Pet Broken Bones. Although automobile accidents are the number one cause of broken bones in pets, surprisingly enough the second most common cause of fractures in pets is furniture in your home. Pets jump or fall from, for example, your couch or bed and break a bone. A recent survey of pet fractures sums up the most common ways, from which broken bones in pets result. In 2008, hit by cars topped the list, followed by accidents in which pets fell or jumped, primarily from everyday household furniture.
Top 10 Ways Pets Break Bones
- Hit by Car
- Jumping
- Falling
- Fighting With Other Pets or Animals
- Running and Slipping
- Being Hit or Struck With an Object
- Getting Caught in or Between an Object
- Running into Object
- Getting Stepped On
- Being Injured in a Car Accident
Last year, over 5,000 claims were turned into pet insurance companies for broken bones. The survey reported that 40 percent resulted from pets being hit by cars. Jumping and/or falling, from household furniture accounted for another 40 percent. These cases usually resulted from pets jumping and/or falling from couches and beds, and even from their owner’s laps. The final 20 percent included those in which pets ran into an stationary object, got into a fight with another pet or animal, were trapped in a tight space, or accidentally hit with various moving objects, other than cars.
What are the most common bones pet’s break?
The humerus, femur, radius, ulna and tibia were the top five bones broken in 2008.
What are the most common treatments submitted for Broken Bones?
Surgical repair with bone plates topped the list with an average cost of $1,500 dollars.
What are the most expensive fractures to surgically repair?
Fractures of the pelvis and/or vertebrae of the spinal cord (your pets back) topped the list at an average cost of $2600 dollars using bone plates. The same fractures repaired using pins, wires, or screws averaged $2400 dollars.
Broken bones hurt pets and are expensive for owners to repair. Surely an ounce of prevention is well worthwhile to try to eliminate potential problems. Take a close look inside your house and remove possible threats. Be sure that your pet has a safe, secure area in which to play outside your house as well. Don’t let your pet run loose. Get a pet safety belt when he’s traveling with you in the car and don’t let pets ride lose in the back of your pick-up truck. Keep your 4-legged companion on a leash when you’re going for walks and be sure his collar fits securely and his ID tags are up to date. For those that like to bolt out your front door and run into the road restrict their access with a baby gate or work with a behaviorist to “desensitize” your pet to open doors.
Lola was struck by a golf club swung by my 7 year old son. Lola is a 7 month old lab puppy. Her jaw was broken, not a compound fracture but cracked thru the lower jaw bone; bone to bone, no space between parts of jaw. The estimates were very high to fix. Insteadwe did what we could, she is in a mussal and an elizebethian collar. The first week we thoughtshe would die, we could get nothing into her, she was in pain. It has been 3 weeks since the accident. She eats like a horse, always wanting more food; she weighs about 40 pounds. She is full of energy. She demonstrats no pain. Now her ears are infected, bad smell and she demonstrates discomfort. I cleaned her ears with cotton hperioxide and than powder. My question is can I take off the collar at this point? She may than take off the mussel but I believe she is fairly well cured. I could keep her in her kennel. This ear issue is caused by the collar
Hi George
I would check with your vet 1st and have an xray to be sure the jaw fracture is healed
If you get a diagnosis for the ear infection, there are meds like momentamax that are great for ear infections and cover bacteria and yeast
I am glad to talk to you and am available toll free at 1 866 372 2765
Dr Carol
Hi Dr Carol
While I was out of town, one of my dogs seems to have essentially ripped off a toe on his right front foot. I’m not sure what happened, or when – the person who was feeding them said she saw him limping on it on Tuesday, but she didnt know how bad it was because she couldn’t get near him. He is a rescue, and extremely skittish/anxious. He won’t let anyone except me get near him, and he even gets scared of the sound of his own nails on the hardwood floor. He’s a fairly big boy (Rott/German Shepherd/?), so people don’t try to approach him. This also makes going to the vet an ordeal because he gets extremely stressed out.
Strangely, a few months ago he had a similar injury, with his toes attached by not much more than skin. I took him to the vet then, and they cleaned and stitched it, but this time there’s not really anything there to stitch. Even the nail is totally gone. I have cleaned it and bandaged it, and made him as comfortable as possible, but I haven’t taken him to the vet because I’m not sure what more they would be able to do. I will definitely take him if it will make a difference, but I am still paying off the bill from last time and even the money for a standard visit is an issue right now. Plus I don’t like putting him through the extra stress if it can be avoided. I have some wilderness medical training, but I know I’m no doctor. What can I do for my pup?
Hi
Clean the nail bed with betadine, rinse with water, blot with alcohol than if you get 7% iodine and gently apply a very small amount with a q tip-this will toughen up the tissue and help prevent infection. I would them wrap the paw. Since this is re-occuring there might be a nail be infection-this is commonly fungal in nature and your vet can take a culture to be sure and treat accordingly. I am glad to talk. I am available at chagrinfallspetclinic.com/Consultation-s/75.htm
Thank you
Dr Carol
Being hit by a car is the most common way for a pet to break a bone, according to Veterinary Pet Insurance of Brea, Calif., which received more than 5,000 claims for fractures in 2008.