From:
"jbmccaughey"
Date: 2006-12-04 21:31:53 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: concern over elbow luxation
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
One of my ferrets needed her elbow pinned but like you say about the
cases you've found, mine was also as a result of trauma. In my case
Basil was very young and underdeveloped, but fast, and she just
climbed and jumped a few too many times than we could catch her. The
plan was to pin the slipping elbow long enough for scar tissue to
develop and for her muscles and ligaments to tighten up the area
around the joint.
When I went in for the first consultation though my vet also offered
what would have been our last resort option, to fuse the bones by
removing a little of the surface of each of the bones. It means the
joint would be immobile, but the vet said it would be placed and
pinned in a natural angle and Basil would adapt to it. When the pin
was removed after 4 weeks an xray of the bones showed they had
actually begun to fuse just a bit. Basil didn't initially have full
range of motion but regained it just a little with time. She still
doesn't have full range, she cannot completely close her elbow, but
she has adapted beautifully.
The vet seemed experienced and confident in the option of fusing. I'm
in PA but you can email me directly for her info and she may be
willing to consult with your vet. She may even have another idea for
your particular case, depending on what the actual problem is with
the joint, if that can be determined. (muscle, ligaments, bone
deformity..)
Jaime
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, "manajane21" <amandadegraw@...>
wrote:
>
> I have been digging through the FHL archives and found lots of
> instances where people report luxated elbows, but all appear to be
> after some sort of injury, and it was obvious the ferret had a
problem.
> In the case of my Izzy, I never would have found out her elbows
weren't
> right if we were not xraying her for something else. The vets I
work
> with (the ones that took the xray) are not the most ferret savy, so
> they have not a whole lot to say about it. I am not in any
immediate
> concern because, as I mentioned, she does not seem to be in any
pain,
> or bothered in any way. I am just at a loss now because I do not
know
> what to do for her if needed, or who to go to for it. I have had
some
> bad luck with vets in my area (Twin Cities, MN) over the years when
it
> comes to not so common cases, and have no idea where to go. Is
there
> someone that could recommend what I should do, if anything, in this
> type of a situation.
>
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