hip dysplasia and patella luxation

[Health and Medical Issues (for our pets)]

Hi. I am new to Doodle Kisses and I hope to connect with some doodle families that have experience with a serious issue we are having. We have an 11 month old goldendoodle Tio. Unfortunately, Tio has been diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia and patella luxation. He needs a total hip replacement and knee surgery to put his knee cap back in place. I have talked to many people about options for Tio. I know that hip replacement surgery usually has good results. But since the vet will be doing two procedures at the same time, his recovery will be more complicated. Has anyone had experience with either of these surgeries--or both together? Any information you can give me on what to expect would be very helpful. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

So sorry to hear about Tio. We have some members whose dogs have had hip surgery but I'm not sure about total replacement or knees. Welcome to DK.

[Brittney & Cally]

I'm so sorry to hear this. Did you get him from a breeder? If you signed a contract the breeder should help with the cost (depending on the contract)! I hope the recovery goes smoothly!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I'm confused. Your bio on your page says you got him at a pet store.  Will they be working with your issues?  

So sad your poor dog is in this much pain.  

I hope you find support here on DK. Yes, a few members have experienced similar issues.  

[Glyn Robinson]

When my dog Scarlett was a pup there were concerns about her hip. Today she is fine. She nedded no surgery. A second opinion is always a must.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

That sounds like two invasive surgeries at the same time. I don't have any experience with these but Boris had double surgery on his shoulders last Christmas.  The three months following were very trying where we turned our living room into a large crate and carried him outside when he needed to potty and onto our bed at night. There was a lot of rehab (hydrotherapy) you can see the video on my page. All in all it was stressfull and exhausting BUT the result is we now have a pain free happy Boris and those months are becoming a big blur. Good luck to you with Tio and let's hope that all goes well for him. Fingers crossed X

[Stella]

For the first few weeks, he will have to be crated or kept in an x-pen to keep him quiet. So, as long as he is used to that it shouldn't be a problem if you have to go to work. You might need to be home for the first few days to make sure he isn't chewing at his incisions, maybe he'll need to wear a cone, and sometimes they are on four hourly meds to start with. Another, more costly, option is to kennel him at the vets during the day when you are at work, that way there will be someone there to keep an eye on him. After surgery the vet will give you simple exercises to do with him, and you could see a canine rehab therapist to help you with those and for progressing them.
My friends six month old border collie puppy had both shoulders operated on for OCD, and eight weeks later you wouldn't know he had anything done. Every dog is different, if you have family willing to support you, that is great!

[Julie Kudron]

That's my biggest fear with Maxwell. I don't have experience with it myself, but I know people who have used essential oils to help keep their dogs calm after surgery. "Peace and Calming" oil seems to work pretty well and helping your dog "chill out" I'm a distributer of YL oils, if you are interested, you can PM me.
My daughter uses the P&C on her nervous chihuahua. It really helps her with her nervousness.
For recovery, is there an area you can bring him to swim? Physical therapy in water is a wonderful, gentle way to help him recover.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

There are two members here that come to mind when talking about hips and knees.  The first would be Penny, Comisky and Beemer.  Beemer had to have both hips replaced at around one year of age.  He, last I heard, was doing great.  They did his one at a time so they had a very long process time wise.  The other member would be Guinness, Rosco and Honey.  Honey was a 10 month old puppy that had two bad knees.  She was in Seattle and her parents were considering euthanasia for her.   The DRC (Doodle Rescue Collective, which many of us are members of) took her into the rescue.  They flew her here to me in Ohio for her surgery.  As it turned out she needed more extensive surgery that what we were originally told.   Guinness and Rosco's Dad drove from Savannah GA to Ohio to pick her up.  He then drove her to Texas to the surgeon who had agreed to do the surgery.  She had double knee surgery, both done at the same time.  He fell in love with her on the 2 day drive and two weeks later when she had recovered enough to go home, he drove from Savannah back to Texas to pick her up and take her home.  She is now the most wonderful, full of life, sweet girl you have ever seen.

I personally have been through a CCL repair surgery on our Lucy.  This is a 3 month recovery process.  I will tell you that it was much easier than I thought it was going to be.  Your hurdles are #1, the cost.  #2, if you have to work, you need someone to help you.  You haven't talked about the cost, so I'm guessing you are prepared to deal with that.  As far as someone to help, it sounds like your ex-MIL is willing to help.  We had a 4x4 Ex-pen that we put in our living room.  That is where Lucy spent the first 6 weeks.  She was allowed outside to potty, on leash, but that was it.  She actually handled it very well.  Mind you she wasn't 1, she was 3, but she still did well.  For the first week or so they are on some pretty good pain meds so they just sleep a lot.  The rest of the time we had her pen located in the house where she was with us so she was fine.  If we were just watching TV, I would get her out of her pen and sit her on the floor with me.  After the first 6 weeks she was allowed to be free in the house, but had to be on leash when outside to potty.  We were also able to start taking her on walks.  10 mins a couple times a day to start and then increase by 5 mins each week.  It took close to a year before she got all the muscle tone and everything built back up, but after the first couple weeks it was really not an issue.  She was able to get herself out the door (2 steps) from the time she came home from the vet with just minimal assistance from us.  She was sort of "toe tapping" the bad knee and using the other 3 legs to get around.  I honestly think with a little dedication you can get through this.  Call on trusted friends and family to help you.  Use your vacation time for the first few days.  

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.  I'm happy to provide whatever guidance I can.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Danielle, My fear would be that no one would love my dog like I do, so giving him up would be out of the question.  Why would a stranger want a dog who needs expensive surgery? If I felt I had to give him to a rescue, I would feel obligated to pay for the surgery anyway, so . . .    Our Springer has torn both CCLs (ACL in humans) and had expensive surgery and recuperation complicated by allergies to medications.  It was hard to work out, but we did it. We used some of our savings and took out a pet credit card that gave us a little more time to pay off the surgeries.  We took some of vacation time for when he first came home, then took turns coming home at lunch or early from work.  It sounds like you have someone who is willing to 'babysit' Tio during the work day, so you might not have to do the lunch time run.