Triple Pelvic Osteotomy - Should We Do It.

[mokhahouse]

My ortho vet has suggested at our last visit that Mokha may be a good candidate for a TPO. Since this initial visit Mokha showed significant lameness in his front legs and has been diagnosed with ED. He will definitely be having surgery on his elbows as he has continued to deteriorate. At the moment his hips seem to be going along ok but it can be hard to know. We see the ortho in about 10 days and I expect he will be making his decision on what he wants to do with Mokha then. I am very much in two minds about the TPO because it does seem to be major surgery and a long recovery. Has anybody had this surgery and if it was a while ago how has your dog been since. I would really love to know what the recovery is like and whether the benefit is worth the pain and extended confinement to a crate. I would appreciate any opinions as I have lost so much sleep over this and I really want to make as informed a decision as I can.

[Dogsfevr]

Cant help except to say we have been in the same pickle of making a decision that either way makes you feel guilty but no decision will make you a lesser owner.

Make the decision with your head & not your heart & sometimes that decision is the tougher one.

You seem to have the right head on at the moment & thinking of the dog & the recovery & benefit process.

[Cosmolo]

So the dog has HD and ED? In all 4 joints? Would the TPO be done one at a time to both hips? How much does the dog weigh?

My dog has ED and HD in all joints and the only surgery we think he will have will be hip denervation for the following reasons. Your dog may be totally different- these are just our experiences

- Dexter is close to 40kg and the pressure put on his other legs during the recovery time would be too much in our opinion

- Dexter is 15 months old, high drive and boisterous and would not cope well with being confined, particularly with 3 other dogs around- even if separated, he would be highly stressed and we think he would really hurt himself, despite being crate trained

- The total surgery and recovery time would be 12 months minimum, assuming nothing goes wrong.

- After experimenting with various exercise, supplements and treatments, he is at a point where we are managing all 4 legs well enough to keep Dexter healthy and happy and in the last month or two, it has only been the odd day that he has been sore.

This has been the most difficult decision and i continue to question it all the time! There have been days while we were trying different things where he looked cripple when he walked and we have wondered howlong we'll have him. We know he's not going to live as long as a 'normal' dog but want to give him as good of a life as possible.

[mokhahouse]

Mokha is 8 months old chocolate labrador and weighs 23.2 kg. This all started in January when his Pennhip scores came back as .64 and .57. The vet referred us to the specialist who said he would be a good candidate for TPO as no arthritic changes were evident. When he examined him he felt the hips felt quite good considering his scores. He elected to wait and review in 6 weeks. During this time Mokha went lame of the right front leg, xrays were done and the vet was concerned about what he saw in the xrays but we would be seeing the ortho in a couple of weeks so just rest was advised. One week later Mokhas left front leg was the problem with severe limping. Saw the ortho again and the said he would like to do athro on both elbows.I He also could feel the grinding grating feeling, sorry cant remember what he called it in both elbows. As you can probably tell this is all new to me.He did not want to do it straight away. He said timing was important so that he could definitely remove any chipped away pieces of cartilage. He also mentioned the possibility of doing one hip and the elbow/elbows at the same time. He is not sure at this point if he thinks Mokha will need the TPO but I expect that at our visit in 10 days the decision will be made. Then last weekend Mokha was unsupervised for five minutes he jumped up and managed to get his left paw caught in the fork of a tree in the yard. He was hanging by this leg,his worst elbow by the way. We took him to the vet as he could not put weight on it but she felt the wrist was fine but the elbow/shoulder area was very tender. She prescribed anti inflammation medicine that seems to have helped. She prefers to let my ortho make any decisions. Sorry this is so long but he is a complicated little guy who also have food and environmental allergies but is a wonderful patient. This is one reason the ortho has been seeing him regularly and checking him before making a decision as he just lies there and lets him do whatever. He has a beautiful temperament. We love him so much and just want to do what is best for him.Could you tell me what hip denervation is,I have not heard of this. I want to be prepared for what I am in for if he does have the TPO on both hips or the worst hip done and elbows.Any advice is welcome. By the way my other lab is the picture of good health.I would be really interested to know what supplements you are using and in what quantity. Obviously I would have to alter the quantity for a smaller dog.

Edited March 22, 2009 by mokhahouse

[rugerfly]

Doing major surgery is hard. Doing major surgery on a young gundog is harder BUT it can be done. If you have the money I say go for it. Give the little fella a cuddle for me.