When you get to the hospital, the veterinary team will take appropriate emergency action. Depending on the severity of the injury, your veterinarian may focus on stabilizing vital organs. Once vital signs look stable, your veterinarian will attend to the fractured leg. Your veterinarian will diagnose the type of broken leg. They will tell you what type of fracture it is, such as a complete or an incomplete fracture, transverse (straight) or oblique (diagonal) break. And they should be able to tell you some of the treatment options, which may be surgical or non-surgical.  If it is a closed fracture, they may put your dog’s leg in a cast or a splint. Your vet may perform surgery to insert pins, plates, or screws into the bone to help the broken leg heal. If your dog’s leg is severely broken in multiple places, your veterinarian may suggest amputation. Although this treatment option may sound scary, it could be the most viable option if the injury is very severe. Remember that your dog has four legs and, if necessary, should be able to live a healthy life with three legs.  X rays will be taken to determine the extent of damage.  The amputation surgery may take several hours. When discussing treatment options, you should ask your veterinarian about any differences in cost. Depending on the severity of the break, you could end up paying between $1200 and $3000 in veterinary fees, and sometimes more. Typically, non-surgical treatment with a cast or a splint will be cheaper than surgical options, although there may be more follow up visits with non-surgical options.  The average cost for treating a broken leg is $2000. See if your veterinarian offers a payment plan or more affordable care options.
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One-sentence summary -- Get professional veterinary care. Ask your veterinarian about treatment options. Find out whether amputation is necessary. Discuss the cost of treatment.


There are several types of medications that are used to help control IBD.  Aminosalicylates target colon inflammation, but are less effective at treating the small intestine. These drugs are usually used to treat mild to moderate colitis. Sulfasalazine is effective, but side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, heartburn, and headache. Corticosteroids fight inflammation, but suppress all immune response instead of focusing on the colon. These drugs (prednisone, methylprednisolone) are used for moderate to severe colitis. Side effects include weight gain, excessive facial hair growth, mood swings, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, bone fractures, cataracts, glaucoma, and an increased risk of infection. Azathioprine and mercaptopurine act slowly, so they're usually prescribed alongside a corticosteroid. Immunomodulators, like corticosteroids, suppress immune response to calm inflammation. They're usually used only when aminosalicylates and corticosteroids have failed. Cyclosporine is a very strong medication that begins to work within one or two weeks. Since it is so strong and comes with a range of severe side effects, it is generally only prescribed until less toxic medications can take effect. Infliximab and adalimumab fight intestinal inflammation specifically.  Infliximab can cause problems in people with cancer or a history of heart disease. Antibiotics don't treat the colitis itself. If intestinal ulcers cause infection though, antibiotics will prevent further complications.  Antibiotics can treat abscesses of fistulas (abnormal connections between organs or vessels) seen in Crohn's Disease and usually occurring in the small intestine.  Tell your doctor if you develop a fever, which could indicate infection. Though it may sound "natural" or "herbal," biologic therapies take their name from the fact that they're developed from biological material — usually protein. This treatment targets the chemicals responsible for inflammation. These fairly new medications are used for moderate to severe colitis if other treatments have failed.  They're also known as anti-TNF agents. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a naturally produced chemical responsible for inflammation. Biologic therapies produce antibodies that attach themselves to the TNF, so that it can be destroyed by the body. Your doctor must test you for tuberculosis before you can begin TNF. If your colitis is so severe that no medication, home cure, or alternative treatment can keep it in check, you might need to have a colectomy. During this surgery, part or all of your colon will be removed. Removal of your colon will lead to lifestyle changes. Although most people will be able to do most of the routine activities they did before, you have to live with a stoma (a hole in your abdomen from which waste is expelled).  The only way to cure colitis completely is to have a total colectomy performed. Since a total colectomy can come with adverse side effects (like small bowel obstruction), though, a partial colectomy is sometimes done instead. The surgeon may also opt to perform a procedure that links the small intestine to the anus, thereby producing more normal bowel function.
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One-sentence summary -- Consult your healthcare provider about medicinal treatments. Consider antibiotic use. Talk to your doctor about biologic therapies. Be prepared for surgery if necessary.


Acceptance of yourself is crucial to the promotion of inner peace because it enables us to be okay with what is currently happening no matter what the circumstances. If we try to avoid pain we may only enhance it. You can start by practicing acceptance of yourself by taking a personal inventory- who you are, what you look like, how you feel, and what you’ve done.  Write down a personal inventory of your personality, characteristics (positive ones and ones you want to work on), actions, and appearance. Make a point to accept each and every part of your inventory – even the stuff you aren’t proud of. Forgive yourself for the wrongs you have done if you need to, and focus on what you can do today to better yourself. Take an inventory of your goals. Having dreams and aspirations is sometimes what keeps us moving forward in self-acceptance. Set personal goals for yourself and move toward them every day. Some examples of personal goals include: losing weight, eating healthier, exercising more often, picking up a new hobby (such as playing an instrument), or watching less television. On a daily basis, ask yourself if what you are doing is currently in line with your goals and values. Re-frame your negative traits into positive ones to promote self-acceptance. For example, perhaps you typically think that you are not tall enough and therefore, do not fully accept your height. You can practice self-acceptance by meaning-making about your height. What meaning or purpose might your height have? Does it help you do certain activities that a taller person might not be able to do? How does your height benefit you? One way to practice acceptance of your life is to be grateful for what you have instead of focusing on what you do not have.  Take an inventory of everything that you value in your life; this can include: family, friends, a roof over your head, enough food to eat, an education, the government, laws, nature, roads, and transportation. Remember that some people in the world may have little access to some of these things that we see as basic. You can even create a digital gratitude journal online through Thnx4.org and share your thoughts with others. As humans, we often want to control others (what they do or how they act) and our environments (home, work, school, society, world). We want our spouse to be a better person, our boss to be nicer, our house to be cleaner, and traffic to evaporate. This is likely because we fear the unknown, or what we cannot control, including our own mortality. Unfortunately, we cannot always control these outcomes. Ultimately, we cannot control what others think, feel, or do. Focus only on what you can control. Ask yourself, “What can I do in this situation?” If you can’t change it then accept it and let it go.
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One-sentence summary --
Take a personal inventory. Focus on what you are grateful for. Give up control over things you can't change.