Hip dysplasia/experience with total hip replacement

[lunachocolate]

Hi,

Our lab Luna turned 4 in January and we were just told by our vet a couple of months ago that her hips are shot and she has a hip dysplasia. We did some research online and decided for a total hip replacement since she is only 4 and we felt this would give her the best quality of life. But the closer it gets to the surgery date, the more we are worried about the decision. Could anyone please share their experience with the post-surgery situation and how you felt about the decision overall? We want to do the best for her, but we are afraid this will cause her a lot of pain and will limit her for quite some time (2 hip surgeries with 3 months of recovery each).
Thank you for any feedback you can provide!

JJ

[Meeps83]

No experience but I wish the best to you and Luna.


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[Jeff]

My sister rescued a lab that needed this done, not because of dysplasia, but because the stupid prior owners use to let him ride around in the back of a pick up truck and he jumped out while going down the road and shattered his hip. The vet told them how much it cost to repair it they said put him down. He was only a year old. So the vet said no, and to sign the dog over to him he would do the surgery and find someone to pay for it. Which they did. Just so happens my sister was taking her senior lab in for a check up later that day and the vet told her about it. She met the lab and without hesitation agreed to everything, and caring for him post surgery.

So, anyway, if you have some specific questions let me know I can ask her. However, they were told he would walk fine but never run again. I think that was so they didn't get their hopes up, but one day he started running again and running he did. In true lab fashion he tormented my sister something fierce. For example one day outside dewy spring morning she was barefoot he was on leash. A squirrel took off running. She water skied best she could behind him but bare feet in wet dew covered grass doesn't provide much traction, he learned he couldn't pull her though is she was lying flat on her face in the lawn. There was a lot of nursing and comfort and down time needed and just care after the surgery. Not going to lie. His was probably more severe because his hip was shattered so there were pins and screws and so on. A metal frame outside his body. But they made it through the few weeks it took. Then there was recovery which you will have as well. Nothing like a good water treadmill. This was back in the 80's so a lot of this was new. A lot of the advances in hip replacements and water treadmills were based on this guys treatments and what they learned from him. After the surgery they also knew that it is really hard to keep a good lab down. Thinking he was not going to be able to move they didn't really latch him up in a kennel or anything as people were all around and let him recover in a bed. Well you know vets offices can get crazy at times and apparently you know they can't have food before surgery so he missed his morning meal. Sometime while no one was looking he managed to crawl 10 foot away from his bed and make it to a bag of cat food laying there and was helping himself to an after surgery meal.

All in all though after the surgery and recovery he went on to continue to be a happy and healthy lab. The old real issue she ever noted was sometimes in deep winter as we are in Michigan he would be sound asleep and sudden wake up and snap and grown at his leg. The only thing anyone could figure out was the metal hip got cold and caused him discomfort. He would then get up move around for a while get all warmed up and was fine. He lived to be about 11. During his final few months though he did need help getting up and going out, however many people on this board have healthy seniors that are the same way. They put a temporary ramp up on their deck so he could make it outside without using the steps and they used a strap kind of harness to help hold him steady while he went to the bathroom. They did have to use this post surgery for a couple weeks as well.

I hope that helps. I won't lie to you, the few weeks after surgery and recovery is going to be a little more difficult for you and your family and Luna. But a few months from now, Luna really should be having and living a pretty normal happy healthy life, a year from now you probably won't notice anything but maybe subtle things like maybe not standing so long and hopefully for a long long time she will continue to bring you a lot of love and joy. Again my sister will tell you this lab she went thought this with really more put her through her paces well after surgery, from stealing food and vomiting on the carpet and shredding toilet paper. He would hide in the closet during thunderstorms as those are scary. He had a ton of personality and it shined. She had a house full of kids that grew up to love him just as much as anything. He was fiercely loyal and would risk his life for any member of that family. She always says he was probably the best lab she ever had. This was 30 years ago and the stories and memories of him still live in the hearts of everyone he touched.

[Berna]

No experience with THR but I do have experience with FHO. My dog got hit by a car and suffered a complete hip luxation. I took a long time to heal because we had some complications (nerve injury). He walks with a slight limp and drags the leg a bit (neurological) but doesn't seem bothered by it at all.

I hope the surgery goes well and your pup heals quickly.

[JenC]

Sorry about this. I am assuming you have gone to an ortho for a second opinion? You may also want to touch base with your dog's breeder just for the sake of telling them. Probably if it were me, I would do xray for an eval at OFA just to be 1000% certain that the vet made the right diagnosis. Clearly, if the dog has no hip sockets, anyone can tell, but I've probably looked at more hip xrays than the normal person.

[lunachocolate]

Thank you all for your support and stories. Yes, we did get another eval and basically, she has no hip sockets, so we had to decide to do something. We looked at all the options including FHO etc., but after talking to the orthopedic surgeon, we decided for the THR. He was very clear though that even though this is considered to be the best solution for our dog, there is about 10% chance of infection which would obviously complicate things very heavily. We understand the post-surgery will be tough for some time, but we just hope this all is worth it. We just want her to be eventually pain free which she clearly is not at this time, especially when is little active outside. She loves running and swimming and we just want her to enjoy all of it, so we are taking a leap of faith and hoping the surgery will go well and she will have no complications. The other thing is that they can do only one leg at a time, so she will have to go through this twice... Anyway, thank you all for your thoughts and support!

[Meeps83]

Do you have a date set? I wish you and your girl the best!


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[lunachocolate]

May 12th. We hope it all goes well... Thanks!

[Doreen Davis]

We're about to start TPLO recovery and I completely understand your apprehension. Good luck and stick around, lots of support here.

[SunDance]

Good thoughts for successful surgery and uneventful recovery!