Femoral Head Ostectomy

[frufru]

My latest foster dog (maltxshih 7 mths old) had a femoral head ostectomy yesterday and I was just wondering if anyone has any advice or experiences to relate.

[dead sheep]

yup. My chihuahua Arnie had one when he was about 15 months old. Your dog will continue to hold it's leg up for a few months to come then gradually start using the leg again. My dog uses his leg now about 90% of the time and his op was over 12 months ago. Recovery is quite painful I am told

When it is cold, he limps more. Swimming is very good for recovery so I get him to the beach when it's warmer as often as possible.

[frufru]

Thanks Kosti, he is a foster so will only be staying for about 3 weeks to make sure he is on the road to recovery. Do you remember how long Arnie was on pain killers for and how did you assess his pain levels. This little guy has bounced back but I know he must be in pain even though he is on meds.

Edited July 14, 2009 by frufru

[dead sheep]

well Arnie was on pain killers for 3 days afterwards and anti-inflams for about 4 days until he jumped up on to the coffee table in the night and ate the whole bag of anti's and threw them up everywhere.

his only downtime was about 36 hours after surgery and he was back to normal, bolting around on 3 legs, jumping on and off the lounge etc. I couldn't tell if he was in pain because he didn't miss a beat. I noticed his leg would shake a little sometimes so I just made sure he had extra blankets to make himself snuggly if he wanted/needed to retreat somewhere safe.

He is a bit special. If he had of shown any signs of pain when he first broke his hip at 12 weeks old, I wouldn't have needed the FHO done months later when he decided to start limping so I don't really know how to deal with the pain.

[huga]

My pug had it done when she was 6 months old. She is now 5 and on pretty frequent cartrophen injections. She limps a lot when and has trouble getting up when the weather is cold.

[puggy_puggy]

Don't they have to be crated for a certain period of time?

[frufru]

Definitely no crating - my vet advised that they needed to start using it as soon as possible so there is no muscle wastage - the difficult thing is having enough pain relief so that they are confident to try to use the leg. In the US they actually do physio as soon as possible (often needs a muzzle) so I was actually wondering if anyone on here had been given physio type exercises to do. The sooner they start using it the better the long term result. Patches is actually attempting to put weight on his leg today sometimes so that is great - we are going for short walks on the lead - very slowly - when he sees something interesting he uses the leg LOL

[puggy_puggy]

Definitely no crating - my vet advised that they needed to start using it as soon as possible so there is no muscle wastage - the difficult thing is having enough pain relief so that they are confident to try to use the leg.

Ahh ok. What pain relief is being given? Metacam? I know that dogs can put up with alot more or even don't feel as much pain as humans can because they have less nerve endings etc.

Might be worth a trip to a dog physio to show you some exercises to do.

[frufru]

Tramal (3 times a day) for first couple of days and metacam daily. No physio in our neck of the woods - the vet is happy but I was interesed in others experiences - more info the better. As he is a foster dog I want to give him the best start I can before he goes to his new home.