Hip~D surgery

[rottiholt]

Has anyone out there ever had the HD replace~
ment surgery?
5 1/2 years ago my husbun worked for the school.We bought dog food & kept it at his
job as there are so many un~wanted dog's here
They run loose & not neuterd/spayed so the
problem is forever on going. He would feed the sweet one's who would come into his shop.
He had noticed this one male off &on. The dog
would let him pet him but would go on the
school grounds & sit & love with the kids.
Well, then for a long time he never seen this
one dog. It was 2 days before c~mas vacation
& everyone was gonna be gone for 2 weeks. His
sister was looking to move up here & so he was keeping a eye out on the vacant houses. One house behind his shop caught his eye as
he noticed newspapers piled on the porch. So
he went to check it out. Guess what he found?
The people moved & left this little black dog
INSIDE the house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No food & he had to be drinking water from the toliet bowl.
Like a good husbun he took this dog to his
shop fed him & called me. We have 7~ to~10
dog's at any given time & I did not want
another one but told him I would go down to
see this dog. I got down there & he is such
a SWEET dog. Nothing at all to brag about looks wise. He is all black some white on his
chest & toes. Then brindle/over tan but marked like a rottie. Rose set ears like a
greyhound. His body reminds me of one also.
He has terrier in him & probly pit as they
are & have been the #1 dog here. He came fully trained. He has never chewed pottyed
in the house etc. He has been the perfect dog
anyone could ask for. I got him neuterd & I
was looking for him a home, but he never left. As I wright this he is laying under the
desk. I named him Murphy.
Had my hubby of passed that house up to look
at, Murphy would of been dead. C~mas vacation
was gonna start & no one would of been around
there to find him.
I could rescue dog's everyday up here but I don't have the money to do this. Because they
would be fixed before anything. Well other than shots.
ANYWAY, here is my perfect dog. My soul mate.
He goes EVERYWHERE with me. Sleeps with me
etc etc.
Wouldn't ya know it, last year he started
limping on his left hind leg. I knew it was
HD but again my Hubby saved us. My daughter
is a vet tec & her boss needed some asphalt
sealer on his parking lot. My husbun is in
sealer :-) So they did a trade. We got the
x~rays for Murph & he got his parking lot
sealed. The x~rays were sent to UC Davis &
read by all down there. He has the worst case
of HD ever.I could live with hearing all of
this no problem BUT now he is limping really
really really bad. Won't put any weight on the leg at all. The last month he has started
to cry. This is a TOUGH little man. He never
says one word about pain. SO when he crys he
is indeed in pain. It rips my heart out. I am
at the point I will have him put to sleep. I
can't hear his pain & know there is nothing I
can do for it. It is a awful feeling.
I have tried EVRYTHING short of rymidill for
his pain & nothing has worked. I refuse the
hard drugs cuz I have seen what those can do.
I would rather he be put to sleep.
I have called UC Davis for a evulation to see
if they feel he could have the hip~replacement surgery. We go in Oct. 18th
for this.
What I am asking is has anyone else gone this
far? How was it & would you do it again? How
old was your dog? Mine is 6 1/2. If I would
of know back when he was younger that he had
it, I would of paid to have it done then. Like I said he is tough & loves life & everyone in it. By the way, when he is with
me & we pass that school he hung out at, he
still stares out the window untill the school
is out of his site. I told you, this one has
a soul. He is unlike any dog I have ever had
Yes, he is a mutt & people give me a hard time cuz he is when I have all of these reg.
beauitful dogs. What I say is we all have a
shot at life. Some of us make it no problem
but some of us don't. Should we just put the
ones to sleep that have a harder time of it?
My reg. dog's don't have any health problems
I am very BLESSED there.
Well, I am gonna shut up cuz this is gonna be
one long post. I hope someone has went through this & could fill me in on what to
expect etc.
THANKS

------------------

[damp]

I am so lucky, only to live 5 miles from the best vet. in Denmark. I know he has done a lot of operations on dogs in all ages and all degrees of HD, and the dogs are totally out of pain after. It is a very simple operation, he and his partner have “invented” and they can’t explain way, but it really works. (You can’t deceive an animal) The only way they can explain this is, that I works just like a kind of acupuncture. They simply put very small gold nuggets into the hip through a thin tube. There even get a scar. For approx. a half year ago, I saw my vet. in television assisting a surgeon by operate a woman, who have had hip pains for many, many years. Ask your vet. about this surgery, it really works.

[rottiholt]

He goe's in 8~23~99 to UC Davis for his hip
evulation. We will "TALK" about it & see if he is a good candate for it & he will get his
medicne he needs for the pain he is in now.
Surgery won't be till later on as it is close
to $3,500. We are planning to borrow the money if we need to.
Anyway, I will post what Dr. Jackson has to
say next week.

------------------

[Codys ma]

The procedure damp is talking about is gold bead implants. They do work wonders, but only if the dog responds to acupuncture in the first place. Some dogs don't get any relief from acupuncture and if that's so then the implants won't work. If that is something you are considering, I would suggest you start acupuncture treatments before thinking about the gold bead implants.

As far as hip replacement is concerned, you will want to make sure his other leg is strong enough to support him after the surgery. If his activity level is significantly decreased due to the pain, a little physical therapy may be necessary to strengthen his other leg, because after the surgery he will have to rely completely on his opposite leg while the hip heals.

Good luck!!!

Kim

[rottiholt]

Hi & thanks for the reply. I am not even
considering the gold bead thing. I have never
heard of it before untill damp's reply.
We are getting the total hip~replacement
surgery IF Murphy is a good canadate for it.
I asked many questions about this surgery &
they will not have to do the other hip. I was
also told by people he will always limp & be
in pain & that isn't true either.
I really think it is the vet you choose & your pet that makes or brakes this type of
surgery. I trust UC Davis 100%. They have al~
ways been good with the treatment of my pets
I have taken in to them. Their price's have
always been 100% better than a local vet also
So, all I can do now is wait & see what will
happen on monday. I will keep the results here on this post. This way if anyone else
needs to go through this they will have some
information to go on.

------------------

[rottiholt]

Well, I thought this would be very intresting
to put on my reply post. In 1998 my Murphy had $500. worth of x~rays taken to find out if he had HD. I was told from the vet who did
the x~rays that he indeed have HD & that is was pretty bad. About 6 months or so after the x~rays Murphy started limping. I assuned
it was the HD.
I made a appt. with UC Davis & took my x~rays
with me. I just thought everyone whould like
to know it is NOT HD but he did tear his
cruciate ligament. I feel terrible that i did
not notice it myself but trusted a vet.
I posted this in case some one else may need
the advice for a second opion. I am glad I
did as this can be fixed & alot cheaper.
Also UC Davis told me Murphy does have HD but
that it is so mild he will never have the bad
trouble with his legs like I thought he had.
That made my day also. He will go in for surgery to repair his bad knee Oct. 11, 99.
I will keep you posted.
Thanks

------------------