Tyson has LP any advice welcome

[tysonsmum]

Tyson came in from the garden on Wednesday holding his leg up, at first my OH thought he has something in his paw but couldn't find anything. After that he seemed ok but quiet not his normal happy self. Any way yesterday my OH took him for his walk which he does every day and he held his leg up and limped a couple of times. When I got in from work he didn't come running as normal and seemed very sorry for himself, just wanted to sit in my lap and be cuddled. He went in to his bed while we ate which is unusal as he would normally stay in the kitchen watching us, and he didn't follow me to the bathroom. So I went into stroke him in his bed an he yelped as I stroked his leg so off to the vets we went.

The vet has diagnosed LP in both rear legs he gave him an anti-inflamatory jab and some tablets he thinks its probably about a 3 and he will need two ops the second 3 months after the first.

I know some of you have had chis who have gone through lp surgery so any help advice would be appreciated.

[Sarah]

Omg I'm so sorry has he had an injury? Firstly tell his breeder they should not breed the parents again! Also idk if they used him before u got him (he was up for stud) they should inform the puppy owners (but doubt they will)

Get him in a high dose of glucosamine and chrondroitin and some salmon oil it will help it also make sure he is at his lowest healthy weight and walk on slight inclines to build the muscle

Kisses to Tyson

[tysonsmum]

Thanks Sarah, I will let the breeder know but as you say probably won't do anything, started him on the glucosamine and chrondroitin as soon as i found out, he already gets cod liver oil should I change that to salmon? My OH takes him for a walk of about an hour every day which he loves. It's just so hard to see him feeling sad.

[Sarah]

I'd add in salmon too and alternate

He's obv in pain obviously no jumping or standing on back legs either I feel so bad for him it really upsets me

[tysonsmum]

I'll get some salmon oil tomorrow, I'm not letting him jump and he doesn't want to stand on his back legs at the moment but it's going to be hard stopping him when he feels better.

[Paula]

Aw I'm so sorry to hear that. I've just been through it with my Roo recently and really sympathize. I have a thread on here about her recovery if you want to have a look:

www.heychihuahuas.com/index.cgi?board=chihuahuachat&action=display&thread=29

She had both back legs done (at the same time) and next Wednesday she will be 9 weeks into her recovery.

I know some orthopedic surgeons don't like doing both legs at once, but I was told by 2 well respected orthopedic surgeons that they are able to do it on toy breeds due to their light weight and it makes for one recovery and one time going under anesthesia. It might be something you want to consider.

As already suggested, glucosamine and salmon oil may help. I personally wouldn't worry too much about keeping him still now if you're definitely having the surgery, although it sounds like he doesn't want to move around too much now anyway. Poor little sweetie.

The most important advice I can give you is only let a board certified orthopedic surgeon perform the surgery. Don't let your regular vet do it. Even if they say they are well experienced with it, I personally would only let a board certified orthopedic surgeon do the surgery.

Roo never acted sad with her LP (she was grade 3) and carried on as per usual, very spirited and happy. She could run on 3 legs faster than many dogs do on 4, it was crazy. It must be even harder on you seeing him not being his usual self. On a positive note, he'll do just fine with the surgery and recovery will be fast, probably too fast. LOL. He'll want to run and jump well before you can let him. That's really the hardest part of it all.

Best of luck with everything and keep us posted. Roo sends puppy licks to little Tyson. xx

[tysonsmum]

Thanks Paula, I've read Roo's thread and you've done a great job, would you go with having both legs done at the same time now you know what it is like to deal with the recovery? The idea of doing both at once is appealing at least there is only one op and one recovery period.

I will have to look into surgeons I don't think we have board certified in the UK but there must be something similar. My vet says he does 3 or 4 of this op a year and hes been in practice for over 20 years but I think I would like a second opinion from some one who does them more regularly.

[Paula]

May 27, 2011 21:54:17 GMT tysonsmum said:

Thanks Paula, I've read Roo's thread and you've done a great job, would you go with having both legs done at the same time now you know what it is like to deal with the recovery? The idea of doing both at once is appealing at least there is only one op and one recovery period.

I will have to look into surgeons I don't think we have board certified in the UK but there must be something similar. My vet says he does 3 or 4 of this op a year and hes been in practice for over 20 years but I think I would like a second opinion from some one who does them more regularly.

I agree, I'd look into it more for someone that specializes in orthopedic surgery and does the surgery a lot. It can be the difference between a successful surgery and one that isn't. 3 or 4 a year is not very many at all. I had a vet who does the surgery a lot deepen Roo's groove for her first surgery and it was not enough to keep her leg from luxating. Had I taken her to an orthopedic surgeon straight away, she would have only had 1 surgery instead of 2. A serious regret of mine and I would really hate to see the same thing happen to you.

As far as board certified goes, yes, it's probably different in the UK. I hadn't thought of that. Here it means they have had years of extra training specific to orthopedic surgery and thus greater expertise.

As for if I would do both legs at once again. Absolutely. Her recovery was honestly not bad at all. The crating was by far the worst part. For Roo it was just the first 2-3 days that were difficult walking wise. That was my experience with her, at least, it will vary by dog, of course. She was able to walk from day 1. I have also heard that for young dogs, less than a year old, it's better to do both legs at once since they are still growing and their bones are changing quickly. I'm not sure how old Tyson is, but that might be another consideration.

I should add too that Roo is a very easygoing little girl so some of that will have come into play too. Some dogs are worse with pain and so forth. She never acted too bad honestly, but I'm sure every dog will be different. Hopefully it will be the same for Tyson. Best of luck with your decision. I'm really sorry you and Tyson are having to go through this, but you'll get through it and he'll be all the better for it.