Surgery question

[hillsdown]

Has anyone ever had to have surgery done on their puppies hip joint and if so what was all in tailed. It is not hip dysplasia but a genetic defect where the ball joint in the hip does not develop as fast as it should .

 

[jillaroo]

My parents had a hip done on their young Golden.
Are they talking about removing the femoral head?
It was a very long recovery for their dog and involved strict rest and little exercise plus a lot of pain meds. Kind of a tough deal for a pup but she's alright now.

 

[hillsdown]

Thank you Jillaroo for the reply, and yes that sounds like it. She is 10 months old now and we still need to get a follow up xray and second opinion but that is what we are most likely looking at. We were told with extensive rehab, especially hydrotherapy, she will recover and live an active healthy life.

We got the news about her the same day we had to put down our Scotch Collie Bo of 15yrs ,so it has been a depressing few days

 

[Faster horses]

I was hoping that wasn't Nicky that you were inquiring about, hd.
Darn it. She's so active, it will be hard on her and on you.
I wish you the best.

And sorry to hear about your collie. He was a neat dog, too.
I can understand how badly you feel. We've been there...and it
doesn't get easier...

 

[hillsdown]

I was hoping that wasn't Nicky that you were inquiring about, hd.
Darn it. She's so active, it will be hard on her and on you.
I wish you the best.

And sorry to hear about your collie. He was a neat dog, too.
I can understand how badly you feel. We've been there...and it
doesn't get easier...

Thanks FH , lets just say the tears have been flowing frequently here the last 2 days. I hated losing Bo , but having Nikki go through all of this at such a young age is devastating too as she is still just a pup and has her life ahead of her . Plus we have fallen in love with her, as you saw Mr HD thinks the sun rises and sets on Nikki ...

Looking forward to seeing more pics of your holiday adventure. It was a great pleasure to meet you and Mr FH in person; and I am so glad you took the time put us in your busy schedule to stop by so we could finally meet.

 

[Faster horses]

Thank you again for having us.It was great to meet you both and see your country..
Right now we are near Highview at
JDbalermans and we meet with per tomorrow at Ian Tyson's Coffee House.
We are looking forward to that! This has been the best trip; the scenery and the people
we have met couldn't be beat.

I'm trying to download my photos right now on advice from JDbalerman,
but I can't get them to dowload for some strange reason...and I have tried
2 different cameras...don't know what is the problem...so I took the
chip out so I don't erase them somehow and I'll download them when
I get home. Yes, I have taken LOTS of pictures. It was disappointing
that the Banff Mountains were so socked in and Mr. FH didn't get to see
them...but he's good with it, says he has seen a lot of wonderful country...
we'll try to come back maybe next year. We don't need to go
clear to Alaska, we really have enjoyed Canada much more.

Try to think positive about Nicky; maybe get a second opinion even.
That sounds like a drastic surgery. I wish there was something we could
do to help...

 

[jillaroo]

I am sorry to hear about your other dog, HD. Tough to loose a friend you've had that long.
My parents' pup was about the age of yours at surgery. She had the first hip done in May and is completely recovered now. She's full of life and loves to run. You would never know she had the surgery. Seems like with dogs, by the time their hair grows back after a surgery, they have healed up.
If I may make a small suggestion, they have had great luck with a supplement for their dog. She has been on it since the surgery and it really seemed to help. It's called Sasha's Blend and is a sea mussel extract powder from NZ. I have a NZ heading dog that gets stiff on his back legs and he runs much better when he is on the Sasha's Blend.
Good luck and I hope it all works out well for you and your pup.[/list]

 

[hillsdown]

Well, Nikki had her follow up xrays yesterday and she needs not just the left but the right side as well femoral head ostectomy. She goes in this week. it is a two hour procedure and she will be held over, and then complete kennel rest for 2-3 weeks , with 5 months of physio and hydrotherapy. After she has recovered we do the right hip ..


Dr U has done many of these, not on this young of a pup though, but she already had arthritis setting in on her left hip so it needs to be done asap and she is supposed to be better than ever afterwards ; painfree and be able to eveyrthing she loves to do again .

 

[jingo2]

You are good people to do that for that puppy...damn good people.

 

[flatlander]

Once had a pretty expensive pup fracture a hip socket . Not sure if this applies, but the hip joint will build itself a new socket in the muscle as it calcifies. Dog had a small-and I mean small -limp and absolutely no pain. Ended up as the fastest deer tracking/scenting greyhound I've ever seen. At three yrs, you would be hard pressed to know that she ever had a hip injury.\

Kansas State University quoted me several thousands of dollars worth of vet bills but suggested that I'd be ahead to put her down. My local horse vet suggested leaving her alone and let nature take care of it. Tough to improve on nature. \

Not sure if this helped or not

 

[hillsdown]

Once had a pretty expensive pup fracture a hip socket . Not sure if this applies, but the hip joint will build itself a new socket in the muscle as it calcifies. Dog had a small-and I mean small -limp and absolutely no pain. Ended up as the fastest deer tracking/scenting greyhound I've ever seen. At three yrs, you would be hard pressed to know that she ever had a hip injury.\

Kansas State University quoted me several thousands of dollars worth of vet bills but suggested that I'd be ahead to put her down. My local horse vet suggested leaving her alone and let nature take care of it. Tough to improve on nature. \

Not sure if this helped or not

Thanks Flatliner.

Her little body is trying to compensate by building more bone around the joint to help hold her femoral head in place, which is what causes the arthritis , bone rubbing on bone. Not a good thing as the more she grows the more pain she will be in. Surgery is best as then there will be no bone rubbing on each other and the scar tissue, once she heals, will hold her hip in place. I just need to find a place or rig something up so we can do hydrotherapy a few times a week to rehabilitate her.

Will update everyone as we move through it. I am dreading her going through all of this ,but I know it is best for her and she is a very resilient little girl .

Jingo, my husband is in love with this puppy. She has completely stolen his heart. I swear when he has to be gone for a few days he misses her more than me. Helping her through this so she can lead a normal life is the only option for us. I guess that long forgotten vacation will have to wait ,yet again. But it will be worth it as long as Nikki is healthy .

This little puppy has made such an impact on peoples lives , when my in laws were here visiting this summer they fell in love with her. These are people that swore they would never, ever, own a pet, especially a dog. Guess what they adopted the week they got home. Yes, a puppy and they have only had that puppy for a few months but he pretty much rules the roost and the kids have never loved their parents more because they finally were allowed to have a dog. Now we are working on the FIL getting a pet ,especially since he is a widower and would really like the companionship. :wink: