Legg Calve Perthes Disease
 

Hello Yorkie Lovers--I am new to this site so please bear with me. I have an adorable 8 month old male Yorkie who has recently been diagnosed with this disease. He is scheduled for surgery on April 21st--our general vet who we have the utmost confidence in is performing the procedure. For those of you familiar with this disability--is an Orthopedic specialist necessary. We want the best for our little boy but don't know if a specialist is necessary. Also, what is the post surgical course of recovery--is the outcome of the surgery a positive one?? thanks for your help. We are heart saddened to have to put him through this--

I have just looked this up on google and seems a complex opp therefore in my opinion an orthopedic specialist may be the best.
However having confidence in a vet helps you I would ask if he has performed the opp before, and make a decision from his answer.
My dog needed an orthopedic specialist to perform his knee opps and my vet at the time sent me to his recommended orthopedic specialist we ended up staying with his as he was an excellent vet.
Good luck.

Legg Calve Perthes
 

Thank you for your advice!! It is a difficult decision to make. Our vet offered her Ortho. specialist if we wanted to make an appointment with him but said she had done several of these procedures on Yorkies in the past several months. So I don't know...our vet is also a personal friend our ours so I feel that if she could not handle the operation she would let us know--I wish the 21st was behind us already!

If you're vet has performed the procedure I would say she is a "specialist" and would feel comfortable in letting her perform the surgery. Good luck and prayers for a speedy recovery!

Thank you for your words of comfort. Hopefully I will be reporting back that Cody did just fine on the 21st of April!

I agree, will be thinking of you on the 21st I am sure it will go well these little fellows are very hardy. Good luck :animal36

Legg Calves Perthes Disease
 

Our Gabe, at age nine months, was operated on 2/15/06 for this same problem. One day he was fine, the next he had a slight limp when getting up from resting. He was diagnosed through X-rays by our regular vets and we took him to an orthopedic specialist we had used for a previous Yorkie. (Our regular vets do not do this kind of surgery.) Gabe stayed overnight at the surgical center following the procedure and came home the following afternoon. He is now, a little over six weeks later, using the leg the great majority of the time with the exception of when he is running full tilt. At those times he still holds it up. Sometimes when he is eating he does not put his full weight on it, instead he does a "toe touch." After the surgery we gave him pain medication for 3 days and since then he has not needed it. It took almost two weeks for him really to begin to use the leg at all. The stitches came out in ten days and at that point the surgeon encouraged him to become as active as possible. He also made the statement that in six months you would never know it happened.

I know exactly how you feel about dreading the surgical date but after that he is on the road to recovery. If you want more information you can pm me and I will be happy to answer any other questions you might have.

It is also important that you notify the breeder so that the source of the problem can be discovered and not used for breeding purposes in the future. My breeder claimed that this was the first incident she had encountered and assured me she would thoroughly investigate the problem.

Good luck and keep me informed on how things go.

Legg Calve Perthes Disease
 

Legg Calves Perthes Disease
 

Three years ago I paid $1000 for this surgery performed by the orthopedic surgeon. This was all inclusive.

Legg Calve Perthes
 

Wow..I have not been on this site in a few years. Yes, my Cody had the operation a couple of years ago--he was 3 years old in July. He is fine...really great although he sometimes resorts to running 3 legged when he gets tired but it has not really kept him down. His recovery was pretty easy--pain meds for a few days and limited activity. We got a second Yorkie (Duncan) 2 months after Cody's surgery and I think playing with him was his therapy. cody was 9 months old when he had his surgery as well. I think it cost us about 1200.00 for the surgery--It is very scary but your Mocha will be fine--Good Luck and let me know how you make out..

Hello...
How is Gabe doing?? And I am sorry I forget your other Yorkie's name!!