Baileys Hip Replacement Journey

jjmcclure

Hi All,

For a history on where I bought Bailey and the saga up to now just look at my posts in this forum or search irishlabradors.net on boards.ie

Anyway we are taking him to Cork on Friday for an assessment with Shane Guerin. He has been seen by another Veterinary Surgeon but they are not registered with petinsure.ie (Paul Kelly in Ratoath who has been brilliant!). Paul determined that he is likely to be a candidate for a hip replacement but he may only be candidate for a FHO (google it). But hopefully he can have a new hip!

I will keep this thread updated with Baileys progress so anyone with a dog suffering from Hip Dysplasia can know what to expect from surgery.

Baileys Xrays are attached so you can compare to your own dogs.

tk123

OMG! :eek: I just replied to your other thread. Good luck on Friday. It'll be worth the wait when you see him - you'll know what I mean on fri lol!

jjmcclure

Just so we know who we are talking about - Here's B helping out at the local kennels!

Sadderday

jjmcclure, wishing you the best with Bailey.

Just hoping anyone that is considering buying a lab pup soon will think twice before contacting irishlabs.net. Advertising for a new litter on April 20th... be careful, there have been a few similar stories on boards.ie concerning the same breeder.

andreac

Wow, those hips are bad!! Will he need both done?

jjmcclure

andreac wrote: »

Wow, those hips are bad!! Will he need both done?

Hard to know just now. However when SG saw the x-rays he said he had seen worse.

Paul Kelly thought they were so bad they may be good from a pain point of view. Almost like he had an FHO done. He does not seem to be in a lot of pain 95% of the time. But occasionally you will be lame and standing in funny positions.

Hoping 1 will be enough.

andreac

God thats crazy, dont think ive ever seen hips like that. Poor doggy. Hope you get sorted. Are you insured?

jjmcclure

andreac wrote: »

God thats crazy, dont think ive ever seen hips like that. Poor doggy. Hope you get sorted. Are you insured?

Yes. We have insurance.

Sadderday

although insurance can't buy Bailey back the puppy years... Poor pup.

RubyGirl

Prob a stupid question but what brought it to your attention that he was having problems with his hips. Best of luck Friday.

jjmcclure

RubyGirl wrote: »

Prob a stupid question but what brought it to your attention that he was having problems with his hips. Best of luck Friday.

The way he ran, and the funny way he would spread out on the floor, like a spatchcock chicken! Noticed when he was about 4 to 5 months.

ButtersSuki

Best of luck!

2smokinbarrels

My one was limping lame every other day booked him in for the x-ray him was in taters only getting worse as he grew..

Sadderday

2smokinbarrels wrote: »

My one was limping lame every other day booked him in for the x-ray him was in taters only getting worse as he grew..

Same breeder as Bailey? noticed you last thread

2smokinbarrels

Yup same have a read if you want the details pm if you are thing of buying one.

tazwaz

Best of luck on Friday, shane is one of the best vets you can go to. I've been there with my dog for the same reasons unfortunately, but shane soon had him sorted :-)

jjmcclure

tazwaz wrote: »

Best of luck on Friday, shane is one of the best vets you can go to. I've been there with my dog for the same reasons unfortunately, but shane soon had him sorted :-)

Thanks. Will post an update tomorrow night.

tk123

Good luck! We've had a few sleepless nights and early mornings going down to Gilabbey (from Dublin) so know what it's like with the worry etc! At least you'll have a plan after the visit tomorrow and it won't all be so uncertain and feel like you're just waiting for him to get worse? Tomorrow you make the first step in his recovery....and not to forget McDonalds to look forward to afterwards lol!

jjmcclure

Sitting in the bull mccabes on the airport road, Bailey having his X-rays done right now. Shane was super, said after the initial exam that he has seen a lot worse and would not operate for at least 3 months. He believe it can be managed by diet and medication. So he is going to do all the X-rays and then I meet him at 1.30 to see what to do next. Very impressed, he could have gouged me for 3,500 but says surgery is the last resort. Seems like a real gent and Bailey took to him straight away.

Update when I get home tonight!

jjmcclure

Well the news is quite good! Shane concluded that although his hip dysplaysia is quite severe his pain is likely to be fairly mild.

So we are going for conservative therapy first, daily medication, new food with glucosamine and chondroitin in it, possibly some cartrophen injections.

He also needs to drop about 4kg (Bailey not Shane).

With this plan Shane reckons he will be like a different dog in about 4 weeks. However we will reassess in about 3 months to see how he is progressing.

I can't recommend Shane Guerin highly enough, fantastic way with the dog and me. Very professional and explained everything very clearly. Also he could have easily gouged 3 to 7 k out of me/the insurer but he did what was best for the dog. A real gent. Oh and a free 12kg bag of Hills prescription diet jd food!!

So, I will keep this post updated on Baileys progress about once a week or more if necessary.

By the way the poor pup is fecked from the anaesthetic, looks like someone took his batteries out!!

tk123

+1 I found him fantastic. My dog was very afraid so he gave him some sedation so as not to stress him out with muzzles etc - he didn't want him having a bad experience especially if he was going to be going back for surgeries... He gave him the injection and we had to walk him around for about 10 mins until it kicked in - the poor dog lol - we knew it was time when his legs went out of time with each other

Anyhoos that's great news that you can treat it conservatively and see how you get on. Are you doing hydro with him at all? I've been doing it with my guy since operation #1 and it really helped with recovery so we go once a week for maintenance. He doesn't need any pain meds but I do give him glucosamine/joint supplements and he manages fine. I found a huge improvement after I started splitting up his daily dose into 3 smaller doses.

I give him :
Flexicose in the morning with breakfast
Joint Treat at lunchtime - he used to get a dental treat and gets this one instead
Luposan Pellets with his dindins

It's a bit of a cocktail and we could probably get by with just 1 type but it all works well together so I don't want to change it lol! :P Shane was amazed when he heard he wasn't on metacam etc

LauraK85

I've been following Baileys story! Just want to wish you the best of luck with him. He's a beautiful dog.

I had a dog years ago who had similar problems. It's amazing the advances that have been made. My poor boy wasn't as lucky as Bailey is.

Sadderday

This is a sad read. I know you and your family became attached to Bailey and wanted to give him the best care but you must be angry that you bought a pup in the first place with such a condition?

I went to view a pup by this breeder on the 1st saturday that the litter were ready to go, strange thing is that the litter were nowhere to be seen and only the pups we were purchasing were available to be seen.

It became evident that there was something a miss here; I wonder if the rest of the litter that Bailey came from were ok or suffered the same

anniehoo

Sadderday i've already advised you by PM to be careful what direction you take this thread. I agreed to let you link to the previous thread which is here

That's all i am allowing, so please don't try to derail the OPs thread with your own agenda from now on. Thanks.

Sadderday

anniehoo wrote: »

Sadderday i've already advised you by PM to be careful what direction you take this thread. I agreed to let you link to the previous thread which is here

That's all i am allowing, so please don't try to derail the OPs thread with your own agenda from now on. Thanks.

Sorry, I'll say no more!!