[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by Mom to Hot Rod

Oh I am so sorry to hear about Uni! Yes, we went thru lp surgery for Hot Rod. When you go to this 2nd vet, make sure that he takes xrays. Also make sure that he knows how to correctly read them. I don't mean to kick a gift horse in the mouth as it is very nice of him to be doing you a favor but it wouldn't be helpful if the diagnosis isn't right on.

Having said all of that, our normal vet did not want to speculate on the xrays and recommended immediately to make an appt with the ortho surgeon. The surgeon immediately diagnosed and took some more rays and discovered that Hot Rod's ligament was on the side of his leg and his little leg was bowed because of it. Our normal vet was not sure if he was having a hip issue or if it was lp, which incidentally went from a grade 1 in Nov (at his annual checkup) to a 3 in March.

You could also find out about physical therapy. I've heard that it could be very helpful. In Hot Rod's case, his knee cap needed to be deepened and ligament realigned. His surgery was 3/31/09 and hubby just (last week) took him back because he's been skipping and limping alot. Good news is that the surgeon gave him thumbs up and said that his leg should be good to go and he should not have any knee problems every again. He said the the skipping and limping is probably Hot Rod favouring it from remembering the pain. Maggie also attacks him and jumps on his hind part quite a bit so taking all of that into consideration, he's doing really well. We walk just about 1 1/2 miles a day...still short of what we used to do but I am slowly getting him back up to that.

In our case also, Hot Rod will not have any issues with arthritis so I am very happy. Please make sure you find a qualified ortho surgeon that you feel comfortable with and ask any and all questions that you may have. I can say that I am very glad we went thru with it but it was definitely a different story during his 6 week recovery period. Whew! Also, money being what it is today, we got Care credit to help with the cost of surgery. Coincidentally, I jsut made the last payment tonight! lol. Feel free to pm with any questions. Good luck and I hope little Uni stays well. Hugs to you and Uni.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and knowledge.