September Pet of the Month - Bjorn

Bjorn is a one year old Pomeranian who loves cheese, running and watching Vikings with his mom and dad! One evening in December of 2017 he was sitting with his owner on the couch and became excited when a child ran into the room. Bjorn jumped off the couch and landed hard on his front left leg. At first his owner didn’t realize the severity of the injury. (Bjorn has been known to fake injury for attention!) However, after further evaluation his owner decided that he needed to be seen as soon as possible. He was then quickly rushed to an emergency veterinarian to find out that he had broken two bones in the leg. They were able to set the bones and put in him a temporary cast until he could have surgery the next day to have an external fixator attached. He was in the external fixator for 12 weeks and then had another surgery to remove the hardware.
 
Unfortunately in March, five days post surgery for removal of the fixator, Bjorn slipped on a tiled floor and fractured the leg again. This time he was able to get a cast to stabilize the fracture, but he had to wear it for several weeks to allow the bone time to heal. During this time the elbow rubbed against the hard cast material. Approximately a week after the removal of the cast the owner noticed an open sore on Bjorn’s elbow. And so it continues!
 
Bjorn was back in Columbia and came here for treatment of the open wound. He was placed on antibiotics to treat the infection and had a soft bandage applied to protect the wound. The bandage was changed every few day to assess for healing and to make sure it wasn’t getting infection. After a few bandage changes it was determined that the quickest road to recovery for Bjorn was to have yet another surgery. The wound was surgically debrided and closed. After just a couple more weeks of restriction, Bjorn was FINALLY free to be a puppy! Thanks to Bjorn’s owners following recommended protocol and continuing weekly care of the wound. Bjorn is doing fantastic and is stronger than ever!
 
Written by Dana