The topic I don't wanna talk about. Hip dysplasia is an irregular type of a hip socket that can ultimately cause debilitating lameness and painful joint arthritis in its more serious form. My dog is suffering too.Hip Dysplasia. Words and diagnosis that strike fear and grief in any dog owner. That's the words we got February 12, 2020. Our vet said he has never seen hips so bad in a dog so young and called him a train wreck.
We sure started out in a different place when we got Sentry. So full of happiness and hopes for the future.
Sentry, Baymule’s Livestock Guard Dog
We have two Great Pyrenees, Paris and Trip. Paris is 10 and Trip will be 5 in November. Now is a good time to introduce and train a new puppy. I have been wanting an Anatolian. I was on a Facebook Sheep and goat group when I saw a post for a very Anatolian looking puppy. I kept going back to...www.backyardherds.com
Sentry started limping a couple of weeks ago and his hind leg was swollen. I figured that the other dogs and he had been playing too rough and penned him up to prevent him from re-injuring his leg. After all, scarcely a couple of weeks earlier, 200+ pounds of playing dogs slammed into the back of my knee and I went down screaming in pain. I am still slightly limping from that. The swelling went down, but we had another problem, it looked like Sentry's hip was out of joint. So we made an appointment and took him to the vet.
X-ray and a diagnosis hit us like a ton of bricks. I've had dogs all my life and have never had anything even remotely like this happen. The ball and socket joints had no socket. They were flat and already starting arthritis. The vet said there is a surgical procedure called Femoral Head Ostectomy, or FHO. He explained that there is a 97% success rate and that his own Golden Retriever had had the same surgery and was now 14 years old and has had a good life. The surgery involves cutting off the ball joint, over time, as it heals, scar tissue forms and acts as a cushion between the bones. The ligaments, muscles and sinews hold the leg in place. With Sentry's young age, 9 months, he stood a greater chance of a full recovery. We have taken a lot higher risks for a lot stupider reasons, so we scheduled surgery for the next day.
We got home and discussed euthanasia, that made us cry, we had to give him a chance. If he recovers like the vet thinks he will, we will have to do the other hip. If he makes it through all that and turns out to be a yard ornament, that is fine with us.
Some of you may think we are total idiots. Maybe we are. I'm pretty sure we are. Oh well. He has a chance at a pain free life. If he can't be a guardian, so be it, he can be a pet. Feel free to voice your opinion, whether you agree or not. This forum is for open discussion, we all learn from it, both the good and the bad. We learn from success and abject failures. I am posting this so that everyone might benefit from my success or failure. If you think I am stupid, go for it.
We picked him up Thursday. They brought him to us with a sling around his middle, to help him walk and take the pressure off his hip. When we got home, I cut a shopping bag down the sides and I used that for a sling. We put him in a large dog crate in the living room, he must stay confined for quite awhile. I take him out on a leash for potty breaks and I can increase his walks a little at a time. I have a 2 page post op instructions, with 4 phases, up through and beyond 60 days after surgery. He is on pain meds and antibiotics.
This is going to be a very intensive recovery, much the same as BJ's knee replacement surgery. Only this is a dog, a dog that doesn't understand that he should not have ever been born. He doesn't understand why he is and was in pain. He doesn't understand that he was doomed from birth and he doesn't understand that he has to suffer some more pain and misery in order to have a chance at a better life. He just looks at me with adoring eyes.
I will try to find a link for FHO post op instructions, if I can't , I will type in the whole thing. I want this, however it turns out, to be a learning experience for not just me, but for my many friends here and for people who might be faced with the same thing.
And THIS is why smarter people than myself caution to ALWAYS buy a puppy from an OFA certified breeder. OFA is Orthopedic Foundation for Animals.
By the time we go through all this surgery, rehab, pain and misery with Sentry, we will able to have purchased the finest, registered, puppy from OFA certified parents, in the whole damned country. We might end up with a pet. We may end up with a failure and an euthanized puppy. But that is a risk we are willing to take.
I have pictures on my phone and will have to switch to it. Sentry needs to take a walk, I'll be back.
He healed up and is able to go hang out with the other dogs and guard sheep. He runs, plays, but is definitely crippled. He rests the leg when standing and it just sorta dangles. His other hip joint is bad too, but I'm thinking that if we have it operated on, he won't have a good leg to stand on. We didn't have his shoulders x-rayed, but I think they are also compromised. Just watching his gait, the way he stands and the way he struggles to stand from laying down, this poor dog truly is a train wreck.
It's a good thing to have a "porch guard"!! Plus a willing walk-along for chores. He will adjust to the problems. Some herbal pain/joint relief may help in the future.
