X-RAY FOR 9 MONTH GSD - Page 3

the surgery you talk about is VERY PAINFUL it may be better to put him down.

A don't honestly think that's a option on my mind, put him down.Having read so many things about this type of operation and the success rate.Only last night watched on TV a working dog Lab go through a hip operation and came out successful.Yes it's going to be difficult but we will give it our all for the sake of Archie,and pray to God for a speedy recovery for him.

 Oh, Mylanta.

He will get over the surgery. He will get pain pills for a while, and then he will be able to walk and run and play like a normal dog.

If the surgery only had a 30% success rate and was temporary, then I'd say maybe put him down. But he will have NO quality of life w/out it, and if Archie's owners can afford it and that's what they choose, I'd say poor Archie is one lucky SOB. ;-)

Jenni Archie has been assessed and if like you said 30% then although it would have been VERY difficult then fair enough.And like a have said he will get his first operation come April and if all goes to plan,recovery etc,then he will go for his other hip October. This is our 3rd GSD,we lost GUS (Caddam Omar) this time last year,age 10 and that was with a tummor,Sophie or first GSD, was 12 1/2 Princes Sophie of Greenfoot died of old age. So hopefully and God above will see Archie gets some quality of life after his Operation.He might not have the active life our other GSDs had, but he will be looked after in every possible way. I am really grateful for all comments and have taken positives out the comments,and we are not going into this blind, we have taken on board the negative side also.

 15 Years ago made the mistake of buying puppy from pet store. At 3 months she could barely walk and was obviously in pain. Found out she had similar hips as shown. Store owner agreed to pay vet bill. Vet removed femur head of one hip at 6 months and other hip at 12 months. She was a happy dog after recovery which wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Sure she didn't run to pretty after that, but she did run and play with our other dogs.
She lived a great life and wasn't in pain. She took no pain meds other than right after surgery's. I'm sorry for your bad news. I wish you the best with Archie.

My daughters Bullmastiff has no hips, but the vet said that she could either remove the head, hip replacement or see how she goes. We have kept her weight right down she only does limited walking, but plays in the garden with the other dog and at the moment is 6yrs and still going strong. The fact there was no bone rubbing on bone, she thought it was best to wait and see how she coped once her muscle started to build up to compensate for no joints. If in later years it looks to be coming a major problem, then we will go for the op. Like you, no untoward pain as such, just moved funny and sat down a lot, and there was just little signs that there was something wrong.

Archie - My heart sank when I saw those hips, and like everyone else, I breathed out a horrified "Wow".. You see, I had a shep puppy that was diagnosed with severe HD at five months old, the xrays were almost as bad as your Archie's, and I elected him for THR as soon as he was skeletally mature enough.

In 90 - 95% of cases, THR is supposedly successful.  With good owner compliance regarding post op care and rehab, the chances of full recovery are excellent, providing you don't have complications.

But that 90 -95% success rate is judged on the surgeon not being presented  with the dog again after the routine follow ups. 
So the high percent success rate claimed by many surgeons might not be as good as first appears. There may be many very lame THR dogs who are either PTS or who live with a degree of lameness.

Complications after surgery?  Dislocations - can occur straight after surgery, or at any time, Can dislocate repeatedly, requiring revision surgery after revision surgery.
Infections are thought to be common, requiring weeks of antibiotic therapy.  Sometimes what is thought to be an infection, is actually the dog 'rejecting' the implant - xrays are not necessarily diagnostic of one or the other.
Hip socket prosthesis can slip, the stem of the femoral implant can slip inside the femoral shaft too, even if cemented in; - the dog can 'reject' cemented and cementless prostheses, sometimes the dog's natural bone just "won't grow" around the implants.  Bone thinning round the femoral implant can, and does also occur..
Compensatory muscle action due to hip or other problems may cause difficulties of their own, and knee/stifle problems can, and do occur post operatively with the muscle atrophy, especially if your dog is a big, heavy low-stationed dog. The knee ligaments fail.

My own THR dog suffered just about all the post op complications in the book, and more.  Eventually, he had to be PTS, just over a month ago, aged three because a surgery designed to give him a good quality of life failed, despite my total commitment to compliance and rehab.  I can't tell you how heartbroken I am, and how much I blame myself for what this beautiful dog had to suffer.

I do hope that Archie has a successful surgery, but many, many dogs can live comfortable and fulfilled lives as pets with conservative treatment.  Yes, his xrays do look awful, but from what I can see, there isn't a great deal of wear on the femoral heads, and I can't see any osteophytes around the joint. 

Please, please be careful, and TREAT THE DOG, NOT THE XRAY.

I wish you and Archie all the best.
Maggie

 I agree w/treating the dog and not the xray. If he is not in apparent pain, then putting it off may be wise. He may do better once he muscles up a bit w/maturity. I, too, do not see major remodeling at this point.

Cheers Guys Archie is 3weeks away from his operation he will have just turned 1yr old by then.We will see what he is like then,most of yous may or may not have experienced what he is about to go through,but am sure reading all your comments yous are mostly breeders and all know your stuff,hence the reason we are very grateful for sharing your opinions for us.Believe me we are prepared to do the very best for Archie,and all your comments have given us a indication in what lies ahead for us and Archie.

Oh boy... don't mean to alarm you but this is what thr entails; dissection, even if minimally invasive; facia, muscle, rotators, capsule, and peri-osteum removal. Then femur is brought off the acetabulum, femoral head is cut off using oscillating saw, acetabulum is reamed ( with a cup reamer) then the acetabular component which is the part that's gonna serve as housing for the femoral head has to be secured either by screws or bone cement, or both. If not properly measured in regards of the depth of the screws these could damage important landmarks of the surrounding anatomy. After acetabulum is ready, the femur has to be prepped, conical reamers several times trough the femoral canal. Prosthesis then is planted inside the femur. It is imperative rotators and capsule are properly retired on order to avoid post op dislocation. Then its just a matter of closing layers and wake him up. As someone else mentioned there is countless things that could go wrong not only during surgery but mostly after... infection being very possible, rejection of the implant, diaphiseal (bone shaft) fractures, dislocation, metalosis, etc... imho try every other option before doing a total joint replacement. I'm no breeder but have hundreds of thr, tkr, tsr under my belt, and if this happens to humans operated under the most strict sterile technique, with the most advanced technology, and the best resources (human and medical) can most certainly happen to your dog. My 2 cents, you would not believe the recurrence rate on this type of surgery... I guess your vet is not telling you everything.