# Canine Total Hip Replacement



## Miikkas mom (Dec 21, 2009)

We have been told by 2 vets now, that Miikka needs a THR in her right hip and possibly one on the left hip, down the road. I have a million questions, and I will be talking to the vet again later this week. I thought I’d run some of my questions here, too. 

Did your dog appear to be in a lot of pain, before the operation? Miikka does not appear to be in much pain…however, the x-rays say she should be in at least some pain. But as far as we can tell, she is in no pain at all, however, she does do the "bunny hop", from time to time, when she runs. 

How old was your dog at the time of the operation? 

How did your dog handle the recovery? 

Did your dog seem to be in much pain (in the days following the operation)? 

Has your dog had any complications because of the operation? 

How long was your dog in the hospital? 

Once your dog was home, how did you keep your dog from trying to get up…i.e. how did you keep an active dog down? 

How long did it take for your dog to get “back to normal’? 

If you had it to do all over, would you still get the operation? 

I’m sure I’ll think of more questions as time goes on.


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## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

Miikkas mom said:


> We have been told by 2 vets now, that Miikka needs a THR in her right hip and possibly one on the left hip, down the road. I have a million questions, and I will be talking to the vet again later this week. I thought I’d run some of my questions here, too.
> 
> Did your dog appear to be in a lot of pain, before the operation? Rosa did definitely experience pain. She would have lameness in her back end after a day of too much exercise. She still has difficulty getting to her feet, especially if she has been sleeping for a while. She also had range of motion issues, so for instance if we were toweling her off, and moved her back leg in a certain way, she would yipe in pain.Miikka does not appear to be in much pain…however, the x-rays say she should be in at least some pain. But as far as we can tell, she is in no pain at all, however, she does do the "bunny hop", from time to time, when she runs.
> 
> ...


I'm sorry you got this diagnosis, but the surgery has really helped Rosa. Our surgeon did not feel it would be necessary to do a second hip replacement, especially after seeing her one year post-op x-rays. Her repaired hip has "taken over" for the other hip and she bears more of her weight on the good hip now. You can actually see a difference in muscle mass from the pre-surgical x-rays to the one year x-rays. The thigh muscles are much more similar in mass now from right to left.


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## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

I had a dog that had no hip sockets - I found out when she was x rayed because of cancer. She never limped or showed pain. The vet was surprised that she washable to walk.
I am not sure whether I would do a THR on a dog that is not showing pain.


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## jdh520 (Jun 4, 2011)

this might help you out a little.

My gf's roommate currently has a border collie and he was hit by a car at age 1. They put a screw in his hip to reset it but by age 7 the screw had broken and they had to do a total hip replacement on his left side only. 

Surgery was done here at Mississippi State University Vet School by some very well known vet surgeon. The cost was around $3,800 and he was on bed rest for 12 wks after. He was not allowed to climb stairs or jump on couches or catch frisbees (which he is overly ocd about). He had staples in for about 2-3 weeks and a cone on as well. 

Now that he is off bed rest and recovered I can even see it was worth it. The dog was in pain prior to surgery and was destined to be euthanized short of his life span. After surgery he is running and going on long walks again with no limping or pain.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Did you see a veterinary orthopedic SPECIALIST

My vet gave me all sorts of dire warnings about Cyra who has bilateral SEVERE dysplasia 6 years ago and at 9 the only indication is bunny hopping when she runs and she can't make the leap into the truck.

BUT ortho vet said to wait until she had issues if she ever had them......so we never did and that's that. He also said that a THR is not likely to last the life of the dog so you are looking at repeating it.

Is an FHO a possiblity?


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## Miikkas mom (Dec 21, 2009)

jocoyn said:


> Did you see a veterinary orthopedic SPECIALIST
> 
> My vet gave me all sorts of dire warnings about Cyra who has bilateral SEVERE dysplasia 6 years ago and at 9 the only indication is bunny hopping when she runs and she can't make the leap into the truck.
> 
> ...


Thanks EVERYONE for the repies! 

The vet we see now does mainly general veterinary medicine but has a background in orthopedics. There is an ortho specialist in Albuquerque, too. I think I'll make an appointment there, as well. I'm sure I can get the films from the current vet for that appointment. 

They talked about an FHO but that procedure sounded weird. From what I understand they remove the ball from the socket. I should probably ask more questions about it, though, as I don't understand what keeps everything together...if the ball is missing.


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## M&J (Nov 16, 2002)

Did your dog appear to be in a lot of pain, before the operation? 
No, x rays showed severe HD at 7 months old. Didn't show pain at that time. Surgeon said wait. A year later he was showing pain when manipulated. 


How old was your dog at the time of the operation? *18 months old*

How did your dog handle the recovery? It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Very uneventful.

Did your dog seem to be in much pain (in the days following the operation)? He was on pain meds and antibiotics for a few days. He never showed signs of pain post surgery. He did look awful the first day back, but not in pain.

Has your dog had any complications because of the operation? 
None.

How long was your dog in the hospital? 
Surgery on a Thursday, he came home on Saturday.

Once your dog was home, how did you keep your dog from trying to get up…i.e. how did you keep an active dog down? 
For the first few days/week he has no desire to get up unless I made him to go outside for a bathroom break. He was my "wild child" puppy and I was surprised at how cooperative he was. I thought keeping his confined would be a nightmare, but it was fairly easy.

How long did it take for your dog to get “back to normal’? 
Crated for four weeks. At that point I confine him to one room with baby gate.
I had him unleashed to exercise in the yard by eight weeks. At twelve weeks he was released from all restrictions and was able to play with my other dog that day.

If you had it to do all over, would you still get the operation? 
Absolutely. I'm glad I did it when he was young, too. This way he never had to get to a crippling state before he had the surgery, and has had all these years to be pain free.


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## Veronica1 (Jun 22, 2010)

My 18-month-old is having the FHO done a week from today. His diagnosis was severe bilaterial HD. His only manifestation was a limp on-and-off for the past couple fo weeks. Up till now, he has been a tennis ball chasing, running, jumping, happy pup. We had no idea there was anything wrong, though looking back we see some small signs, and he does bunny hop when he runs too.

Our vet said Panzer would be an ideal candidate for THR, but it's not a financial possibility for us as my husband is unemployed. I'm pretty comfortable with the FHO option. The muscle and scar tissue form a false joint. A coworker had this done to his 7-month-old and he said post-op, when the dog ran, you'd never know he had anything done. Amazing. 

Best wishes!


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

Massie was diagnosed with severe bilateral HD at just under a year of age. At age 5 I had her right hip replaced. She did fine with just that and lived to be almost 12 and died of something unrelated. 

I'll let others comment on the current cost and the recovery period. Back then it was much cheaper and the recovery period wasn't as long...at least in terms of total bed rest. Her recovery was uneventful though and she had no complications.


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## wyominggrandma (Jan 2, 2011)

FHO or femoral head ostectomy is a surgery that can have great results. Had it done on my 1 yr old GSD years ago. They do take the ball off the bone, but it will form a false joint with scar tissue and the dog will be able to do pretty much everything without pain. My girl did search and rescue for 9 years after the surgeries on both hips.


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## Miikkas mom (Dec 21, 2009)

Veronica said:


> My 18-month-old is having the FHO done a week from today. His diagnosis was severe bilaterial HD. His only manifestation was a limp on-and-off for the past couple fo weeks. Up till now, he has been a tennis ball chasing, running, jumping, happy pup. We had no idea there was anything wrong, though looking back we see some small signs, and he does bunny hop when he runs too.
> 
> Our vet said Panzer would be an ideal candidate for THR, but it's not a financial possibility for us as my husband is unemployed. I'm pretty comfortable with the FHO option. The muscle and scar tissue form a false joint. A coworker had this done to his 7-month-old and he said post-op, when the dog ran, you'd never know he had anything done. Amazing.
> 
> Best wishes!


Veronica,

I would be very interested in hearing about Panzer's operation and progress following his operation. PLEASE keep me updated as to how he does...and how you do, too! 

One of my biggest concerns is pain...or, how much pain will Miikka be in afterward. She was recently spayed and I gotta tell you that she did not handle it well, neither did I. It's so hard seeing your pet suffer. 

The thing is, she is NOT in any pain now. To put her through something that may or may not be necessary...something that will cause a lot of discomfort for her...well, it's a tough decision. I just don't know if we should do it now or wait a year or two and see what happens.


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## Miikkas mom (Dec 21, 2009)

wyominggrandma said:


> FHO or femoral head ostectomy is a surgery that can have great results. Had it done on my 1 yr old GSD years ago. They do take the ball off the bone, but it will form a false joint with scar tissue and the dog will be able to do pretty much everything without pain. *My girl did search and rescue for 9 years after the surgeries on both hips.*


Wow! That's awesome!


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## Veronica1 (Jun 22, 2010)

Miikkas mom said:


> The thing is, she is NOT in any pain now. To put her through something that may or may not be necessary...something that will cause a lot of discomfort for her...well, it's a tough decision. I just don't know if we should do it now or wait a year or two and see what happens.


I will definitely post about Panzer's surgery & progress. 

Our vet said it was not an emergency situation. After all, they've been compensating & coping since they were born. She said we could manage any pain with aspirin, or maybe later Rimadyl. The cost and potential damage of long-term use of pain meds could add up though, and we were concerned about the possibility of muscle and/or nerve damage if we waited. Also, since arthritis had already crept in, it would only get worse. The vet also mentioned the possibility of a fracture, which would turn into an emergency situation.

The cost of the FHO, done by our regular vet, is $600-800 per hip. They'll do the worst one next week, and the other in six or eight months, or whenever he's recovered. If all goes well, I would think we'd schedule the 2nd hip next spring or fall, before winter for sure and maybe allowing for summer activities if possible.

My biggest fear at this point is the anesthesia.


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