Author Topic: triple pelvic osteotomy on big breed dogs  (Read 6866 times)

Offline Ginny Knapp

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triple pelvic osteotomy on big breed dogs
« on: September 23, 2005, 08:59:34 pm »
            I have a Newfie that is 7 mos old and has what the Vet says is hip dyspagia.  This is the surgery he reccomends to correct it but it must be done before she is one yrs of age.  Anyone with the same issues??  Didnt do the surgery and how did they make out??  Had the surgery, was it successful???  Treatments later on????  Meds that work???
« Last Edit: September 24, 2005, 12:50:22 am by Ginny Knapp »

Offline shangrila

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Re: triple pelvic osteotomy on big breed dogs
« Reply #1 on: September 24, 2005, 06:51:27 am »
When Zoey was 5 months old she was bunny hopping and we took her to a surgeon to have Xrayed. The Xrays came back saying hip dysplasia, and TPO was one of the options presented to us. However, the vet said that she was probably bunny hopping because she was growing through a growth spurt and having growing pains, and that she would be suprised to see a saint (or a newf) with perfectly normal hips. We chose not to do the surgery for three reasons: 1. The surgery is very intense and recovery is difficult. Most surgeons reccomend to do hips seperately and there is a long recovery. We didn't want to put zoey through 2 painful surgeries with 3 month recoveries from each. 2. The surgery is prohibitively expensive. If I had the money I wouldn't think for a second about whether or not I would spend it on zoey, but most of us just don't have a few grand to spend no matter how much we would want to. 3. The tpo has to be done at such a yound age that you don't really know if it is neccessary - some dogs have bad xrays but show no pain, while others have decent xrays and exhibit a ton of pain. You don't really know how severe it is until they are older which is one of the reasons many people dont xray until 2 years old. So the tpo may really help your dog, but your dog might have been fine without it.

We chose preventative maintenance as our treatment method. From day one we have monitored her food intake to make sure she is not overweight - the less weight that a dog has on their hips, the better. Also, the slower that an HD dog grows the better their ability to grow into their hips and the better their chances at a pain free life - for this reason, zoey has always been on adult food (puppy food encourages fast growth). You also need to make sure not to let your dog jump, so we use a ramp for the truck and keep her off the bed. Excersize is important to build up the muscles in the hips and legs, but you want to make it low-impact excersize; walking or swimming are best. Finally, jiont medication is really helpful for dogs with hip pain. We used to feed a liquid glucosamine/msm/chondroitin supplement, and have recently switched to cosequin because it is supposed to be the best. Zoey is 15 months now and even though she has a bad week here and there that terrifies me, she is in the most part a happy dog who show little or no pain most of the time.
RIP former BPO

Offline Ginny Knapp

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Re: triple pelvic osteotomy on big breed dogs
« Reply #2 on: September 24, 2005, 09:23:58 am »
                                                Dear Heather, thank you for your input.  Maggie has had x-rays already because she was basically non-ambulatory about 6 weeks ago.  Turns out that was puppy strangles but her one hip showed that the head of the femur wasnt set in the socket well at all.  So even though that is documented you think that waiting till she is closer to two, things might change???  She is on adult food since the strangles episode and is smaller for her age and breed because she also has a cleft palate.  It seems Maggie has some congenital problems.  Thats why I am more concerned with her hip problem.  She does get up slow and holds one leg up sometimes.  The Vet told us there is a window for the TPO and I just dont want to put her ina position where she is in bad shape at 3 yrs old.  On the other hand she has been thru so much in her short life I hate to put her thru anymore.  She is scheduled for palate repair in a couple of weeks.  It just tears my heart apart trying to make that decision.  Be nice to have a crystal ball huh??  I am glad things seem to be well for Zoey.  I hope all continues.   Ginny and Maggie

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Re: triple pelvic osteotomy on big breed dogs
« Reply #3 on: September 24, 2005, 11:12:04 pm »
I am sorry to hear about your problems. I had a 6 month rotti ( 7  years ago)scheduled to do a TPO but unfortunaley with in 1-2 week period it had deteriorated so fast they were unable to do TPO and said we would have to do a total hip replacement on this side. He was to have one on the other side of a total replacement as well.

Perhaps wait until she goes in for her palate repair and since she will be put out for that maybe get them to take a hip xray again and see if there is any difference from the previous xray. Then make a decision based from there.

 You are in our thoughts and prayers.

Offline newflvr

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Re: triple pelvic osteotomy on big breed dogs
« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2005, 02:44:29 am »
Hi Ginny,

I had a Newf, Otis, who had been born without a hip socket and severe dyspalsia on his "good" side.  He seemed fine until he was a year old...and then his femur slipped out and he couldn't walk at all.  The orthopedist we took him to said it was not an emergency surgery but the thought of him being in pain at all was really to awful to think of.  We ended up doing a total hip replacement a week or so after the diagnosis and you are right.  The recovery was awful.  He had a morphine patch stapled on which relieved him of some the pain, I think but was so disorienting.  After three weeks, however, he was great!  He ended up being able to hike, swim and pretty much be a normal dog. 

I think you have to make sure that you have you have the very best orthopedic surgeon you can find, ( a vet training school/universitywould be the best and someone who does LOTS of this type of surgery is essential!)  I think everybody else's suggestions are great...watchi ng weight, types of food and meds are all good.  Only you will know how much your dog can stand;  I don't think there are any absolute answers.  If necessary get second or third opinions.

Offline Porsha

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Re: triple pelvic osteotomy on big breed dogs
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2005, 09:08:37 am »
Hi - I would like to suggest that you get your baby started on Syn Flex, liquid glucosamine complex. It's all natural, safe and beneficial in these types of degenerarative joint problems. Syn Flex has 1500 mg pure glucosamine per dosage as well as shark cartilage (condroitin) and 12 other ant-inflammatory ingredients. you can find out more information about Syn Flex by visiting www.activexame rica.com/cgi-bin-at.cgi/281895/pets

Using Syn flex will help lubricate the inflammed area and reduce the pain and help with your baby's mobility.  Good luck to you.
Porsha ;)

Offline maggieb

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Re: triple pelvic osteotomy on big breed dogs
« Reply #6 on: October 17, 2005, 03:39:03 am »
Hi Ginny,
I'm really sorry to hear about your dilemma.  I know exactly what you are going thru with trying to make that decision.  It's heartbreaking!  We went thru the same thing back in May. My dog Cooper was diagnosed with HD at 6 months.  He didn't display any pain but had an awkward gait and his hips made popping noises when he walked and sat down.  We finally decided to do the surgery because the bones were already showing signs of wearing down from rubbing and a tiny bit of arthritis developing. 
The last surgery was July 1st.  He has been back for x-rays three times since then and everything has healed well- bones fused and good coverage over the ball of the hip.  He just got cleared to be off leash about two weeks ago.  He is soooo happy running around off leash.  He seems to be running more than he ever did before and will sit more readily when we give that command.  He still has an awkward gait but the doctor expects that to go away as he builds more muscle in his back legs.
So, I guess our experience with the surgery has been a good one.  It was very expensive and the recovery was difficult but it didn't appear that we had the option of waiting to see how it progressed. 
I think the suggestion about getting x-rays again with the palate surgery is a good one.  Our surgeon was able to see some deterioration from the initial x-ray with the regular vet compared to the one he did a few weeks later.
Good luck with this.  You can PM me if you have any questions. I posted alot about Cooper at that time if you want to check those out.
Maggie
Maggie