Legg Perthes

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by JeanieK

I just spoke with an orthopedic surgeon and have scheduled the surgery for next Thursday.

He said a big part of it is getting him to use the leg after the surgery to rebuild the muscles and recommended getting him to swim in a kiddie pool or bathtub.

I called two different places. One place was $1500, the second place, the surgeon actually went down a list of all of the costs, from the pre op exam to the take home pain meds, and said $850.00.

I couldn't believe the difference if prices. Both are orthopedic surgeons. The one I'm going with has been doing this for 29 years.

Thanks for all of the information given.

I'd like to know if any of you had trouble getting them to use the leg after the surgery.

Some dogs take a bit longer, but most use their legs again after the surgery.

I did not do any physical therapy on mine and he did remarkably well. My ortho surgeon does send pups to PT if he feels they need it. The only thing he suggested was very slow leash walking. That way the pups have a tendency to put the foot down. If they walk quickly, more apt to limp.

[JeanieK]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

Some dogs take a bit longer, but most use their legs again after the surgery.

I did not do any physical therapy on mine and he did remarkably well. My ortho surgeon does send pups to PT if he feels they need it. The only thing he suggested was very slow leash walking. That way the pups have a tendency to put the foot down. If they walk quickly, more apt to limp.

Oh thanks. That is a good tip.

[yorkielady06]

The pup I told you about did great. No therapy at all was needed. He was somewhat painful the first 3 days but the Metacam kept the pain at bay. Within one week he was back to normal, no need for pain meds and it was almost impossible to keep him "quiet" as the surgeon had recommended for the 2 weeks post op. At his 2 week follow up appt. he was yanking on the least to run here and there. He was pronounced "as good as new" and is 1 month post op now. When you see him walk/run/bounce you cannot notice it at all. When he just stands there you can notice the slight shortening of his leg, it actually will hang slightly compared to the one that is on the ground. That is the only change, well that and the owner says that he has absolutely no pain now.
Good luck with the surgery!!

[JeanieK]

Originally Posted by yorkielady06

The pup I told you about did great. No therapy at all was needed. He was somewhat painful the first 3 days but the Metacam kept the pain at bay. Within one week he was back to normal, no need for pain meds and it was almost impossible to keep him "quiet" as the surgeon had recommended for the 2 weeks post op. At his 2 week follow up appt. he was yanking on the least to run here and there. He was pronounced "as good as new" and is 1 month post op now. When you see him walk/run/bounce you cannot notice it at all. When he just stands there you can notice the slight shortening of his leg, it actually will hang slightly compared to the one that is on the ground. That is the only change, well that and the owner says that he has absolutely no pain now.
Good luck with the surgery!!

How long had he NOT been using his leg prior to surgery?
Levi had his x-ray on 6/17, at that time he was still using his leg about half of the time. In fact we could not get him to limp for the vet. But now he rarely uses it.

[PiePiper]

Piper took a couple weeks before she started to use her leg. When she first came home she was carrying the leg. By the next week I noticed that she was setting her foot down when she was standing. After a few more days she was putting weight on the leg when she was standing. Then we went through a short amount of time where she would use the leg (no limp) during the day but by the end of the day she was back to carrying the leg. By the second month she was walking fine in the house but would carry the leg when she was outside. It was winter during that time so I don't know if she did that because the ground was frozen, uneven and snowy and wasn't a nice flat surface. By the 3rd month she was back 100%.

[Tae1107]

We have done this surgery many times at Yorkies Inc with great success. Like Lady Jane said the only thing our vet had us do after surgery was slow leash walks to actually make the pup use the leg and not hold it up.

What I notice is that the longer the pup had been holding the leg up prior to surgery the longer it took for them to use the leg again...... one pup in particular (owner surrender) had a lot of muscle loss so it took him more time to use the leg and gain his muscle mass back. Everyone else seemed to use the leg pretty quick when walking, but I would see it slightly up when standing still for a longer time....

[fifeandshaffer]

my fie had both of his done,, 1500, and 850 is a good price i paid 3200.00 per side. i thought fife fell when he first started to limp then next day it was no better so off to the vet we went I was referd to univ of penn and you need 3 referals to see the ortho dept and it took 2 weeks to get an appt, but they kept him right from the appt, so in fifes case it was almost 3 weeks he used the leg on and off. they wanted to keep him 3 days at the end of the 2nd day they told me to come get him he would be better at home,,, he didnt love the cage, they also told me to keep him calm, I bought him a playpen to live in as soon as i turned my back he would climb
out. i did everything i could to keep him quiet but didnt work well. My ortho told me pt was a must, we did all the range of motion 3x a day and he swam for 40 min a day, he did very well, he was oly on pain meds for 3 days.

[ourfirstyorkie]

Farrah had the surgery a week ago tomorrow. She did remarkably well. The hardest thing today is keeping her still and to not jump. I'm afraid she is going to pop her sutures.
I got 2 quotes, 1 was $1600. and one was around $900. Well since I didn't like the breeder recommended vet (1600) I used a new vet that many people/friends use. I can't tell you what a wonderful experience I had. And the end cost was $832.00
They recommended walking as well once tyhe sutures are removed. A little bit at a time. But she already wants to go go go. And she has hip dysplasia on the other leg.
To answer an additional question, I realized something wasn't quite right with her leg on July 12 while on vacation. We got home on the 15th and that afternoon took her for x-rays. waited 2 weeks for the radiologist to read the films to confirm Legg-Perthes and then scheduled the surgery. By that point she already had NO muscle left in her leg. That went away fast. She had just turned 8 mos old when she first showed symptoms.
Good Luck.

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by JeanieK

I just spoke with an orthopedic surgeon and have scheduled the surgery for next Thursday.

He said a big part of it is getting him to use the leg after the surgery to rebuild the muscles and recommended getting him to swim in a kiddie pool or bathtub.

I called two different places. One place was $1500, the second place, the surgeon actually went down a list of all of the costs, from the pre op exam to the take home pain meds, and said $850.00.

I couldn't believe the difference if prices. Both are orthopedic surgeons. The one I'm going with has been doing this for 29 years.

Thanks for all of the information given.

I'd like to know if any of you had trouble getting them to use the leg after the surgery.

Wow, that's quite a difference in prices, so glad you can get this done for the little guy and wish you luck with the surgery.

[ladyjane]

I just hope whoever bred him got his parents altered.

[JeanieK]

Originally Posted by ourfirstyorkie

Farrah had the surgery a week ago tomorrow. She did remarkably well. The hardest thing today is keeping her still and to not jump. I'm afraid she is going to pop her sutures.
I got 2 quotes, 1 was $1600. and one was around $900. Well since I didn't like the breeder recommended vet (1600) I used a new vet that many people/friends use. I can't tell you what a wonderful experience I had. And the end cost was $832.00
They recommended walking as well once tyhe sutures are removed. A little bit at a time. But she already wants to go go go. And she has hip dysplasia on the other leg.
To answer an additional question, I realized something wasn't quite right with her leg on July 12 while on vacation. We got home on the 15th and that afternoon took her for x-rays. waited 2 weeks for the radiologist to read the films to confirm Legg-Perthes and then scheduled the surgery. By that point she already had NO muscle left in her leg. That went away fast. She had just turned 8 mos old when she first showed symptoms.
Good Luck.

Thank you. I'm glad that she is doing well. I hope Levi does as well.

[JeanieK]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

I just hope whoever bred him got his parents altered.

The breeder has been notified and her vet confirmed the condition.

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by JeanieK

The breeder has been notified and her vet confirmed the condition.

Well, hopefully she will do the right thing. How old is this pup?

[JeanieK]

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

Wow, that's quite a difference in prices, so glad you can get this done for the little guy and wish you luck with the surgery.

Yes I was surprised at the difference, but I see others have had it done for under $1000.

The more expensive one is actually the one that my vet referred me to. They just quoted me a flat fee of $1500.

The other one, the surgeon actually came on the phone and explained everything to me and priced everything individually. The pre op exam, the blood work, the anestetic, the pain meds and of course the cost of the surgery itself which was $430. He said they won't charge me for the overnight stay since he is so little

He said he has been doing this for 29 years. I felt more comfortable going with him.

[JeanieK]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

Well, hopefully she will do the right thing. How old is this pup?

He is 14 months.