Samson scared me this past Friday night!

TessaAndSamson

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May 7, 2010
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He jumped off the couch and let out a really high pitched cry. I look over at him and he has his front left leg out to the side. Now I NEVER hear him cry in pain, as we all know the EB has a very high tolerance for pain, so this was quite alarming. I rush to him and spread open his paw pads thinking it was a metal chip and maybe when he jumped off the couch it pressed itself in his paw pad. Dave is a machinist, he comes home with metal chips all in his clothes, hair, etc and they often make it on the floor. They hurt when you step on them (they are little spiral metal pieces) which I have done many times and I recently found one in Samson's paw but with that incident he didn't cry he just stood there shaking that foot, I took the chip out and all was well after that. So anyway I found no metal chip in his paw, it's his leg I realize that is bothering him. I start to freak out, this is the leg he broke at 6 months old that required orthopedic surgery. I've always feared what would happen if he broke that leg again, would they even be able to fix it again, what kind of crazy surgery would he need this time, just the idea of ANOTHER surgery was heartbreaking (he's already had 3 in his 5.5 years of life). All these thoughts are running through my mind while I am home alone late on a Friday night. I started to freak out because he was refusing to walk and put any weight on that leg. I called Dave and my mom, both of which told me to calm down and wait until the morning to take him to the vet because I was ready to go right that minute (my vet is open 24/7). So I decided to wait. Normally Samson sleeps in bed with me but I didn't want to do that because I couldn't risk him trying to jump off further injuring himself while I was sleeping. So I sleep on the couch downstairs with his dog bed laid in front of me. It was so sad, he was being so pathetic, he looked at me so depressed, didn't want to move. So the next morning I get him the vet as soon as they opened at 8am, I was feeling more optimistic because by the morning he would put a little weight on his leg. During his exam, my vet manipulated his leg in every direction and he never so much as tensed a muscle. So they determined it was a sprain/strain, my vet said I could have x-rays done to be 100% positive it wasn't broken but anything being broken was highly unlikely since he had NO reaction to the vet moving his leg around. I was SO relieved and he is doing much better now. They did however confirm that arthritis has clearly developed in that leg, there was clear popping and cracking in his elbow. Not happy to hear that but it was expected, the orthopedic surgeon that fixed his leg told me that he would definitely develop arthritis to some degree in that leg. I've always been particularly cautious with his activity for fear of him breaking his leg again but I feel it's quite apparent now that I need to be more cautious, like I think he needs to stop sleeping in bed with us. I lift him on and off the bed but he will jump off from time to time, can't have that anymore. Often I allow Samson to follow me upstairs because he will cry if I donā€™t but I think I will have to stop any unnecessary use of the stairs as well. I keep a babygate at the bottom of his stairs so he canā€™t go up and down as he pleases but I need to stop giving in to his need to follow me and just force him to stay downstairs unless itā€™s necessary for him to be up there with me. On another note, my back hurts! Sleeping on the couch Friday night was NOT comfortable and carrying his chubby butt around on Saturday was not easy!

Wow that turned into a long story, if you are reading this thank you for sticking around to read the entire thing LOL
 

JAKEISGREAT

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Mar 25, 2011
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Wow! What a stressful time for you! I'm so glad his leg wasn't broken..but arthritis sure does suck! But that comes as no surprise..poor Samson..good thing his mommy is tough!!
 

BruceP

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Aug 12, 2010
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Awwwwww,,,pooooor baby Sammy :heart::heart::heart:
He sure looks Dead in your signature pic!!! LOL
 

Jack Daniels

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Sep 1, 2011
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stuff always seems to happen "after hours" ....

Why cant they happen right after work and before bed time ..!
:D

Glad to read he is better. ..
 

Biogirl71

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Nov 5, 2010
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Glad that it wasn't too serious! I would have been freaking out too. When Frank was about 6 months old, he jumped off the couch and strained his leg or pinched a nerve and I remember his cry of pain. It was horrible. We vowed to keep him from jumping off things and many times I will lift him up and down with either the couch or bed, but so many times he just launches himself off and I get so mad. But it is so hard to watch them 24/7 and they are soooo stubborn! Glad Samson is doing much better!
 

KMARINO

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Jul 21, 2010
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I am glad it was not a break, it sucks that he is going to have problems with that leg though. I have an arthritic knee, and it bother's me all the time. (When I don't do my excercises for it) Did they give him any sort of anti-inflamitory?
 
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TessaAndSamson

TessaAndSamson

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I am glad it was not a break, it sucks that he is going to have problems with that leg though. I have an arthritic knee, and it bother's me all the time. (When I don't do my excercises for it) Did they give him any sort of anti-inflamitory?

Yes they gave me rimadyl which is an anti-inflammatory and pain reliever. Which helps a little too much sometimes LOL As I feared, once he gets one he thinks he is a young pup again. After yesterday's morning dose he was bucking around the family room like a little baby bull and a few hours later the limp started coming back a bit.
 

sheshistory

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Jul 11, 2010
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Oh Tessa - I'm so sorry about your scare! You know I have been there before.

Bentley tore both ACLs and had surgery to fix them both that involved breaking his leg to reshape his knee joint and I used Rimadyl later in his life to control his comfort level when he had "creaky" days - which wasn't everyday - and it really did work wonders.

I'm sure I'll be dealing with that as well as Truman ages. His "bad" hip is still not quite as robust as the other hip so I constantly worry!

That all said, I'm glad it was nothing worse!
 

JeannieCO

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Wow poor Samson's been through a lot in his 5.5 years. Poor thing. Glad to see that's he's going to be ok and that it wasn't another break. Wilzon took his first jump off our bed this evening after I put him up there because he wanted up to get to Ace. Scared me because he has such floppy feet and our bed is high.

Ace our old guy tore both his ACLs (CCLs) and had a TPLO on each of his rear legs. He too was on Rimadyl. It's a very power anti-inflammatory and for some dogs for reasons I don't know it can kill. Long term effects the kidneys. Ace is on it twice daily now as he also has degenerative disc disease for pain management (he's 13) and for his arthritis from his back legs so he can live the short rest of his life with some comfort - he also has to take Duralactin.
 
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Sherry

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I know they should not jump down from stuff, but Dolly jumps off the bed too sometimes. I used to have steps for her, but she never used them. I will make sure to help her off the bed from now on. sorry for your scary Friday night. that would scare any of us.
 

GatorRay

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Feb 25, 2011
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Oh, gosh! I bet you were just scared to death. Poor Samson and poor you! I am glad to hear that he didn't break anything. It might be tough to manage the arthritis but I am sure you will be able to keep him comfy. Sometimes it is hard not to give in to them. Gator whined last night to go to bed with me but he HAS to wear his stupid cone and I just can't see him being able to hang in our bed with that thing on.

What a good momma you are! He is a lucky boy. Keep us posted on how his leg is doing. Is it a front or back leg?
 

Fontanafox

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Poor Momma. I know how stressful it has been for you. Sometimes it can get overwhelming but we mamas gotta keep "keepin on." So glad Samson didn't have anything serious but that doesn't mean you got spared the worry and stress does it? Those yelps of pain never get to leave your head. I still remember when BabyGirl got her foot stuck in the armchair. She was crying like I've never heard before and I remember my husband yelling at me "DO SOMETHING"...I had to think fast and I tilted the armchair at an angle so her weight would be shifted to the floor and miraculously her paw was finally released! I tell you I would sold my soul to stop my BabyGirl from crying like that. I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me and I just collapsed to my knees and was so relieved it was over. She just suffered a minor cut on her paw. I had a custom cut piece of plywood under the chair cushion to give it more support and that was where BabyGirl got her paw wedged. Needless to say the plywood board went out to the trash immediately.
 
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TessaAndSamson

TessaAndSamson

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May 7, 2010
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Those yelps of pain never get to leave your head.

They most certainly don't! When Samson initally broke his leg he was a puppy and puppies are MUCH more vocal about their pain. He broke his leg when we were at the lake for the day. We had to drive 45 minutes through mountain roads before we got to the closest vet. I was holding Samson for the entire car ride and the entire time he was screaming/high pitched crying thing, oh it was just awful. That was one of the worst days of my life. Like you said though we keep on "keepin on" and I did hold it together until we got home. Once we were home and I was laying next to him with his little cast on, everything started sinking in and I did break down. We had to wait 3 days until they could get him in for orthopedic surgery and I spent almost everyone moment of those 3 days laying next to him on the floor.

Is it a front or back leg?

It's his front left leg.
 

cali~jenn

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Mar 28, 2010
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Oh my gosh, I am glad it was just a sprain! My gosh! Cutty has done that cry a few times and each time it freaks me out. Have found that a lot of times it is just him landing wrong or twisting his leg when he comes down on it off the couch. Thankfully no limping usually. 1 time tho when we were camping with the boys cutty got exited and went too fast coming out of the trailer and his paw slipped behind the step and he screamed. My god I knew he broke something and I was so panicked. Turned out to be similar and by morning he was much better.
 

cowsmom

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Apr 27, 2011
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aw im so glad hes better and its not serious. sarah had acl surgery when we first got her for a torn acl the first owner just left her with for who knows how long. i also lift sarah on and off the bed and there has been a few times she has jumped off and scared the p outa me. big hugs from me and sarah. our bullys can scare us and yes most of my stuff with sarah is when its evening or weekend and my vet is closed. do you give him some fish oil? well not now when hes getting the anti inflammatory but after hes done with it. sarahs limp and overall movement is much better with the fish oil i spray on her food every night. just a thought.
 

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