Sofi

December 3, 2021  Miley (Animal ID A1656037) 6 months, was admitted to an animal emergency clinic for a broken right leg by her owner.

This is what they recorded: 

-History: November 2021   Miley had a fractured right front leg.  Not sure if it was treated or not. As it doesn’t state. It looks however as though it was not.

-Physcal Findings: Patient was non-weight-bearing /very painful right front leg.

-Differential Diagnosis: Distal medial right humeral fracture

-Treatment Plan:  Type four * Salter-Harris fracture right humeral medial condyle thinning of metacarpals and phalanges and right front paw R/O disuse atrophy (A Salter-Harris fracture is a fracture in the growth plate of a long bone and can affect growth. Surgery is required immediately after injury. Type 4 means it went through the growth plate, the wide portion and the end of a long bone and can cause chronic disability).

The animal emergency clinic advised to schedule surgery as soon as possible. Surgery was not done. They dispensed anti-inflammatory and pain management. 

January 7, 2022 Miley was surrendered to the Department of Animal Services County of Riverside by her owner.

-Shelter Notes: Owner surrender due to a fractured right front and rear leg. Sever pain signs when holding. Right thoracic limb: elbow with pain elicited and partial extension. Right hip region with extreme pain signs during palpation. 

-Radiographs : Right distal humeral fracture. Right coxofemoral joint luxation. Right humeral fracture. Right  hip laxation. 

-Treatment:  Continue with oral pain medication, recommend release to rescue group.

-January 8, 2022 Miley did not eat or drink overnight no bowel movement or urine in kennel.

-January 9, 2022 eating churro chicken flavor and small amounts of canned cat food, drinking small amounts of water, no urine or bowel movement in kennel tried to palpate bladder size but to painful ...will need to monitor. Miley was released to Southern California Pomeranian rescue.  

January 9, 2022 Miley was released to Southern California Pomeranian rescue.


-An appointment was set for January 13th with a board-certified orthopedic surgeon.
-January 10, 2022, Miley was clearly uncomfortable and taken  to a local vet for pain management until surgery. X-rays were taken, right front leg was splinted and pain management was dispensed.


January 13, 2022 Miley was taken to Dr. Raviv Balfour at Animal Surgery Emergency Center in Los Angeles for diagnostics and surgery.


-Under anesthesia, x-rays of the right elbow show a chronic bilateral humeral condylar fracture with erosion of the ulna and medial humeral condyle. Surgical repair is virtually impossible due to the erosion of the bones causing a malformation that would not allow alignment of the fractured fragments. We can see how Miley uses the leg, and if she is unable to use the leg, can consider an amputation.
-Right Hip Surgery, The femoral head ( the “ball “ of the ball-and-socket hip joint) was surgically removed, creating a smooth bone surface this will allow a fibrous false joint to form alleviating pain at the hip.
-Healing.: Typically 10 to 12 weeks of slow gradual improvement with most patients bearing little or no weight  for the first two weeks and then gradually using the leg more and more as it heals.
-Prognosis: optimistic, the great majority of patients regain excellent weight-bearing permanently. Outcome relative to poor for use of the right front leg due to the chronic elbow fracture.
-There will be a two week and six week recheck on surgery and once healed we will have a consultation on what to do with the right front leg.


Southern California Pomeranian Rescue is committed to doing the best therapy for Miley to be able to avoid amputation. When Miley is able to walk on her hind leg, we will schedule an appointment with CARE, an animal rehabilitation clinic in Los Angeles. We will see what is available to build muscle in the front right leg.


We would like to acknowledge all of the people who helped with Miley. Thank you to Riverside animal shelter for arranging a quick release to us, thank you to Ruth for transporting, thank you to the networkers who collected pledges from Pom lovers all over the world, thank you to the APC , Life 4 Paws and everyone who contributed to her care. A special thank you to Dr Balfour for his excellent precise work. It is so heartwarming to see the support for this little dog. We have currently raised enough to cover her current needs.