FHO surgery sheltie

C

Colleen

Forums Regular
My nine year old male sheltie had FHO surgery on his left hip three weeks ago and is still not putting full weight on it and limping a lot. Can anyone tell me if they have gone thru this surgery and are we expecting too much from him after only three weeks? Vet said he should be walking pretty good by now and he is still protecting that leg but is walking. Is this common and how long does it take to get back to normal? Thanks.
 
I'm sorry, I don't have any experience with this, but I'm sure you'll get some helpful responses from others on the forum.

I hope your pup is doing well very soon.
 
He should be walking pretty good by now. There is no bone to bone contract in this surgery but it takes time to build up the muscle again and form the false socket. Are you doing physical therapy(water treadmill, swimming, balance disks, strengthening exercises etc) or range of motion exercises? If not you may what to talk to your vet about that and togteher put together a program to start strengthen that leg or possible you can get a referal to a dog physical therapist.

Truely, physical therapy gets them back on their feet so much faster than let nature take is course, just like humans.:smile2:
 
Colleen said:
My nine year old male sheltie had FHO surgery on his left hip three weeks ago and is still not putting full weight on it and limping a lot. Can anyone tell me if they have gone thru this surgery and are we expecting too much from him after only three weeks? Vet said he should be walking pretty good by now and he is still protecting that leg but is walking. Is this common and how long does it take to get back to normal? Thanks.
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We had a 14 month old boy that had a double FHO...(at the same time).

This was back in 2004, but if memory serves me correct....he was not even close to being on his feet again in just 3 weeks. He had his surgery the end of December (28th), and we begain physical therapy in February. It was after beginning physical therapy that he began progressing. I remember how excited we were when he first stood on his own again. I think the physical therapy did wonders for him. We were given stretching exercises to do at home as well as massage techniques. The underwater tredmill was a wonderful "tool" and I think he benefited most from that. After beginning p.t., he just kept doing better and better. It did take him 10 to 12 months for what was considered "full" recovery.

I sympathize with you during this time. Also, I'd keep up on any pain meds he's being given. It is a very painful healing process. Also..one more thing I just remembered. We used Acepromazine before his appointments...just took the "edge" off for him. Be careful with Ace though..., as it is one of the drugs that can cause a reaction in herding dogs...that MDR1 Genetic factor issue. If you haven't checked your babe for pre-dispositon to the effects of certain drugs relating to this, I'd ask for something different.

Hope this helps...
 
We have done a couple of FHO's on rescues. Both dogs went to the same lady, and we paid for her to take them swimming after the stitches came out. One was a baby-puppy when we had him done, and he has no clue. The other one was recent, and I want to say we had both done at once, I can't remember. But it was several weeks before she would get up and move. As soon as she started swimming, she recovered quickly, and is fine now.

My dog Marque had a broken leg as a puppy and the swimming really helped to get the muscle back that he had lost.
 
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