1 1 /2 Month post FHO

[CarolAnn]

Hello

 

Just wondered who might have experienced post FHO problems? We've had our 1 month check up with xrays and our 3 1/2 yr old Carson is only using his leg to chase squirrels- cats- rabbits- and dogs..He has used it to go in the water and to swim a few times. Our vet said everything is fine and we've had one rehab and have been very diligent with several exercises a day at home. Our vet said walk him til he uses it! Well, after a long day of work and 50 mins of walking he still is hopping. Once in a while in our back yd he will chase after his tire toy and use it somewhat but we are getting concerned.

 

Ideas?

 

CarolAnn

[KathyF]

What kind of exercises are you doing with the leg?? Also, are you walking him on leash or off leash. For my husband's dog he would take him for 2-3 walks a day on leash so that he would pull against the leash and therefore be "forced" to use the leg. Also, you should be doing range of motion exercises with the leg.

 

Kathy

[Bordercentrics]

We are fostering a year old girl who is one month out from her FHO surgery. She has her checkup Monday afternoon, so I will write again afterwards. I don't know if the reason for the FHO surgery can make a difference, but Molly suffered a traumatic injury that shattered the growth plate in her left hip when she was very small, based on the amount of scarring over found during surgery. She has spent her whole life compensating for the injury and adjusting to being in constant pain. The scarred over splinters had "welded" to the socket, and pushed the femoral head out, and it was resting directly against the bone. The vet said she must have been in constant pain. I wonder if some of the post op favoring of the leg at this point is just habit. We had to restrict her activity for the last month, with SHORT on leash walks allowed the last two weeks. The reason for this is so the joint will be more stable. Vigorous activity can result in the joint staying more unstable and less useful in the future. We were not given any exercises, but may get some Monday. It will depend on how she is doing. I asked the vet if we should place her in a home that would like to be active, perhaps doing agility or flyball, or should she be placed in a quieter pet home. He said that only time would tell how much of a recovery she will make. That being said, you are perhaps expecting too much too soon. Molly still holds her leg up a lot. Since this injury goes back to early puppyhood, her muscles in that leg and hip are quite atrophied, and she is out of shape in general compared to our dogs. She uses the leg when she walks, and when she runs. At intermediate speeds she still holds it up. But she is no longer in pain. She has to learn that she can use it. The other thing with Molly is that the leg gets tired after exercise because of its condition, and she will hold it up then. It is decidedly weak. That may be more of an issue for her than the joint itself now. I don't know how much of this relates to Carson's history. At any rate, I will post again Monday evening and tell you what we've learned.

 

One other thing. When we picked Molly up the morning after the surgery, she was using the leg intermittently, though limping. The vet was very impressed and said that most dogs wouldn't even put the leg down for a week after surgery.

 

Kathy Robbins

[sheepandakom]

Kathy-

 

Any information you could share about the FHO recovery would be great. Our rescue group has a foster who is undergoing surgery on Monday. She's only about 18 months. A woman that came to meet dogs to adopt fell in love with her and she'll be able to undergo her recovery as an only pet with her new owner. Does anyone have any experience with swimming post surgery for therapy?

 

Emily

[2 Devils]

I don't have experience with FHO but I do with TPLO (knee surgery). Some of the rehab exercises would be very similar. Not using the leg properly can become habit and you have to force them to use it. 2 years ago we actually had to put a beer cap on my dog's good back leg (pad of foot) to make it uncomfortable and force her to use the surgical one. Some thought it was mean but it worked. We did a lot of giving a slight push onto the surgical leg while standing and making her hold it for a few second. We also did a lot of backup exercises, having her on an exercise ball and making her move it (she did not like it so I had to front legs on me instead and forced her to walk around like that), we held the good leg in the air and forced weight on the surgical leg (we would have to pull her slightly back so she stopped putting too much weight on the shoulders), we did under water treadmill starting 6-8 weeks I think.

 

You definitely want to make sure to do massage and stretches. I know with TPLO that one major problem is hock stiffness and actually losing the flexibility in the hock from lack of use. You should really check on that with FHO and see if it is a concern. Once they lose hock flexibility it is hard to et it back if ever.

 

These are only things we have done for TPLO and may not be correct for FHO so you should check with a rehabber.

 

Good luck

[Bordercentrics]

We've just had Molly's 4 week check up, and the vet thinks she is doing very well. She still carries the leg hiked up about half the time, but in spite of that she has more muscle mass in the bad leg than she did 4 weeks ago, which means that she IS using the leg more than she used to. She has now been cleared for running and leaping with the other dogs. The vet did say that recovery time is VERY lengthy, and that some dogs will always have an odd gait. Some may make a full recovery, but only an extended period of time will tell us that. If there is no improvement in the next two weeks, then we will do some therapy. He says swimming and underwater treadmilling are wonderful if you need it. Since Molly has already had one wonderful play session with Ruby, running all out on four legs, we think that she will rehabilitate herself. The vet said I was right about dogs favoring legs just out of habit, and they gradually learn that they don't have to do that anymore. That is why Carson uses his leg when chasing squirrels - it slips his mind that his leg/hip used to hurt when he is focused on something so exciting! Longer walks on lead will also be good, he said. Many dogs are never completely and absolutely normal in their gait after this surgery, but the important thing is that they are no longer in pain.

 

Kathy Robbins