Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / May 2008

I had a dog with a Femoral Head operation, and the dog did not use that leg
for 3 months.  She is now 16, and running all over the Rocky Mountains
(Gila Range) with her owner just like a puppy.  She is much sounder than
her deceased and dysplastic brothers and sister were at 9. I think you
should give the dog time. When he's ready, he'll use it.

Do you have access to any rivers/lakes etc in your area?

Dale

"Derek Lawler" <dereksl2@bellsouth.net> wrote in message:

Check around to see if there are any veterinary rehab centers around you.
Also, places that work with rehabbing injured horses often have pools for
their use, and may allow you to use it (or so I'm told).

Suja

You don't say when the surgery was performed, but assuming he had a
femoral head ostectomy (FHO), then the best thing you could do for him
is get him exercising vigorously and using that leg. This is not a
surgery where you should rest the leg and take it easy on the joint. The
success of this surgery depends on a "false joint" forming between the
pelvis and the partially amputated femur and there's nothing better to
make that happen than exercise. If you have hills in your area then
slowly walking up then down repeatedly will force him to use the joint.
You may just need to start with walking extremely slowly to force him to
place weight on the affected leg for balance. This may be excruciatingly
slow for you, but the faster he goes the easier it is for him to use the
3 good legs. Massaging the muscle won't help much, but moving the hip
joint through it's entire range of motion should start breaking down
some scarring and helping to form the false joint. Depending on the when
the surgery was done, he may be very painful, so he may need to be
muzzled for his physical therapy. If there are any veterinary physical
therapists in your area, I'd strongly recommend you take him, at least
to get a list of exercises to work on. Could he benefit from a course of
antiinflammatory medications to help reduce the pain so that the
exercising can be completed?

Good luck,

Sandy, DVM