade 2/4 dental disease (mostly just dental calculus build-up) Spay suture line palpable under skin. Normal cardiothoracic auscultation. Normal abd palpation.

Lame left hind leg 2/5. Left hind leg valgus deformity at stifle originating from distal femur(?). Tendon of the quadriceps severely misaligned. Pain elicited on manipulation, sore after ortho exam during mobility. Has momentary non weightbearing lameness.

Right hind leg very mild laxity of patella, Grade 1 MPL. No clinical signs and mechanics of right hind leg appear normal.

Assessment:

Either severe congenital deformity of left hind leg or otherwise old healed fracture. Would need x-rays to determine underlying etiology. As well as prognosis with amputation (check for other abnormalities of other stifle etc).

Plan:

Continue to give daily metacam and also exercise restrict. Recommend sedation and x-rays pelvic limbs. Options include:

1) medical management of arthritis, then amputation of left hind if has ongoing pain vs

2) straight to amputation of left rear leg after x-rays vs

3) humane euthanasia

Also recommend scale and polish of teeth.

Number 3 sounded terrible to both parties, so we promptly agreed to ensconce the little pack rat into our rescue family :)

She quickly stole our hearts and was named Havana after her warm and sunny personality.

Upon her arrival to Auckland, Havana visited our friends over at Millwater Veterinary Hospital for her vaccination boosters. It was decided that the best course of action was to knock her out sooner rather than later to have a dental & her all important x-rays.

Havana’s x-rays show that she has a deformed femur, and her knee cap is floating in her thigh.