Any advice on hip replacement surgery?

[calebmyboy]

Chase will be having a hip replacement surgery within the next couple months, after our snow and ice has left.

I know there are a few people on the forum who have already gone through this. I have already talked to the Surgeon and Chase has been seen by him twice now. We were waiting for the cementless which has since arrived and they have done many surgeries with success.

We have to drive 3 1/2 hours to take him there, Fox Valley Animal Referral Center in Appleton Wisconsin. They usually send them home the day after surgery unless the animal is not doing well.

I am just wondering if any of you have any advice for me as to what I can expect, things I might face and things I should have ready in advance, in short just anything that you think would be helpful for me and Chase.

As you might guess, I am very apprehensive about how I am going to handle him after surgery for the 2 months that he will require calmness and almost constant supervision. I do not work so really should be able to be with him most of the time.

Also I am curious as to what your surgery cost, mine is going to be $4800 which seems awfully high to me. Thanks in advance.

[DoofiesMom]

The best advice I can give you, is to be diligent in the post-op care. Strict confinement, i.e. crated or in x-pen with potty trips on leash for the first 6 weeks. Adherence to the confinement period is crucial in this surgery. For the first couple weeks, your dog will not be able to walk on his own and you will have to "towel" walk him. This means putting a towel under his mid section and supporting his rear with one hand, while "steering" him with your leash in the other. The reason why the confinement is so important is that if your dog over-uses the hip, or slips and falls, the component can dislocate (even with the cementless) or crack. Once a THR has failed, "revision" surgeries go down in success rate so the goal is to ensure your dog never has to have his surgically repaired. You do this by strict adherence to the confinement period...trust me you cannot be too conservative here.

Your dog will be given pain medications post-op, this may contribute to instability when he is walking so again be sure you towel walk him and do what you can to ensure he never, ever falls on his new hip during rehab. Most are given a Fetanyl patch, Tramadol, Rimadyl and Ace (sedative). The sedative is imperative if your dog is trying to get up constantly while in his confinement area (x-pen or crate), as you don't want the dog putting too much weight on his new hip or falling.

The best post-op set up in my opinion is a x-pen with four foot high panels, and a soft dog bed in the middle. Your dog will be wearing a cone on his head for at least two weeks (to prevent him from ripping out the incision) and stuffing a rottie, with a cone on his head, and an un-movable newly operated on leg in a crate might not work. The last thing you want is for your Rottie to come charging out of the crate and slamming his operated hip on the door so for these reasons I recommend an X-pen.

Most THR failures stem from two things: 1) infection and 2) dislocation. Infection is the surgeon's responsibility. Your dog should have a urinalysis and bloodwork prior to surgery so ensure he is not harboring an infection. Dislocation more than likely is the owner's fault for not adhering to confinement instructions. Resist those pleading eyes and keep him in confined with the exception of leashed potty trips only.

I'll be honest with you: the first two weeks are the worst. You may find yourself wondering what you have done as THR is MAJOR surgery and you may not be prepared for what you will see with your dog. However, in my opinion THR is truly the way to go with an adult dysplastic dog and the cementless system is a remarkable improvement over the traditional bone cemented hips. Keep in mind what you go through now will be worth it the first time you see your dog run pain free on his new THR.

Good luck to you, and keep us posted on his surgery!!

Doofie's Mom

[DoofiesMom]

By the way, $4800 is a good price for a cementless hip.

Cheers,
Doofie's Mom

[reyweasel]

can u let me know how u went about findin out if he needed the hip replacement. i have a 12 month puppy, wich seems too young for me. i took him to the vet and of course he needs xrays. right now im saving up for the costs of finding out whats wrong with him. what steps should i take caleb??

[calebmyboy]

Doofie's Mom, thank you for the information, it sounds quite frightening to be responsible for his actions, he is quite hyper at times, but I will do my best to handle it, I must for his sake.

I'll just keep in mind two weeks and get through it one day at a time. Looking forward to the day he can finally run, and not suffer for it later that day, that will indeed be a happy day for us.

They will be doing the blood work before surgery, he stressed to me that Chase cannot have any infection anywhere in his skin, ears, teeth or anywhere else.

reyweasel, by the time Chase was 8 months of age we knew something was wrong and suspected HD, He would whimper upon rising after playing, he would limp sometimes and his back legs were very unstable on our tile and wood floors, his back legs kept splaying out and he would go down and cry.

We had x-rays taken and drove him 3 1/2 hours to the orthopedic surgeon for an evaluation hoping for the TPO, he already had arthritis developing so was not a candidate for that surgery, we decided to wait til he had finished growing and go for the Total hip replacement.

Last year we took him back to the surgeon and was prepared to leave him for the hip replacement, but found out the new cementless was going to be available soon, so once again we brought him home.

I just this week recalled the surgeon to see about getting him done, I was going to have it done as soon as possible, but the surgeon suggested to me since we live in Upper Michigan that we should wait til spring so Chase does not slip on the snow or ice, he did specify also that it was crucial he not slip.

HD can be quite devistating in our dogs if its not treatable by suppliments or Adequan, Chase is not from BYB stock and that is the reason I bought from someone who bred two dogs who had good scores as well as into the previous generations.

But that is no guarantee it won't happen anyways.

[DoofiesMom]

Don't worry about him being hyper....the pain meds have a "calming effect" to say the least and if your dog is of the high energy type, than request the Ace from the surgeon. Most surgeons want the dog sedated to prevent injury to the new hip so this shouldn't be a problem. The first two weeks are the hardest, then weeks 4-6 seem manageable. After that, it's a slow progression to normalacy....I would say at about the 6 month mark you will see a completely pain free dog.

Good luck, and hang in there!! You are doing the right thing for your boy. Just take it one day at a time....each day gets easier....

Cheers,
Doofie's Mom