His history is a little patchy to us, but he started at Town Lake Animal Center, transferred to Austin Humane Society with a broken leg. The leg was radiographed by Dr. Kerpsack (an orthopedic surgeon) and found his radius and ulna to be fractured on the right front leg. The fracture had already started to heal since puppy bones are growing so quickly. The best option was to put a splint on his leg to stabilize the fracture while it continues to heal. He will see the surgeon tomorrow for a recheck and to either change or remove the splint.
Poor Lil Dude also has other orthopedic issues - laxity in his carpal joint (wrist) in the left leg, as well as both of his tarsal joints (ankles). His bones haven't kept up with the growth of his tendons, and the joints are bending in the wrong direction.
The reason for his crusty eyes when we first saw him is due to his upper respiratory infection. This type of infection is more of a problem in shelter situations, and with the stress of being a growing puppy with a splint on. The eye discharge crusted over, sealing his eyes closed. The crusting also caused a more serious problem, rubbing on his corneas. The friction caused corneal ulcers to form on both of his eyes.
The flakey, oily, smelly skin is likely due to demodex mites. These mites are normal inhabitants on dogs, but can get out of hand in physically stressed dogs (especially puppies). He was already treated for this, and it appears to be resolving.
We are also lucky enough for Lil Dude to have some nasty diarrhea as well. This is likely caused by a combination of things: parasites, stress, and bacterial unbalance in his intestinal tract. He's been treated with a de-wormer to cover the most common parasites.
Current treatments he is receiving:
Clavamox (Augmentin) liquid every 12 hours for the respiratory infection
Metronidazole every 12 hours for diarrhea
Tramadol every 6-12 hours for pain related to his fractures
Warm compresses over his eyes and cleaning every 6 hours
Antibiotic eye drops every 6 hours
Moderate, controlled exercise to help strengthen his muscles and joints
It's already clear that he's on the road to recovering from all of these problems and getting back to being a normal playful puppy!
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