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 Cast Care
Far from being an easy fix,
casts take a lot of work to make
them safe and comfortable.
If you are reading this, you are either easily entertained or else you pet has a cast. Casts are sometimes used to manage fractured bones. Sometimes casts are the first-choice treatment, sometimes they are the second or third-choice treatment, but all casts need some basic daily maintenence. Here are the rules:
Rule 1: Animals with casts may not be outside unattended. Ever. All the bad things listed below will happen if you let your casted pet run loose outside. This means that your pet must be kept either inside the house, inside the garage, or in the basement. When your dog goes outside to potty, you must take him or her on a leash.
Rule 2: The cast must be kept dry. When your pet goes outside to potty, put a baggie over the cast, then put a sock (usually a child's size sock works best) over the baggie. Be sure and take it off when he or she comes in. It goes without saying that baths are out. No swimming.
Rule 3: Animals with casts must not be allowed to exercise freely. There is no such thing as a walking cast in veterinary medicine. Our patients are not able to tell when they are over-doing it. They cannot tell us when they start to develop cast sores. Moreover, in many applications casts on dogs and cats do not immobilize the limb as well as we might like. It is vital that your pet not run wild. Usually, being inside the house is enough, but if your pet is especially rambunctious, it will be necessary to confine him or her to a cage.
Rule 4: You must check the cast at least once a day. Casts can loosen over time as the padding compacts and the limb shrinks from lack of use. Also, many of our casted patients are young and growing, and it is not uncommon for a casted patient to outgrow the cast before it is time to take it off. For these and other reasons, casts can rub and cause sores. If not attended to right away, these sores can be quite severe.
Problem signs:
1. Your pet uses the casted limb less than before.
2. You see a wet spot on the cast
3. You smell a bad odor
4. Your pet has a decrease in appetite or activity level.
If you notice any of these things, call immediately.
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