Explanation of Facts

The dog was hit by a car three days ago, so the injury is almost certainly traumatic. The 
dog was perfectly normal before the accident.

The dog is 17 months old, so the dog should be fully grown and the bones should be fully 
elongated and calcified.

Intact male may indicate that the dog is excitable and hyper, and the reason for injury could 
be darting into the road or escaping from the ownerÕs yard.

After the initial trauma, the dog was given 2 L of lactated ringerÕs IV to maintain vascular 
volume and blood pressure. The Prednisolone was given as a corticosteroid, as they are 
potent antiinflammatory and cyclooxygenase inhibitor. Duragesic and Butorphanol were 
given to relief pain and calm the patient. Cephazolin is a first-generation cephalosporin, 
which acts as a Gram + antibiotic and has a long half-life.

The animal has no known health problems and was normal before the accident, which 
further emphasizes the origin of the lameness was traumatic. 

The dogÕs diet consists of 4 cups of Big Red dry dog food per day. The dog is 67 lbs.and 
four cups is not an overly excessive quantity, but Big Red is a lower-quality dog food and 
the animal could possibly have nutritional deficiencies stemming from a continuous low 
quality diet.

The dog stays both inside and outside, which means when outside it would have the 
opportunity to escape. It would also have access to more environmental pathogens, and if 
the dog was dirty could contaminate the open wounds caused by the accident. The dog 
could also have access to other dogs through the fence or gate, and could be exposed to 
distemper / parvo / worms. Maintaining a consistent vaccination and deworming program is 
more important with dogs that are indoor / outdoor.

This dog also lives with many other pets, and their vaccination status is not given. It is 
important to find out if their vaccines are current, so the origin of any infections can be 
traced to source of origin.

The TPR is normal, and the weight seems normal for an adult Doberman pinscher in 
adequate body condition. 

The dog is non-weight in both hind legs, so the lameness would be classified as bilateral 
and Class IV non-weight bearing lameness.

There is superficial and deep pain response in both hind legs and in the perineum, which 
may indicate diffuse damage throughout the hind limbs, pelvis, and reproductive tract 
systems.

The reflex response in hind limbs are inconsistent, so possible deficiencies in sensory 
nerve function exist. The motor nerve function was evaulated to be normal.

There are superficial wounds on the right hind leg, which could mean either that was where 
the dog impacted the car or impacted the ground.

The swollen right hind localized the injury to below the hock, and the left hind is diffusely 
swollen to the toes, meaning the injury is causing venous collapse and congestion high on 
the leg.

There was a palpable instability of the right tibia, indicating that some bone damage or 
fracture is present. The same sort of instability was found in the upper left femur, but this 
region is generally harder to evaulate for bone and soft tissue damage. Abnormal limb 
movement indicates some damage to either the hip joint, fracture to the femur, or loss of 
ligament / tendon / muscle stability that would otherwise allow the left leg to move 
normally.

Crepitation is a dry, crackling sound or sensation, often felt when two fractured bones are 
rubbed together. It could also indicate the crackling of joints, or noise produced by placing 
pressure on tissues containing abnormal amounts of gas (emphysema). However the sound 
of fractured bone rubbing together is the most likely explanation.

The exact source of the abnormalities could not be located, so that probably indicates severe 
soft tissue swelling that doesnÕt allow precise palpation.

The absence of pain or distortions along the spine helps to eliminate more serious 
permanent damage to the spine.