calf with broken leg

[suzorse]

I have had 2 that were wearing casts , both put on by my vet , both wore them for 4 weeks , heifer with a front fracture of the fetlock , she bloodied me from elbow to wrist when I wrapped it to stabilize it before going to the vet , and was still kicking after light sedation for x rays and cast , it had to be replaced at 2 weeks because it slid down , and she just laid in my lap , for it being cut off and replaced , same when it was removed , other was a bull calf back leg with a clean break between fetlock and hock , heavy padding and stabilized before vet trip , cast from foot to hip , just layed there , but had to be knocked out for removal , heifer right after getting the first one , and later at 3 months old , I will bave to see if I can find pictures of the steer , he is the single black one after his cast was removed and shortly before I sold him
Suzanne

 

[suzorse]

found the other cast picture on the bull calf , both were brought to me from the sale barn and both were injured there , the Char heifer was bought back by the owner and then brought to me , also both are hard casts
Suzanne

 

[darcelina4]

I took the cast off my calf today and it's obvious that the ends of the bone were in the same paddock but barely. It is healed but crooked as can be. Oh well, I tried.

I bought a couple day old calf a few years ago that had broken his leg between the hock and stifle. I looked up how to fix it and found a Thomas Schroeder splint. I went to lowes and bought very thin threaded metal rods and the connecter bolts. I put the calf in the truck bed so I could keep referring to him as I bent the rods using the trucks bumper and my hands. The I padded it well with cotton and vet wrap and taped him into it. I took him to the vet a few days later. They loved it. They did help me to find a better way to tape it so I did not have to redo daily. I left it on him 3 weeks. It healed like he never had a broken leg at all. At 6 months, you could not tell him from the other calves and we sold him at the sale barn for a good price. I think for any break even lower on the leg, this would work better than a cast as it puts the leg in traction, properly lining up the bones. And it allows the leg to keep growing unlike a cast that becomes tight on the leg as the calf grows. It is labor intensive but it works.

 

[wbvs58]

I bought a couple day old calf a few years ago that had broken his leg between the hock and stifle. I looked up how to fix it and found a Thomas Schroeder splint. I went to lowes and bought very thin threaded metal rods and the connecter bolts. I put the calf in the truck bed so I could keep referring to him as I bent the rods using the trucks bumper and my hands. The I padded it well with cotton and vet wrap and taped him into it. I took him to the vet a few days later. They loved it. They did help me to find a better way to tape it so I did not have to redo daily. I left it on him 3 weeks. It healed like he never had a broken leg at all. At 6 months, you could not tell him from the other calves and we sold him at the sale barn for a good price. I think for any break even lower on the leg, this would work better than a cast as it puts the leg in traction, properly lining up the bones. And it allows the leg to keep growing unlike a cast that becomes tight on the leg as the calf grows. It is labor intensive but it works.

I've used Thomas splints over the years but mostly on young dogs with reasonable results. It will give reasonable immobilisation on the higher bones, femur and humerus as well. The limiting factor was how the owners cared for the dog and splint.

Ken

 

[PSMCL]

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