[Ponyup]

Logan was just diagnosed with this. My first vet thought it was hip dysplasia. After much research on hip dysplasia I decided that that diagnosis didn't make sense so I took Logan for a second opinion. The vet told me he has Ischemic Necrosis of Femoral Head (Legg-calves Perthes) disease. We don't have to do anything at this time, but we're supposed to watch him closely for signs he's in pain & muscle atropy in that leg. We don't want the muscles to get weak & then do it. My vet said there is a guy in Fort wayne that does the head replacement, but he recommends that I go to Michigan State & have the whole joint replaced.

Does anyone have any experience with either of these surgeries? I will probably do it either way, but I would like it to be something that would make him feel better forever. He's 3.5 years old & it just showed up in the last couple months. His x-ray in January showed no signs of it, but the densisity difference in the 2 hips is very apparent in the x-ray that was taken a week ago. So my vet feels it's rather aggressive.