Introduction & baby boy P-Nut diagnosed with Legg-Calve-Perthes
 

Hi, everyone, I've been a "lurker" here for quite a while and have found so much helpful info here at YT, thank you all!! Our little 11 month old boy had a diagnosis of bilateral Legg-Calve-Perthes confirmed by 2 specialists on Friday. While he walks and runs on all 4s, there's been a significant decline in his activity level over the past month or so and any playing is followed by lots of sleeping. He's very stiff at night and walks, sits and lays down strangely. No longer can jump up on the couch and we carry him up and down any stairs we encounter (none in the house, fortunately). Poor guy! He is going to have two surgeries (femoral head ostectomies [FHO]) - the vet doesn't believe in doing both legs at once.

Right leg is first, surgery is Thursday 8/2. This is my first dog, I've always been a cat person and, although the pup was originally my significant other's, he's now our baby. I've totally fallen in love with him and yorkies in general - they're amazing little dogs. And I feel so badly for P-Nut (or "the Nut" as he's called). He also has a disk issue due to the LCP, but that doesn't seem to be giving him many problems. I'd love to hear about anyone's experience on the recovery period post FHO surgery, especially since we have to do the whole thing twice :(. Thanks in advance!
-Sherry/P-Nut Mom

I don't know a whole lot about this, but wanted to wish you and The Nut well on his surgeries:love: There are a few LCP babies here who have done very well after their surgeries, so that's good:)

If you have time during your baby's recovery, please do share your experiences with his surgery and recovery. I'm sure that it would be extremely helpful to anyone else out there whose dog may be going through this too:)

Welcome to YT!

OH, and make sure to let his breeder know about this, as it is genetic and they really should be taking some responsibility for his condition.

Thank you for your kind thoughts and it's good to hear there have been positive outcomes from this surgery! I'll definitely share about our experiences as we go through the process of getting our boy better!

Hi and Welcome to YT!

So sorry your baby is going through this. I have also heard very good things about recovery from these surgeries.... keeping your little one in my prayers...

Thank you, appreciate it!

Keeping your precious baby in my thoughts and prayers!!!! I hope the surgery is very successful!!!!

Also keeping your baby in my thoughts and prayers. Hope all goes well.

The cause of LCP is unknown but the breeder definitely should be notified and should honor any health guarantee in a pup this young.

OP - you may wish to PM member LadyJane. She's had a number of pups who have had this surgery, including her own dog Adina recently. Adina is older and did great!

Thanks much for the info about LadyJane! And, we will notify the breeder, but they're not going to do anything, there was no health guarantee, etc. My significant other answered the ad in the paper, met the breeder, met yorkie mom and dad, fell in love with 8 wk old P-Nut and purchased the pup for cheap. Against his better judgment. I didn't have anything to do with it. I would have insisted on all kinds of research on breeders, a health guarantee, etc. etc. Everything seemed great until about a month and a half ago. I will say that in all likelihood we'll rescue our next one. The $300 yorkie will be a $4k+ yorkie by the time we're done.

In the past, we had purchased two yorkies from "trusted sources" for my BF's daughter, they were wonderful and the trusted sources were family members who used to be breeders. We were going to get our own from them, then they stopped breeding yorkies and got into breeding show pigs!

I'm sorry you did not have a breeder you could go back to with this concern. Don't be so down on yourself about the purchase - we all make mistakes. I bought two puppy mill pups 12 years ago from a petstore, and when I bought my third dog, I went to a breeder who I thought was doing things right, only to end up with a special needs pup anyway. One of his issues happens to be LCP, but unlike your pup, he was diagnosed later and surgery is not recommended unless and until he exhibits clinical signs. P-nut may be your million dollar dog, but he sounds like he is worth every penny. Smart little pup picked the right family for sure!! He's no fool!

Thanks, 107barney! He is definitely worth every penny. I think there's a reason we end up with "special needs" doggies. I'm not down on myself or anyone, I think the best thing is to be solution-oriented: we have a wonderful little guy, he's got such a sweet personality, plus SO bright - we'll move forward and solve the issue and he can hopefully lead a happy life. It's SCARY, though. Hope your LCP baby continues to do well!

Unfortunately, you do not have a vet that will do both hips at the same time?.....there are a few out there that do, and with dogs weighing less than 50-60 lbs, it is a good choice...I had contacted and gotten opinions from 7 different vets , Chiefs in Orthopedic surgery from 7 different vet schools...even a vet that does certifications for OFA....they all assured me that rather than let that unoperated hip continue to waste away (atrophy), and rather than take the risk of anesthesia twice, a vet that has done multiple FHO surgeries, can easily do both hips at the same time....these 7 experts I spoke with had no $$$$ motivation for recommending doing both hips at the same time versus one at a time, and they all said there was no "right way or wrong way" to the answer, it was the attending vets preference only that actually dictates how it is done...Thank God my vet (orthopedic specialist) does this surgery, both hips at the same time, and the dog is on the way to recovery 6 weeks faster than if you do one hip and then re-traumatize the dog for the second hip.

welcome to YT...wishing your P-Nut much success with his upcoming surgeries. poor lil guy I will keep him in my prayers.

I don't know who your specialist is in this area. I use Dr. Beale and Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists and he said he can do both hips at the same time; but when I asked him about whether that is a great idea he did admit it is better to do them one at a time. It is cheaper to do both at once but not ideal. I opted to do one on my pup, Adina, because I did not want her traumatized. He did the worst hip first.....and we are now going to wait and see if the other hip becomes painful before deciding whether to proceed with surgery on it.

He said that with knee surgery they often do both at the same time because it forces the pups to use them which makes sense. But, that same theory does not apply to the hips.

Oh, and as for traumatizing a pup, I have to say that FHO recoveries I have seen have been uneventful. My Adina was walking on it the first day and running within a week! I have had a few pups limp for a time after....they can limp for up to one year after the surgery. Some of them simply limp out of habit especially if they were limping previously.

Thank you, LadyJane, I was starting to get worried about the 2 hips vs. 1 hip at a time concept. We would never want to cause P-Nut unnecessary trauma. My vet has consulted with 2 specialists and the treatment plan we developed is surgery on the worst hip first, then the next. He feels it is not ideal for the dog to do both at once, he won't do it. He's done numerous FHOs, has been in practice for a long time (30+ years) and has a great reputation, so I'm going to trust him on this. The total price for both surgeries will be close to the same as if we were doing both hips at once - this vet is not $ motivated, he would have let us make payments if necessary. There are few ortho specialists around here and the only vet school I can think of is UC Davis, a couple of hours away on a good traffic day.

We've thought long and hard about this and am pretty confident we're doing the right thing for little P-Nut and I appreciate everyone's input and good wishes, thanks for being so welcoming! :)

:thumbup::thumbup: You were a huge support system for me when I was going through this with my Mylee as we did develop some very rare complications. It was so nice to have someone who had been trough it and to say "it'll be ok and to give it time" when I wasn't seeing the results I thought I should see fast enough. It took a long time due to the complications (which I will say are very very rare and our situation was unique). But today, you'd never know. She runs and plays, jumps, and spins to make you dizzy. :) OP-good luck with your pup and you are in the right place for knowledge and support.

That's awesome that Mylee is doing so well. :)

Thank you, LadyJane, I was starting to get worried about the 2 hips vs. 1 hip at a time concept. We would never want to cause P-Nut unnecessary trauma. My vet has consulted with 2 specialists and the treatment plan we developed is surgery on the worst hip first, then the next. He feels it is not ideal for the dog to do both at once, he won't do it. He's done numerous FHOs, has been in practice for a long time (30+ years) and has a great reputation, so I'm going to trust him on this. The total price for both surgeries will be close to the same as if we were doing both hips at once - this vet is not $ motivated, he would have let us make payments if necessary. There are few ortho specialists around here and the only vet school I can think of is UC Davis, a couple of hours away on a good traffic day.

We've thought long and hard about this and am pretty confident we're doing the right thing for little P-Nut and I appreciate everyone's input and good wishes, thanks for being so welcoming! :)

I was thrilled with the results I had with the pup, Dr.Roger Terrel, did. He has been doing Orthopedic surgeries for around 25 years and this particular pup was in quite a bit of pain...he did not see the advantage in allowing the muscle in the un operated hip, to atrophy and the pup to remain in that amount of pain...his professional opinion was that doing both hips at the same time would provide the best immediate outcome for this pup. His professional opinion was right on! The procedure took approximately 1.5 hours. There were no complications from the surgery/anesthesia, either pre, intra, or post operatively, and recovery was rapid. As all the teaching vets I surveyed explained to me, both hips can be done at the same time...it is not a question of what is right or what is wrong, it is dependent on the attending vets preference! Some will do both hips and some want to do them one at a time....it is a case by case decision, made by the vet doing the surgery....in this instance, with this pup, the vet decided it was more beneficial for the pup to do both hips at the same time. The surgery was done, the pup was never crated, she was up and walking on her own, gingerly, within 36-48 hours, gentle ROM exercises were started at 1 week, rehab was started at 2 weeks and now, not quite 4 months later, she is easily 85-90% "normal". She is still doing slope exercises and swimming exercises, and she is expected to reach 95% or better "normal" movement by 5 months. The owners of the pup have been thrilled with the outcome of the surgery and are thankful both hips were done and there was no having to going back to have the other side done! Of course, the pup was not in pain, which can be excruciating....the operative pain resolved quickly, and all progressed well.

I know of him. He is not board certified...just not what I choose for orthopedic surgeries. Not saying he is a bad vet....just not what I would consider an ortho specialist.

I know of Dr.Beale. He is excellent, as are all of the vets at that facility...I am thrilled they are so close to me, as I have used their services on several occasions when I felt that level of care was mandated. While Dr. Terrel is not board certified, he specializes in orthopedics and he has been doing successful orthopedic surgeries more than long enough to know what he is doing. If I was concerned there was something going on beyond his scope of practice, I would certainly be on my way to GCVS, or even A&M. The vets at my clinic are quick to refer to GCVS when they recognize the need to do so. Dr.Terrel is very familiar with FHO surgery, has done many of them over his 25+ years, and had no concerns about doing surgery on this pup.

I'm with LJ on this one. No way would a vet do any ortho surgery on any of my dogs without being a diplomat of the ACVS.

Good luck with P-Nut...I am sure you and your vet will get through this together! Bottom line is, the surgery is very successful and the rehab time, while it varies from case to case, is cricial to regaining as much range of motion as possible! I am sure your baby will be fine!

Thanks so much, Yorkiemom1, appreciate the support. Also, thanks for the info, it's good to hear that the surgery is very successful and I'll be following the rehab regimen to a t!

I know there are many vets in our area who do FHO surgery. To each his own, but I would never let a general vet do orthopedic surgery on any of my own pups or my fosters. Maybe it's cheaper, but cheaper is not always better. IF there is a complication, a boarded vet is much better to have in there in my opinion.

A vet school is not always the very best option. There are many, many excellent specialists who are not inteaching hospitals.

The only time I go to a teaching hospital is for cases that are very involved and/or I don't know of a specialist I am comfortable with for the particular issue I am dealing with.

I am glad that you have found a specialist that you are comfortable with! I am quite sure your little P-Nut will do very well.

I hope you stay here on YT and keep us apprised of his surgeries.

I'll definitely let you know how it goes. Seems like a teaching hosp could have a lot of drawbacks, we hadn't considered it for this case. But then again, I'm used to dealing with cats, not dogs, so all input is appreciated! I'll definitely stick around YT, I've learned a lot so far, during my months of observing YT conversations.