Triple Pelvic Osteotomy

[SezzNJunebug]

3 weeks ago my 6 month old amstaff Juno was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. After a visit to a specialist surgeon my partner and I decided to go ahead with TPO surgery. She is in for round 1 on her left side today and her right side will be done in January. I know she is in good hands but it doesn't make the wait any easier. I was wondering if any other DOlers have owned or known a pup who has undergone TPO surgery? If anyone has tips on keeping a pup quiet during recovery I'd love to hear them!

Most people think I'm mad for spending so much on surgery for her so I'm glad there is a place I can come where there are other 'mad' people too :D

[Fordogs]

Sorry that you are having problems with such a young puppy, I hope that her surgery goes well today.

I only have 1 thing to say and that is I would NOT be doing part 2 surgery in January simply because she will need to have full strength on her left side prior the the next surgery or I believe she will compromise the left.

IMHO I would wait about 3 months before doing part 2.

As for keeping her quiet I would be crating her and only taking her out to toilet on lead and then right back to the crate, no it won't be easy she will be bored but you have done the surgery and now you want the best result for your money and her future. Good Luck

[SezzNJunebug]

Thanks Fordogs, I'll post how she goes when I hear from the surgeon.

It's awful that it has happended so young but the vet said because she is young and there isn't any signs of degeneration of the joints she is an excellent candidate for the surgery.

I think January was a bit soon but the vet said 3 weeks in between sides than 6 weeks strict rest after the 2nd op. I think he wants to have the surgery completed sooner rather than later before the joints start to show wear and tear due to the HD. I will definitely bring this up with him before booking her 2nd Op though!

I think crating will be the only way to keep her quiet! I know she'll be bored and miss our stafford but you're right it would be awful to undo the work. The HD didn't slow her down so if not in a crate I highly doubt the surgery would either!

cheers

If anyone isn 't sure what TPO is it is explained here:

http://www.advancedvetcare.com.au/all-abou...elvic-osteotomy

Amazing what they can do these days!

[Staranais]

I think January was a bit soon but the vet said 3 weeks in between sides than 6 weeks strict rest after the 2nd op. I think he wants to have the surgery completed sooner rather than later before the joints start to show wear and tear due to the HD. I will definitely bring this up with him before booking her 2nd Op though!

It also means less crate rest for the pup, so that might also have factored into his thinking. It can be hard to keep them crated & quiet after a big surgery (hard for you, and hard for them!)

I hope it goes well!

[SezzNJunebug]

I think January was a bit soon but the vet said 3 weeks in between sides than 6 weeks strict rest after the 2nd op. I think he wants to have the surgery completed sooner rather than later before the joints start to show wear and tear due to the HD. I will definitely bring this up with him before booking her 2nd Op though!

It also means less crate rest for the pup, so that might also have factored into his thinking. It can be hard to keep them crated & quiet after a big surgery (hard for you, and hard for them!)

I hope it goes well!

Less crate rest will definitely be better for the sake of both our sanity!

cheers

Edited December 16, 2010 by Sezz

[SezzNJunebug]

Picked up my little girl this morning. I got a call from them at 8am saying she'd done well during the night and was eating and walking on her lead to go out to the toilet.. walking, 12 hours after surgery The surgeon did tell me most dogs would be able to walk the next day but I certainly wasn't expecting the call so early in the morning!

She's very very very sooky. She doesn't want to let me out of her sight at the moment. I left her with my OH for 15 mins earlier and she just sooked and became really restless. Poor little girl is sore, confused and still a little out of it It's hard to see her that way but we have a long road ahead of us! She will be a bit over 9 months before it's complete.

She now needs 6 weeks of rest then we will be going back for xrays to make sure the left side has healed well before having the other hip operated on.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has had a dog with hip dysplasia or one that has gone through major surgery. It would just be nice to hear from someone who has been through something similar. Has anyone else had a pup diagnosed with hd so young?

Edited December 17, 2010 by Sezz

[Staranais]

I'd love to hear from anyone who has had a dog with hip dysplasia or one that has gone through major surgery. It would just be nice to hear from someone who has been through something similar. Has anyone else had a pup diagnosed with hd so young?

I'm glad it went well!

My girl was diagnosed with shoulder OCD at just over 12 months - slightly different age and disease, but still a big joint surgery with crate rest afterwards. I'd stock up on big meaty bones to give him something to do in the crate. Also, if you don't clicker train, I'd start that - there are lots of tricks you can teach him when he's in the crate that won't stress his hip, and will tire him out by giving him something to think about.

[SezzNJunebug]

She's been sleeping soundly the past few hours Snoring her little head off and farting away like I've never heard from her before!

How is your girl doing now? What was her recovery period like? It seems so unfair for youngens' to go through something so big but at least they can do certain procedures which they can't on more mature dogs.

I have heard of clicker training but I haven't done any with her. I would love to give it a try though! Before she was diagnosed I felt like we were really making some progress with her training and I really miss the quality time it gives you. Is there a specific book or website etc that you reccommend to learn about clicker training?

[mokhahouse]

I hope your Juno is recovering well. I have Mokha who has HD in both hips and ED in his elbow. We decided against the TPO in the end under our specialist recommendation as Mokhas elbow was causing him far more problems and the window of opportunity to do the TPO was running out. His elbow surgery had to come first and it was definitely the right decision for us. He is actually doing quite well with his hips thankfully we keep his weight lean, he swims regularly and is on joint supplements and zydax injections.

He is now 2 1/2 years old, this all started when he was 6 months. As for crate rest I was lucky that Mokha likes to watch tv so could be amused by his favourite DVDs. We got him a Nylabone as I didnt want to give him to many raw bones to chew as he has trouble pooping them and this would have meant lots of toilet breaks. For the most part he was really good but I was so glad when he was allowed to start leash walks again.

We also had an 18 month old lab so the hard part was not letting them play together. I wish you the best for Juno and hope you get a good result.The appropriate rest is crucial to success so best of luck.

[Aziah]

So very sorry to hear you're going through surgery (and so young) I hope it all works out for her.

[Staranais]

How is your girl doing now? What was her recovery period like? It seems so unfair for youngens' to go through something so big but at least they can do certain procedures which they can't on more mature dogs.

Her operation was a little different to your dogs, so you might be told to do something different to us, but I can tell you what happened to us in case it helps?

My girl had an operation for shoulder OCD. In a way, that's kind of like shoulder dysplasia - the cartilage doesn't grow quite right in the joint, and eventually it starts to crack and peel off, leaving long flaps that catch in the joint & make the dog limp. So the operation involved opening up her shoulder joint, removing the loose flap, and drilling holes in the remaining cartilage to make the underlying bone bleed (this helps cartilage regrow). Recovery was long, since cartilage takes a long time to regrow, and we had to be careful not to stress it too much until it had hardened.

She was in her crate except for toileting for about 2 weeks after the operation. She had to wear a giant Cone of Shame on her head until her skin had healed, on account of eating her stitches out, and then eating her steel staples out. During this time I was doing physiotherapy with her - icing the joint a few times a day, followed by passive flexion and extension exercises of the joint. Hopefully your specialist will give you the details of some physio you can do with her, if he thinks it will be helpful.

She got pretty sick of the crate by week two, and even bored of the big bones that I got her. So from that point I fed her all of her meals by hand, making her earn each piece during the clicker training, just to give her brain something to do!

Then for the next 2 or 3 months she had short on-leash walks a few times a day (just down to the letter box at first, but very gradually working up to 1 or 2km). She wasn't allowed to go up and down stairs offleash, or to run or jump at all, so when I was home I usually just kept her confined to the one room that I was in by closing doors. She was still crated while I was absent in case she did something silly like zoomies around the house or yard. She still limped at this stage.

She had her first off leash runs a few months ago (that's about 4 or 5 months after the operation), and since she didn't limp more after those, I started to leave her out in the yard while I was gone from the house.

It's now 7 months after the operation, and she limps very little now - you'd need to watch her very closely and know dogs very well to pick it - and her teeny limp doesn't get worse after exercise. I'm hoping with time that limp will disappear even further. However, the cartilage that regrows after an injury like that isn't as slippery or as strong as the original cartilage (it's fibrocartilage, not true articular cartilage), so there's a possibility she'll always have a very slight limp.

I also feed her supplements now - green lipped mussels, glucosamine, fish body oil and vit E - and she gets a course of Pentosan (Cartrophen) shots every 6 months - to try to minimise arthritis in her shoulders.

I have heard of clicker training but I haven't done any with her. I would love to give it a try though! Before she was diagnosed I felt like we were really making some progress with her training and I really miss the quality time it gives you. Is there a specific book or website etc that you reccommend to learn about clicker training?

I don't, actually - really sorry. I've been doing it so long now that I just do it. But why not start a post in the training forum, asking for pages to visit, and also suggestions for tricks you can teach with the dog inside a crate? We're all pretty friendly in there.

[SezzNJunebug]

Mokhaouse-Thanks for sharing your boys story. Glad to hear he's doing well after surgery and his HD isn't keeping him down. Juno is a little water baby so I'll definitly be working swimming into her routine when she's ready for exercise again. The surgeon reccommended we add Glyde to her diet. What supplements have you found work best?

How handy that he likes to watch TV! My OH and I were just saying it would be easier if she was entertained by tv! There will definitely be a Nylabone in her stocking ths year! I was trying to think of something to keep her entertained without feeding her too much. She's already annihilated a pigs ear and a few kongs with banana today!

We have a 10 yr old Stafford as well, it is going to be hard telling them they can't play. They love to wrestle so it's been hard enough supervising them the past few weeks making sure they don't play rough!

Aziah- Thanks for your well wishes I will pass them along to the little one

Staranais- It really quite amazing the procedures they can do to help our four legged friends! I had no idea they could regrow cartildge!

Unfortunately it will be strict confinemet for Juno for the whole 6 weeks! (and then another 6 after her right side is done!) I am allowed to take her out for the toilet but that is it. I've let her have a couple of sits on the grass when we've gone out just to give her a break from inside. I will speak to the specialist about physio but I think I may need to wait a few weeks before I can do anything with her. Juno came home with the cone of shame on! Her stiches are under gauze and she hasn't been paying attention to them so I gave her her freedom without any trouble. She loves to prop her chin up while sleeping so she was able to sleep soundly once released from her cone shaped prison!

I think the clicker training and having her use her brain to get food is a brilliant idea. It will be essential to her sanity! Is it something I should wait a bit to start or would it be ok to start over the next week? She is already showing signs of boredom and we are only 1 day in! She seems confused as to why we can't leave the room we're in.

Great to hear that the surgery, recovery and physio paid off an her limp is almost non-existant. I wish her all the best and hope she continues to improve. Hopefully in a few months I'll be able to share our happy ending! :D

On supplements I have started adding Glyde to her dinner. I think it contains green mussel and glucosamine? I will check when we get home tomorrow(We're spending the night in the city and driving back to the country tomorrow) Is there any others you would reccommend to help her recovery? Where do you buy vitamin E from? I read a bit of a thread the other day about balancing fish oils with Vitamin E but when I asked our vet they said they weren't sure where to get it.

I will definitely make my way over to the training thread over the next week to learn more about clicker training

Thank you so much everyone for your stories, well wishes and advice. I was feeling very alone this morning when she first got out but I am now more confident to tackle the road ahead!

[Staranais]

I think the clicker training and having her use her brain to get food is a brilliant idea. It will be essential to her sanity! Is it something I should wait a bit to start or would it be ok to start over the next week? She is already showing signs of boredom and we are only 1 day in! She seems confused as to why we can't leave the room we're in.

Yes, I'd start now, if she's bored. It can't hurt!

On supplements I have started adding Glyde to her dinner. I think it contains green mussel and glucosamine? I will check when we get home tomorrow(We're spending the night in the city and driving back to the country tomorrow) Is there any others you would reccommend to help her recovery? Where do you buy vitamin E from? I read a bit of a thread the other day about balancing fish oils with Vitamin E but when I asked our vet they said they weren't sure where to get it.

I get my E from the human health food shop, it comes in 100 and 200 IU capsules. Not sure of the officially recommended dose. My girl weighs 28kg, gets 2 capsules of fish oil most days, and a 200 IU capsule of E once or twice a week.

I'd recommend discussing the injectable Pentosan/Catrophen supplement with the vet.

[mokhahouse]

Hi Sezz, I hope Juno is going well. I know the better they feel the harder it is to stop them from wanting to jump around so unfortunately it is not going to get much easier too soon. In answer to your question we have Mokha having regular Zydax injections, he get fish oil and vit e and Jointguard. We are thinking of trying the Glyde under recommendation from our vet but so far have been really pleased with the results from Jointguard.

We were all ready to go ahead with the surgery you have had done so I had done a lot of research on it. I will be really interested how Juno goes as I sometimes wonder should we have gone ahead. If his elbow hadnt been so bad and the surgeon hadnt recommended that that was the priority we would have done his hips. I think its amazing what they can do though these days.

Be good Juno

[poochiemama]

I just saw this thread now..

Ok my lab Charlie had a TPO nearly 6 weeks ago now...I was terrified because he's a very exuberant adolescent lab and I had no idea how to keep him quiet. He'd also never been crate trained

2 days before the surgery, we did a crash course in crate training him! we fed him in there, gave him treats in there and basically made it a very happy place, until he was going in there by himself and loving it.

After the surgery, he had a pain patch on, he was shaved for the lower half of his body and sutures. In the first few weeks, we basically crated him; we would sit outside his crate with him and talk to him, play little games with him, give him lots of chew toys, kongs with frozen peanut butter. He loves cow's hooves and that would occupy some time for him and also bully sticks from the pet shop and these things called deer antlers (we got two of those and they chew on them for ages and 6 weeks later, the deer antlers still look as good as new, google it).

He had both sides done and the first two weeks were really hard because we had to hold him with a towel everytime we took him for a wee and he wouldn't walk to the door to let us know he needed to go, so we had to time it, take him out every four hours. Then he started telling us when he needed to go and he stopped needing the towel so things became easier. He was on a leash to go out for wees and to give him a break from the crate, we would put him on a mat in front of us, with us holding his leash (in case he decided to jump up or something) whilst we watched TV. We also had to watch him like a hawk so that he didn't play with our goldie puppy. To be honest, he seemed to gauge that he was weak or in pain and didn't really try any of that until recently when he became more energetic.

Now we are letting him walk around the house a little and we have started taking him to physio and underwater treadmill in the last fortnight, which is fun.

The weeks have just flown by really and it gets a lot easier after the first 2 weeks so hang in there.

Please ask me if you have any other questions because I know it can be tough going.

[SezzNJunebug]

6 days since surgery and the girl is doing well. Glad to say we had a pretty good day today

The first few days were a challenge keeping her entertained,quiet and comfortable. She didn't show any interest in bones, chewy treats or toys. She had a very small appetite and wasn't very interested in the things she usually eats that require a bit of chewing.(Except for the first day home, she loved her chicken necks then!) She was having a bit of trouble getting up and done. There was one late night screaming session because she couldn't get down after standing up suddenly and it all hurt so much ;) Quite a few rounds of mum why do I feel funny whines and whimpers. I was a bit concerned because sometimes she was fine on her legs, other times her left would be tucked right up under her and she would lean on whatever was nearest for balance(me,crate wall, table leg). I spoke with her surgeon yesterday just to make sure she was on track. He said we should be seeing improvements. Today was a big relief, she started eating normally again(Just a bit smaller portions obviously!) Had a little play with a couple of her toys, had all 4 feet on the ground and is standing,sitting and lying down a lot easier with no where near as many cries! I'm now also a pro at giving her all her medicine!

Starainis: My OH bought us a clicker on Sunday but due to her lack of focus and because she wasn't interested in food I haven't been able to do much yet. My first book on clicker training arrived today. I love it when you start reading a book and it just makes so much sense! It already has the cogs turning! I'm really look forward to getting started. I'll make my way over to the training thread tonight or tomorrow.

I'll ask about the injections when we hav her post op check up next week.

Mokhahouse: I was very surprised at how much she wanted to move around even the first few days!(we didn't let her of course!) When I've gotten pets back from surgery before the've been very out of it the first few days. Not her! She was out of it but still wanting to move. And just to think she's only going to get more active as she feels better! If only I could get her to watch dvds like your boy!

Excellent! Looks like I've already added most of those to her diet. I just need to ask about injections!

I'll keep you updated on her progress. Sorry to hear that you had to make the hard decision of which surgery he would have. I imagine that wouldn't have been an easy one.

I ordered a Nylabone for her christmas stocking Are there any other toys you would reccommend?

[SezzNJunebug]

Hey Poochiemama! Glad you found the thread!

Ever since she was diagnosed I've wanted to hear someone elses experience of the recovery to get an idea of what was ahead. Juno wasn't crate trained either, I wish I knew about it when we got her as a bub. How long did it take Charlie to get used to the crate? Sometimes she'll go in by herself, others she'll get the sooks when she knows she's going back in. I'l look into some of those antlers, they sound good! She hasn't been showing much interest in bones while in her crate and pigs ears just seem to go to quick to be much of a distraction! Are there any toys you'd reccommend for getting through the crate period? What types of games worked well while he was in the crate?

Did he have both sides done in one op? Juno has only had her left hip done at the moment. We go back in 10 days for a post op check up then back in 5 weeks to check if she's strong enough to have her right side done. At the moment I'm counting down to the check ups because the end of her 2nd op recovery period is just too far away to count!

There are a couple of steps at the back of the house so we are carrying her out but that's the only help she needs. She tries to tell me she needs to go out more than she does though so I have to keep my eye on the time and call her bluffs.

It must be a relief to be out of the strict confinement period! How is his movement now he's up to the physio stage of his recovery?

Thanks for your reply and I'll let you know if I have any questions! All the best for you and Charlie! I'd love to hear how he goes with the rest of his recovery.

[poochiemama]

clicker training is awesome because you can teach things SO FAST and there are many things you can teach him whilst he is lying down eg 'Targeting' : hold treat and clicker in one hand; hold out your other hand and as soon as he shows interest in this hand, click and treat (quickly); don't say anything. After a few times of this, up the ante, and wait for him to show a bit more interest in the hand, then click and treat. Keep doing this until he starts touching his nose to that hand and again click and treat. Repeat a few times; if he is touching his nose to your hand every time, then start using the word 'Touch!' in a happy voice. That's targetting. When he gets good at this, move your hand into different positions and get him to touch it.

I used to feed him his kibble piece by piece this way to get him to use up some mental energy, as well as doing other little tricks like 'shake hands' and 'speak' whilst he's lying down. The targetting one is good because you can use it further down the track for so many other things: using targetting you can teach him to switch on a light bulb, close a door etc.

Sorry if you know all this already.

Charlie is going great with physio and it's so much fun watching him on the underwater treadmill. He had both sides done. Our vet was very pro- starting physio soon and recommended we start it about 3 weeks after surgery but we waited until the 4th or 5th week.

Crating is not that big a deal, just make it a fun place for him. We got black wire crates, extra large ones so he could move around a little in it, given that he was going to be confined for that long. Then you stick a big, raw meaty bone in there with him and it will take him hours to get through it. Or frozen kongs. And put the crate right near you so he can see you, make it really cosy for him. I also got a great bed that fit it there and is an orthopaedic foam bed which he loves, called the Memory Sleeper bed .

There is also a support group on yahoo with lots of people who did TPOs on their dogs writing in to ask questions, answer each others questions and talk of their experiences with TPO in recovery - there are THOUSANDS of posts there : http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/tpo/

I think its great you started this post because there was very little information on recovery post TPO on the forum and i think it will be great for people in the future.

[poochiemama]

oh another little thing i did that seemed to tire him out is just scatter a few liver treats around in his crate and make them a little hard to find so he would be sniffing around for a few minutes and that seemed to use up some energy. but be careful not to let your pooch get fat because he won't be doing any exercise. I literally halved the food i was giving charlie based on the vet's advice, and now he's a healthy 32 kg lab!! (He used to be a fat 36 kg lab so it all worked out great).

[poochiemama]

oh another little thing i did that seemed to tire him out is just scatter a few liver treats around in his crate and make them a little hard to find so he would be sniffing around for a few minutes and that seemed to use up some energy. but be careful not to let your pooch get fat because he won't be doing any exercise. I literally halved the food i was giving charlie based on the vet's advice, and now he's a healthy 32 kg lab!! (He used to be a fat 36 kg lab so it all worked out great).