Marshal's Broken Leg

Dear Everett,
Marshal went to the vet last night. He’s been limping after play time, blading, etc. and slow to get up from a sit…sometimes slow to go in to a sit. Besides, I needed to introduce him to everyone there and drop off his vaccination records.

Marshal broke his leg back in April (mid shaft femoral fracture, meaning his ‘thigh bone’ snapped in the middle as though hit by a car, or got in the way of a heavy foot), and was subsequently surrendered, which is how he ended up with us. It was determined that ‘crate rest’ would be sufficient, and sure enough after a few weeks he started using his leg again (paraphrasing from his records). He has been running and playing since he joined us in July.

Everett, your doctor's office has a new vet, who loved Marhsal. The doctor examined every inch of Marshal’s pelvis and both back legs, before giving the rest of him the once over, and pronounced him in general good health, except the broken leg. We took x-rays (radiographs, to be exact). His left leg is fine, and I am glad they took radiographs of both femurs, to help my untrained eye see the difference. His right femur is still healing! It’s been almost four months, but I guess the added task of growing, as well as healing, elongates the time frame for repair? Not to mention all the activities we do every day!

So the poor thing is confined to crate rest again. I bought several packages of beef marrow bones. I gave him one small slice first (frozen), to see how his stomach handled the marrow, and he made it through the night with no ill effects. To be fair, both Paisle and Ansel received slices too—everyone was very happy.

NO running. NO blading. NO fetch, NO playing with Ansel and Paisle!! He may have walks of one mile or less (must have at least two hours crate rest afterwards) and he can swim all he wants. It’s a little cool now, for lake swimming, but I will cast about for a place to take him nearby. Doc said make sure to bathe him well after being in the water, so we don’t aggravate his allergies. Doc also gave me a brochure for a canine rehab place in Burnsville (they have a small tank with an underwater treadmill—really cool!), but that’s a bit far from home. He doesn’t think the U has a pool, but I’ll call Monday anyway and ask.

So how to keep this active, growing pup entertained in his crate for the next two weeks?? Doc said mind games of any kind are great—the bones are a start and stuffed kongs are freezing as I type.

Lastly, doc thinks due to tail and muzzle, that M’s cross is likely Great Dane. I dunno—I spend a lot of time walking behind my boys and M’s tail looks exactly the same as Ansel’s, though they clearly have different heads. I looked up some Dane pics though, and the heavy feet/leg structure looked VERY familiar…doc thinks M might be between 100 to 110 lbs when he’s done growing. He’s at 62.2lbs now, at 8 months old.