Fractured Femur!

Post date: Oct 18, 2011 12:34:19 PM

Our llama, Red Baron has broken his left rear femur in October, 2011. As far as we can tell he tripped over the dog or stepped in a hole. We saw him fall down and then just sit down. Red stayed kushed out in the pasture for a few minutes then got up and walked to the barn. We noticed he wasn't using his left leg at all.

We left it alone for three days (it was a Friday) to see if it was just a pulled muscle or something, but when Monday came and he still wasn't using his leg, we took him to have it x-rayed. The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine said it was a spiral fracture with an off-set of about 3 inches. To reduce that and keep it stable Red Baron went through 6.5 hours of surgery to have a steel plate (and 11 screws) put in his femur.

He stayed in the UT Vet Hospital for 5 more days and needed to 'take it easy' for eight weeks so the bone can heal. Poor llama! He had to stay cooped up in a stall while his pasture mates ran free and nibbled grasses at their will. But we wanted it to heal up nicely, so in his closed quarters he stayed.

UPDATE: May, 2014 - Red still walks with a limp. His left leg is not the same length as his right leg, so he still uses it less. But he runs and pronks just like his pasture mates!