Pooch
Pooch's Hip Dysplasia/FHO Diary
UPDATED to Oct 04- GOOD NEWS near bottom of page!
See more photos of Pooch on his webpage here

Current Pooch Facts:
Age: 10 years (approximate- 'set' birthday in August) Acts like a 2 year old.
Weight: 23 lbs
Height: 14"
Energy Level: Very High
Breed: Mostly Rat Terrier and part Staffordshire Bull Terrier with maybe some Boston Terrier thrown in. (all a guess)

I found Pooch as a stray about 6 years ago, in the spring. I soon noticed that he sometimes limped, or held his left rear leg off the ground when he ran (not often at all, just once in a while), and mentioned it to my vet. They said it was probably from an old injury, and dismissed it. After a while, I noticed that the limp was more frequent, and that he sometimes 'bunny hopped' when he ran. I had been seeing a new doctor at my vet clinic, and I asked her about it. She felt his leg and declared that she could move the knee out of place, and said he had a luxating patella. She didn't recommend x-rays, she said that it wouldn't show up on them unless the kneecap was out of place at the time of the x-ray.
I later started taking Pooch to another doctor at a different clinic, and I mentioned it to them, and they agreed with the first vet's diagnosis of a luxating patella.
Later in the year, I saw a different vet at the second clinic and mentioned that the problem seemed to be getting worse. She seemed unsure of the other vets' diagnosis, and suggested an x-ray. I agreed. This was about 2 years after I had found Pooch. When the x-rays came back. she showed them to me and said that Pooch had severe hip dysplasia, and that they would probably want to do a FHO (Femoral Head Osteotomy) surgery. The hip joint was in horrible shape, there was not much of a ball or socket and there were bone fragments all around the joint. He also had arthritis. She mentioned that she had felt the knee while Pooch was under, and couldn't luxate it- it was solid with no problems. You can see his x-ray here .

Pooch had been misdiagnosed with a luxating patella by three vets at two separate clinics before we finally found out what was really wrong. By then he was bunny-hopping or holding the leg off the ground almost all the time while running, and sometimes while walking also. This never slowed him down, though, and he never showed any stiffness or pain, which he must have been feeling. Soon after I began to take Pooch to my regular clinic, and they suggested I give him a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement. I started giving him Joint Care from Foster and Smith. I didn't really notice any difference, but then again as I mentioned he didn't show any pain before the supplement. I recently switched him to Syn-Flex, which I think is a much better supplement than the Joint Care. It's a liquid supplement which includes many things for joint support in addition to Glucosamine and Chondroitin.

This spring, I started thinking about surgery more seriously. I thought he was doing well as he was just as active as usual. However, one day recently I was walking him and  I happened to look down as he walked through a puddle. As I watched his pawprints coming out of the puddle, I saw there were only 3 paw prints-- although he LOOKED as if he was walking normally with the leg, he was actually not putting any weight on the leg or even really touching it to the ground! He was very good at hiding it. I also found that his muscles in that leg were starting to atrophy.
I knew that the joint was only going to deteriorate further, but I had been putting the surgery off because I was concerned about the rehabilitation it would require and wasn't sure that Pooch would use the leg after not using it for so long. I also hadn't been sure how I would be able to pay for it.

A friend gave me the business card for a clinic where her dog had TPO hip surgery (and had done rehabilitation) recently- Veterinary Specialty Center. I made an appointment there. It was a very new, large facility. I talked to the surgeon, and he explained the surgery and said it would be about $1300-1500. I was surprised, as I hadn't thought it would be that high, and I didn't think there was any way I could pay for it this year! I was also not sure how much experience the surgeon had with that particular surgery.

I had talked to someone a long time ago whose German Shepherd had an FHO, and they mentioned that their dog had the surgery at Fox Lake Animal Hospital, and that the vet was very exeperienced with FHO surgeries. We had an appointment with that surgeon. The doctor talked about FHO surgery and said that he has done several hundred of them, and gets about one every two weeks. He asked me to walk Pooch up and down the hallway so he could see how he was moving, and he commented that it looked like Pooch was using the leg ok until I explained what I had seen when Pooch walked through a puddle-- then the doctor felt the leg and could feel that the muscle was very atrophied and so there was no way he was really using that leg (but he even fooled the vet when watching him walk!)
 When the vet looked at the xrays, he said that it would be a very difficult surgery. Pooch has bone spurs on the socket, and there are bone chips around the joint (I already knew this from viewing the x-rays when they were first taken) I asked if they needed new x-rays since the ones I had were about 2 years old, but he said they didn't. He didn't really say much about rehabilitation. I asked about it, and he just said we could take him swimming. I've decided that I'm going to take Pooch to a therapy/rehabilitation center soon after surgery if the surgeon doesn't give me any more information on it after the surgery. They didn't charge me for the vet visit. The surgery itself will be $525, which includes all costs (anasthesia, surgery, medications...)

FHO surgery involves removing the end of the femur and the "ball" joint. After this is done, a 'false joint' forms out of scar tissue and other matter, allowing the dog to move pain-free. It is basically a salvage procedure for dogs whose hips are too far gone to do a hip replacement.

PLEASE NOTE: IMPORTANT! If your dog is having FHO or any hip surgery, please follow your vet's advice and consult them before starting any supplements or exercises!


park
6/10/02
I took Pooch and my Golden, Ginger for a long walk to the park today, since this is the last time he'll be able to walk that far for a long time. Pooch had lots of fun running around, and I even let him jump on top of the water fountain, since he won't be able to after surgery...  (You can see a photo of him on top of the water fountain at the bottom of this page). Above you see a photo of Pooch and Ginger doing a really great stay (well, great for Pooch) at the park.


6/11/02
Surgery day. I brought Pooch in to the vet at about 8:30 am for his FHO surgery. The hospital is about 45 miles from our house, so it was a long and tough ride because Pooch whines constantly on car rides (from excitement).
I've been looking at two rehabilitation facilities. One is TOPS in Grayslake, the other is Veterinary Specialty Center's TheraPet Wellness Center in Buffalo Grove, which is closer. The latter is the place where I consulted a surgeon before Fox Lake.


6/12/02
I have my Cabana Crate all set up in my bedroom. It's the largest size, extra large, because it's really for my Golden, Ginger. I think Pooch will be more comfortable with the extra room. I just hope that he doesn't try to scratch it up, because he's never really been crate trained. When I was getting Ginger used to the crate last year, he often would lie in it, and seemed comfortable, which is good...
Went to pick Pooch up in the afternoon. The surgeon was unavailable, so another doctor talked to us. He said that Pooch would need about 4-5 weeks of rest, and that he should be completely recovered around October. I had him fill out a referral form I printed out from TOPS Rehabilitation Clinic. He sent Pooch home with Etogesic and an antibiotic. I was very worried that he would be trying to jump around in the car, but thankfully he lay still for most of the long ride. He is resting fairly comfortably in the Cabana Crate.

Photos of Pooch in the car on the way home from surgery (click for larger version) :    o       leg


Photos from this afternoon (click for larger version):           leg      



The Week After Surgery 6/13-6/20
????? (about 6/14)
Pooch has been very calm (for a terrier!) and quiet in the crate. I had been really concerned that he might injure himself if he acted like his normal self, but I think the medicine may be making him calmer. Whatever it is, I just hope he stays this way the whole time he needs to be crated! I've been giving him Greenies and Beef Chewies whenever he seems a little restless. Unfortunately, I'm running out...
I called the surgeon today, because I was a little unclear about what the veterinarian had said when I picked Pooch up, and I had a few questions about how much rest he needed. He said that this was one of the most difficult FHO surgeries he's done. The joint capsule was very thick and the joint was bone-on-bone. There were also a lot of bone chips/fragments to clean up, and they had to remove bone spurs from the pelvis as well. He said that Pooch should have no exercise for the first 2 weeks, and after that I can start very short walks. I am still dissapointed that I wasn't told any exercise I could do with the leg or anything, because almost everyone I've talked to who has a dog who had an FHO has said that their vet showed them exercises. Every article I've read about FHO surgery says exercise is critical to the formation of a false joint..


6/15/02
We went to a festival today, and I was worried about leaving Pooch in the Cabana Crate (he may be able to break out if he tried hard enough) so I moved that crate into the front room and dragged out my plastic Sky Kennel (Vari-Kennel type) and put that in my bedroom instead. He'll be sleeping there at night, and I'll use it when there's no one home to watch him. Tommorow we're all going to a wedding, so Pooch will be alone most of the day. (my brother isn't going, but he won't be home for much of the time either)


6/18/02
Today was the day of our appointment at the TheraPet center. I was very happy with the results! The veterinarian I talked to, Dr. Royal was very helpful, and gave me a lot of information on what I can do to help Pooch recover. At the start of the appointment, she let Pooch offleash in the office (it was carpeted) and he sniffed around for a while- I think that was the most exercise he's gotten since the surgery, and he was being pretty hyper (meaning: normal for him!).
She said I should put Pooch on a fatty acid supplement, and I told her that I had recently started 3V Caps, an omega-3 oil supplement, which she said was good. She also mentioned a joint support supplement, and I told her I had been using Syn-Flex. She told me to get Arnica gel, which can be used on and around the incision area and will help with the swelling which I had noticed around the site. I was showed how to do a TTouch massage which she said I could start immediately, and several range-of-motion exercises which I'm supposed to start when it's been 10 days since the surgery (Friday.) The vet also explained some of the things that they do in rehabilitation, and said that swimming would be the most important. We made an appointment for a therapy session (swimming) for 27th. The vet said we could start swimming 2 weeks after surgery, but the stitches are coming out on Wednesday the 26th so we made the appointment for the day after that.
At the end of our appointment, Dr. Royal said that she could do a little acupuncture on Pooch right then, with no extra charge. I agreed. Pooch can be very difficult for vets to handle (he doesn't like to be restrained) but she just got on the floor with us and didn't have much trouble putting the first acupuncture needle in, right behind his collar (she said this is a longevity point). After the third needle, Pooch got upset and started looking up at her and barking nonspot- it must have been a sore spot! We stopped there, and she had us sit for 5 minutes with the needles in before removing them. It seemed to help calm Pooch down some, and he was pretty quiet on the trip home (much quieter than on the way there.) I am so glad that I had made that appointment! It really helped me feel better and much less nervous, I had been worrying that I wasn't doing enough to help in his recovery, and now I know so much more that I can do! The doctor also had mentioned that they don't start most exercises until the 10th day after surgery anyway, so I wasn't 'behind' at all... Here is what Dr. Royal wrote on a prescription pad for me (writing in parentheses added by me):
"Pooch"
Arnica gel topically daily
Physical Therapy: Exend (this refers to the 'flex and extend' range-of-motion exercise) at 10 days post surgery or 2 wks if too tender.
Bicycle (refers to a moving the leg in a round, 'bicycling' type movement) 2 weeks post surgery, 3 mins. total first time.
Tellington Touch massage now.
Rec: Swim 1x a week.


6/20/02
I actually wrote all of this diary today- I had been so busy watching Pooch, I put it off for a while! Pooch is getting more restless. He's started barking whenever I leave the room, and scratching some at the Cabana Crate- not a good thing since it's a soft crate and he could conceivably tear it. We finished both medications today, so if that's what was causing his calmness it probably won't last long after today! I've completely run out of Beef Chewies and Greenies, so I can't use them to keep him quiet any longer. I do have some salmon chews and rawhide, but he doesn't like those much so they don't help. I need to order more chews from SitStay. Unfortunately, my online service hasn't been working for the last two days, so I'll have to wait. I'm probably going to try filling a Kong for him tonight or tommorow, if I can find where Pooch hid them.


6/22/02
Well, I was right. When the medication wore off Pooch began acting more like his usual nutty self! He's been barking in the crate and getting upset when people leave the room even more often then he had been. Pooch has been using his leg more and more, I'd say he's now actually touching the leg to the floor instead of holding it up while walking maybe 35-40% of the time! He's seems to be doing great. He does have some soreness and swelling in the leg still, but that is normal. (I'm not surprised, you'd be sore too if they cut bones out!)


I took some new photos of Pooch, here they are (click on them for larger image)
po     pooch

 


6/26/02
Pooch had his stitches removed today. The vet said he did very well. I was worried, because he doesn't like to be restrained, but apparently he wasn't too bad. They took him in the back to remove the stitches, and I didn't hear any barking or yelping, so I guess he did ok!


6/27/02
Today we went for our first physical therapy session. We did hydro treadmill. Here's what it was like. They have a rectangular 'pool' which is on the floor with very high sides and a plexiglass front so the dog can see out. In the bottom of the pool there's a belt as you would see in a normal treadmill, and this moves slowly when they turn it on. They filled the pool up to around Pooch's breastbone, about halfway up his sides. The therapist got in the water behind Pooch, and had me in front of the plexiglass with treats to encourage him to keep facing forwards and keep walking, then started the treadmill. He was happy to walk at first with me holding a treat out, but he did try to turn around and go the other way or stop a few times. I had to keep holding a treat and letting him nibble it from my hand, so I was surprised I had fingers left when I was done! They said most dogs do about 5 minutes the first time, but Pooch was doing great so they had him do 7 minutes in the pool. Unfortunately he didn't use the leg as much after therapy as he had been before.  (click for larger photo)
       crate


June/July 02
Pooch has done several sessions of water treadmill. The second time we went in for the hydrotherapy, Pooch had been limping some that day (he had gone on a fairly long walk the night before) and he only swam for about 2 minutes- he wasn't really using the leg correctly in the pool. The vet decided to try filling the pool higher to see if he would use the leg if he had to swim- he did more than he had been with the water treadmill, but was still moving it funny, so we stopped the session short. Because of him not using the leg very well, they prescribed Etogesic for him, but as they only had a few pills on hand, that's all we recieved. His regular vet later told me to try using buffered aspirin instead after some problems with filling the prescription and after I described how he had become almost sleepy on the Etogesic after his surgery. He did much better at the third hydro treadmill session, however, and got up to 7 minutes in the pool.


7/29/02
Sorry I haven't updated this in so long! We've been gone on vacation.
This year, we went to the Kettle Moraine area of Wisconsin- this was the first vacation Pooch has ever come along on! He normally is very active in the car, and whines from excitement CONSTANTLY, which is the main reson I had not taken him on vacations in the past- well, that and the fact that I had no idea how he'd behave in a hotel room... Surprisingly, Pooch did NOT whine hardly at all on the car ride to Wisconsin- I think he knew that it would be a long ride. We stayed at a cottage by a private lake and Pooch got a lot of swimming time in, which was great for his recovery! Pooch did very well in the cottage, and had lots of fun.
Here are a couple photos from our trip. The first two show Pooch and Ginger trying to retrieve the same toy. The third is me trying to get Pooch to swim in place without splashing the camera and everything else within 10 feet! Click on images for larger versions. You can see more vacation photos here .

swim       .     .


August 02    ----  HAPPY BIRTHDAY POOCH!!!
Pooch has been doing pretty well with using his leg. His muscle is not increasing as much as I expected but he does seem to be putting some weight on it and walking on it. We have not been to any more therapy sessions in a while, however- it's been so busy around here!
It is Pooch's "birthday!!" We don't actually know his real birthday, but it is 'set' in August.
Pooch is now 9 years old!

Fall 02
Ok, I've kinda put this page on the back burner. I'm trying to decide if I should try describing more detail about Pooch's recovery now (create entries 'after the fact') or just leave it as is...
Pooch has been getting better, but he is definitely behind in recovery- after his surgery, the vet said he' be 100% by October, and he sure was not! He still has much smaller muscle in the left leg than in the right, and sometimes I am not sure if he is *really* using the leg or just 'pretending'.
We have been able to gradually increase his walks to about 8-10 blocks long. Since soon after surgery, I started working on a new method to stop his pulling- he used to pull constantly on walks if not wearing a training collar. The method I used is basically this: (on a buckle collar, 6 ft. leash)-- whenever Pooch pulls on the leash, I immediately begin to walk quickly backwards. As soon as the leash is slack, we begin to walk forwards again. As simple as this seems it has been working wonderfully! I have tried many other things in the past that didn't work, but this has. We are not at the point where, on a walk with few distractions, Pooch will only pull/I only have to back up maybe 3-5 times total during the walk.


11/16/02
Today we went back to Therapet. I had not taken Pooch in since before our summer vacation. As I mentioned in the last entry, I was worried about how his recovery was going- he seemed very behind. We saw Dr. Royal, and she confirmed that he is behind on his rehab. She measured his muscle in the left leg and the "good" right leg, and said that there is still a difference, but it's not TOO big. She said that he is definitely using the leg, and his rehab is expected to be slower because of the condition of the leg (no muscle) before surgery and the severity of the HD, and it may be a few more months before he is back to normal and the muscle is completely improved. Today we did another hydro treadmill session. Pooch did fairly well, but boy are my fingers sore from holding treats for him in the pool!
Before the water therapy, Dr. Royal did acupuncture on Pooch. She was only able to get three needles in before Pooch got upset, but this did seem to help. I was also told some new exercises I could use to help increase Pooch's muscle, as well as some supplements. Here is the information that Dr. Royal sent home with us:
Vitamin E  100-200 UI/day, 5 days on, 2 days off.
Milk Thistle  50-100 mg/day every day.
Physical Therapy:
-squeeze feet daily
-"kneelock hold" wt shift (this involved holding him between my feet and leaning side to side to cause him to shift weight to each leg... Haven't been able to get him to do this yet)
-Wheelbarrow backward (what it sounds like- walking him backwards, while hold his front feet up with my hands. This causes him to step carefully with each leg)
-Shift weight w/cushion or trampoline (Pooch on a cushion or trampoline and get him to shift his weight from leg to leg.)


11/22/02
Went back for another therapy session today. Pooch did very well and was pretty happy with all the treats and attention- his therapist thinks he's cute! ;)
These are the supplements Pooch is currently getting:
100 to 200 IU of Vitamin E (in capsule form- got it from the health food store) per day, 2 days off.
1 dosage of Vitamin C daily
1 dosage of Syn-Flex joint supplement daily
1-2 tsp of yogurt daily
1-2 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar often
I have not started the milk thistle yet because I want to get a 'wellness' blood test done on Pooch, and I have heard milk thistle can skew blood test results.


January /03
pooch xmas
Merry Christmas!
Here (above) is a nice photo of Pooch looking insanely scary in front of our Christmas tree

And here (below) is a photo of Ginger and Pooch looking 'festive' in their leis- my sister went to Hawaii on her honeymoon after Christmas, and brought back a lei for me, and one for Ginger (Pooch is wearing Ginger's for the photo). For some reason, Ginger appears to be pouting- maybe it's because Pooch has HER lei?
xmas dogs

Here is one last photo- not really a holiday photo, but it was on the same roll of film. Pooch LOVES oranges, and will sit and stare at you, whining, if you pick on up-- waiting for you to share.

I like to call this photo "His Master's Orange"

orangey Pooch  


Summer/03
I am writing this after the fact... Because of Pooch's slow recovery from the FHO surgery his vet decided to take some new x-rays and see what was going on. What she found was that there was bone-on-bone contact happening in the joint, which either means that bone built up or they did not take enough of the femur neck off during the surgery. The vet thinks that is case because in the x-ray the femur did not seem a lot shorter than his "normal" femur (the right leg.) We decided to continue with therapy and supplements, and if it seems that he has pain we may have to do another surgery. I have no idea how I would pay for that, but if he needs it he will get it one way or another.

8/03
Went on vacation to the Smoky Mountains!
You can see photos of Ginger and Pooch enjoying their vacation here!
Unfortunately, Pooch developed a limp in his "good" rear right leg near the end of vacation. The cabin we stayed at had steep steps to the second floor, and Pooch insisted on running up/down them whenever I went up or down. The vet thinks he probably strained the right leg because he was overcompensating for the left leg... He was very sore for a few days after vacation, and the vet did acupuncture and hydrotherapy. He recovered after 2-3 days, and did not have any more problems with that right leg thankfully.


Winter/03-04
Pooch is doing very well... He hasn't had any severe problems with either leg and he has built up some more muscle in the left leg. He is now going on long walks regularly with no problems, and also has done some beginners flyball classes (approved by his vet-- without the usual amount of jumping). However he still will sometimes hold up the leg for periods of time or begin to limp. We will probably get another set of x-rays this spring to see how his hip is doing. Unfortunately my Golden, Ginger, was diagnosed with Bridging Spinal Spondylosis this fall and her hip joints are also not that great... She has started seeing Dr. Royal (the vet who did Pooch's rehab) and is getting acupuncture.

2/6/04
I went to Camp Dogwood's Winter Woof Inn (indoor) camp. I took Ginger for most of the camp, but Pooch came for one day. He got to try agility (no jumping obstacles) and do a little flyball practice. Below is a picture of Pooch triggering the flyball box.

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7/8/04
Ok, I know I have not done any updating in a long while... I will probably go back and add some more info and maybe some photos to this soon. However I just wanted to say that Pooch went back to Dr. Royal (at her other clinic, Family Pet Animal Hospital) on July 8th to have another x-ray taken, since the last one was last summer and I wanted to see what was going on.
Well, GOOD NEWS!!! The x-rays showed that FINALLY a false joint has formed!! There are still some chips/fragments in there but the joint is no longer bone-on-bone contact, there is nice definition and a false joint! I am so relieved and happy! We will not have to do another surgery after all! Pooch is able to do whatever he wants-- of course he will never be an agility or flyball dog as much as he would LOVE to compete in those sports, but he is allowed to jump around the house and do some recreational jumping!  He does sometimes hold the left leg up, but the vet said that could just be because it is now a little shorter than the right or because he still has arthritis going on. He is allowed to run now if we start slowly and take it easy, so hopefully he'll get a chance to go biking with me this summer.
 I may go and get photos of the last two sets of x-rays for this site, the next time I go to Therapet.

Pooch is still getting acupuncture for the stiffness and soreness he sometimes gets in that leg.
10/24/04
Pooch went to a costume party at Petsmart this week. Here is a cute photo of his tourist costume!
(click on image for larger version)
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10/27/04
Pooch is doing great! He is in great shape and is very active and still acts like a young dog as always! (people cannot beileve it when I tell them how old he really is.)
Just wanted to add some current photos I took just now:
(click on images for larger versions)
/     .



10/1/06
Pooch is doing very well as far as his hip goes. We have restarted hydro treadmill to keep his muscle quality up and we still do acupuncture. We may also start chiropractic. Here are some more recent photos:
(click for larger image)

     



Pooch's X-Ray:

x-ray    x-ray       x-ray












written by: Lizzi K
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