Lady Frost--I have a question for you! - Page 1

Lady Frost, weren't you the member whose dog had an FHO or removal of a hip joint for severe dysplasia? I was just wondering how that dog is doing now? I'm asking for a friend who is considering that surgery for her 4 year old GSD. If you had it to do over, would you do it again?

Thanks for your help, & I'm sure my friend thanks you too!

jackie harris

PS-anyone else whose dog had this surgery, feel free to chime in! I've only heard success stories. So....

Dog at the club where I used to train had the ball of the femur cut off for severe dysplasia.  Dog recovered fine and went on to earn a IPO 2.  We were very careful in her training and she was retired early as soon as we saw any signs of gate change.  She's been retired for 3+ years and still doing well. 

Thanks! Nice to hear!  Jh

We had a female with severe bilateral HD; she was around 6 years old at the time. We did one FHO and then the other side about 3 months later. Recovery on the first took a bit, there were no options for water PT 20 years ago and it was winter as well, so no outside options for swimming. Recovery on the 2nd hip took less than half the time, as our girl realized all the pain was now gone. :) She was chasing down and rolling our 2 year old in play within a couple of months after the second surgery. Was still going strong at 9 when we lost her to bloat...

Would definitely recommended water therapy to help strengthen your friend's dog before and after surgery.

Best of luck to them!

Thank you! That's awesome! Jh

yep, we had that done in 2011...would have done it again in a heartbeat...other option that was recommended by Ortho specialist was hip implant, but that was in 5K range. after tons of research and after talking to someone who had it done, I opted out for FHO. Other options were pain meds for the rest of her life or total hip replacement.
I had done a lot of research and found tons of horror stories....however one story by Laurel and Jake had me convinced and I read and re-read her blogs and story of Jake more than once...
http://laurelsdogs.com/
FHO best decision I could have made..I waited till May to do surgery and bought above ground 4,000 gal pool to do water therapy, that was cheaper than taking her to Ortho specialist for water therapy ($140 an hr.), it was essentially the same thing, life jacket on a dog is a must for your safety. 

This is what it looked like before surgery.

Post FHO

I been wanting to do a follow up x ray, just have not done so...

She is doing great, I believe swimming was the key..until she started swimming she would refuse to use her leg.

Nowdays, you cant tell she has anything wrong with her, she runs, jumps, she is the most active dog i have, we done 8 hr hikes w/o her showing any issues...the only thing  that i notice (and that is only because i know she had surgery) is the way she sits, u can tell in picture above she kind of folds the leg under, that is the only clear indication for me that she is missing a femur.

....almost forgot....if u look at her x ray you notice significant muscle mass loss on the leg with hip issue, i was told FHO will not work if you wait too long because u need muscle in order to keep the leg in place, dogs with more muscle mass recover faster than those with less...something to keep in mind...and don't forget the cone after surgery, or it will cost you as much as surgery to have your dog re stapled..been there done that, not pretty...

Thank you Lady Frost! I will let my friend know! Glad he's doing well! I will definitely mention the swimming!

jackie harris

bless her heart...what a girl.  they have heart don't they...

One of my dad's rescue dogs had an FHO done at around 8 months old. He's now about 8-9yrs old & hasn't had any issues or taken a lame step since.