[delisa2850]

Hi. My Roxy had that surgery done in August. I can totally understand how scared you are. I was too. I saw where someone else had questions on it, and I wrote HUGE LONG reply (I swear I am a thread killer because I give too many long, drawn out replies to the simplest of things!) - I did the cut and paste thing this time from the last one - I don't know if you really want to know all of this, but just in case, here it is. And as I am writing to you now, Roxy is doing beautifully. She is regularly bouncing off of it with force when she is playing, although after a play session, she limps around like someone who is using muscles that have not been worked in a while! And no, her hip and leg still do not look the same as the rest of her. The rest of her little muscles built up doing all of the work for her right rear leg, so they beefed up while the right has withered. But it is finally starting to look a little more plump!

Below is the other reply I sent, and best of luck to you. Let me know if there is anything I might be able to help find answers to for you!


Hi. We just went through the surgery on August 13th. I was scared to death, but Roxy came through just fine. She is about the same age - she turned 8 months on Aug. 18th.

Our story - we went to our vet on 8/5, they diagnosed Roxy with Legg Perthes disease, told us we would need to have surgery. They suggested FHO (Femoral Head Osteo something). I asked about a total hip replacement and which would be the best for her in the long run. They said they would check with Dr. Akers, a specialist in Sun Valley and get right back with me with more information, but they were very comfortable with doing her surgery. They also said that it would be fine to wait 3-4 weeks for her to finish her puppy class - it wouldn't really do any more harm.

8/12 - (Still hadn't heard back from our vet) I went to another vet in town for a second opinion. I was able to pick up Roxy's xrays from our vet, so we didn't have to pay for a second set of xrays. The second vet (who is now our primary vet), said that her hip bone looked like swiss cheese, and we needed to get it taken care of ASAP - that the longer we wait, the greater the chance that it will fracture, and then things would be MUCH harder for Roxy. I asked if Roxy were her puppy, where would she take her for surgery. She said that if she didn't do it herself (which she would have), she would then recommend Dr. Akers from Sun Valley. She said that he is a specialist who does hundreds of these a year.

Sun Valley is a resort town. Sun Valley is to Idaho as Aspen is to Colorado. I am a single mom, and the dollar signs dancing through my head were making me dizzy. I asked her about the cost on the surgery, and she said that to be honest, Dr. Akers was no more expensive than she was. Alot of the charges, like anesthesia, assistants, etc., are charged by the unit, which is how long they are in there for the surgery. She said that Dr. Akers is twice as much by the unit, but he does so many, that he is in and out in half of the time. So while the cost is a wash, it is MUCH less stressful on your pet because the longer they are under anesthesia, the higher the risk.

When I got home, I called the clinic in Sun Valley and told them what was happening with Roxy. Within 20 minutes, Dr. Akers himself called us back. I told him everything I had been told, and he said that I needed to get this taken care of ASAP. Next thing I knew, Roxy was being scheduled - he wanted her the next day.

8/13 - Sun Valley is a few hours from Pocatello. My son, Roxy and I loaded up and headed out. Her appointment with Dr. Akers was at 10:45. He was wonderful. He looked at her x-rays, and said there was no doubt in his mind that it Legg Perthes. We talked about total hip - while you can get it done with an animal that small, it is really cost prohibitive. With as small as a yorkie is, he strongly recommended the FHO. So that is what we did.

My son and I left Roxy and went to lunch, then drove around for a while. When we hadn't heard from the clinic for a few hours, we drove back to check on her. She was just waking up. They said she did fine through the surgery. They brought her out to us right away. They said she was a little "drooly". Understatement. She was so wet all around her face and chest, I thought they had gotten her wet while cleaning her up. Nope. She was really drooling. We sat with her in the office for about an hour and got to hold her. She was still pretty out of it - not acting herself at all, but still doing ok. After about an hour, she was checked again, and we were given the ok to take her home.

They sent home Clavamox (antibiotic) and put some kind of morphine in it for pain, and said to give it to her twice a day. What they didn't tell us, and shame on me for not putting on my glasses and reading the fine print, was to keep it refridgerated. BE SURE TO READ YOUR TAKE HOME MEDICINE FINE PRINT!!! (All is well with that now too - went to our new vet and got new medicine.) Roxy hates her antibiotic. She is like a little kid - she buries her face when she sees the bottle coming out. She has never been a huge eater. For the first couple of days, I had to hand feed her to get her to eat anything. After a few days, she was feeling better, so I decided to be tough and stop the hand feeding. I figured that she would eat when she was hungry. MISTAKE. Make sure your baby eats with her antibiotic, or like us, it will upset her tummy. I am now hand feeding Roxy again until the antibiotics are done - she has me trained very well.

Her first couple of days she definitely didn't feel good. She slept alot, and screamed when we picked her up. We set up a whole sick room in our living room. We used the bottom of her crate, and padded it so she would have a secure place to lay down without any risk of accidently being bumped. We would put her in it, and she would just stay there. We found that when we needed to pick her up to carry her, what seemed the most comfortable for her was to pick her up with both hands around her chest, and NOT try to support her back half. It felt really awkward to do that, but is seemed to cause the least discomfort for her.

Another thing we were not prepared for - apparently with pain drugs like morphine, constipation often occurs. I called her vet, and they said to give her Laxatone. You can get it at the vet, or at Petco/Petsmart. It is actually in the cat section - it has mineral oil in it, and is used to help them with hairballs. It helped her immensley, and did not give her the runs.

And another thing we weren't ready for. Roxy's little hind leg just hung there like something totally dead hanging off of her. After the first couple of days, she has visibly improved on a daily basis.

I know it is really scary - this is your baby. The people on this site really will pray for you and your baby - I think that is what got me through it. The best advise I could give is make sure you have the best possible surgeon.

I know this is really long - I hope it helps a little. If you want to talk, PM me and I can give you my cell number. Let me know how things are going!!