My dog had FHO. Can he lay on his surgery hip during recovery?

According to the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (www.acvsorg), results after FHO vary and are highly dependent upon patient size and proper postoperative physical rehabilitation. While many dogs will have varying degrees of lameness, function should improve when compared with preoperative status. After FHO, pets are encouraged to use the limb as soon as possible in a controlled manner. Aggressive physical rehabilitation and controlled exercise to increase hip range of motion are essential for an optimal outcome. It may take up to six weeks or longer after surgery for some dogs to show improvement.

Yes it will heal if you keep the area clean. Gradually over a week or so the skin edges will get closer together and finally heal over. The popping noise may be the movement in the hip area since there hasn’t been time yet for a false joint to form. Over time the hip area will form scar tissue to support the femur in the hip area. If you’re concerned I certainly would take her back for a recheck to make sure there isn’t a problem with she surgical implants. Once the pelvis is healed and you are able to increase her exercise I recommend an evaluation and treatment program with a Rehabilitation veterinarian to get her leg back to as normal as possible. They will give you exercises and may recommend hydrotherapy to strengthen her leg muscles. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Sadie.

Yes, it’s fine to lay on the stitches. Some dogs like to lay with the injured area down. Make sure Chaos doesn’t like the incision so it will heal quickly. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Chaos.

Poor guy. Popping can indicate that the bones are not aligned well and essentially hitting one another. A dog being lazy would not have anything to do with an abnormal gait or a popping noise. The best piece of advice here would be to do post-op x-rays to check out the hips again and make sure things are aligning well. If things are looking ok on x-ray, then it really is a mystery as to why there is a popping sound. A referral to an orthopedic specialist would be recommended if you want to look further into this. IT is good that Nikko doesn't seem painful however, so benign neglect is also an option here. I hope that you get to the bottom of this strange post-surgery issue that Nikko is having. Best of luck and take care.

Its hard to know without seeing the X-rays... if the hip is fully dislocated, it would be unusual for him to be fully bearing weight and not showing a significant abnormality in his gait. If it is "sub-luxated," meaning the head of the femur--the "ball" part of the ball and socket joint--is not well seated into the acetabulum--the "socket" part of the ball and socket joint. When the acetabulum/"socket" is very shallow, the hip can be "sub-luxated," and these dogs can continue to seem to have a very normal gait/not show any limp or problem until arthritis becomes problematic with age. If it is fully dislocated (fully luxated), a surgery called an FHO (femoral head osteotomy) can be considered even weeks after the initial injury. In this surgery, the "ball" part of the ball and socket joint/the head of the femur, is removed surgically, removing the source of pain. The muscles in the area typically do a great job of compensating and allowing these guys to get around quite well. However, a true REPAIR of a dislocated hip would not be possible if its been weeks or months since the injury. (A true repair of hip dislocation is generally done through a surgery called a toggle pin. ) If a hip dislocation is diagnosed right away, sometimes (about 50% of the time), they can be successfully reduced (put back in place) and we can get them to stay without surgery. Here is some information out may find helpful. https://www.acvs.org/small-animal/hip-luxation Thanks for asking PetCoach!

If the hip is out of place it will not heal unless it goes back in place and often times that can’t happen because the soft tissue structures are damaged and unable to hold it in place. He will lose muscle mass from not using that leg and pain can affect their appetite. There is a procedure called an FHO that removes the pain and a piece of bone to give them range of motion back in their leg and lets them walk on it again

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. This appears to be an old wound that is healing. This could have been secondary to a burn. Sometimes when heating devices / objects are used during surgery, these can cause a blister if left on too long. I would contact the veterinarian who did the surgery and ask him / her if any heating objects were used in this region. It looks as though it is healing well so I would just monitor it for now and if you notice any signs of infection (swelling, redness, pus, pain) I would have the veterinarian assess the area. As for the tail, I would recommend using a topical medication such as Zymox topical ointment to apply to the affected area 2-3 times per day until resolved. If there is no improvement, I would recommend having the tail assessed by the veterinarian so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.