Hi everyone, i had a horrible day yesterday after taking my french mastiff of 12 months into the vets for his cherry eye operation and x-rays on his back legs.

the eye operation went great and we had the x-ray results back and to our horror, my poor boy has very servere Hip Displasia, his x-rays looks asif he has been in a road accident, the vet suggested to us to put him to sleep unless we can afford the operation.

i contacted my insurance we have for him and they will cover us up to £2000 a year, we understand it is a very exspensive operation but we have the money for this so want to but i really want some advice of anyone that has had this done to their dog.

running through our head is do we put him all through this as we cant bare to lose him and it may not work for him or may be brilliant, or do we let him go which at the moment im thinking if i have the money why not try, but this is a living animal here and i want whats best for him not me.

please please any advice, stories, or suggestions would be great, so heartbroken to see what my moy is walking around with in so much pain.

but to let you all know even though he is in pain he generally is himself, still wants to play. jump and chew everything he shouldnt.

his so young and would hate for such a loving, perfect in everyway dog to have such a short life.

thank you

x

I am very sorry to hear about your dog and fully sympathise with you. I was in exactly the same situation last October, when I took Oscar (giant breed, Sarplaninac) to the vet, as he had developed a severe limp. The result was that he too had chronic hip dysplasia. He was 10 months old at the time. The vet told that he would be in great pain the remainder of his life and would soon develop extremely painful spurs, e.g. if he were not operated on. The condition could not have been cured by any form of therapy, as it was a structural problem and would get progessively worse and cause many other painful problems.

As Oscar was so young, the vet informed us that his chances of recovery were very good. The operation took place last December (pin and captive socket). The initial recovery period lasted for two months, during which time he was allowed minimal amount of lead walks. After that he still had a further two months of limited exercise.

Today he is a happy, healthy and very active dog with no sign of a disability or restriction to his life. If money is no object to you and you also have time for intensive care, especially during the initial recovery period, then we heartily recommend the surgery.

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Gentle as the Lamb. Ruthless like the Wolf.

thank you so much for you advice and story so glad to hear your dog came through fine, you have honestly taken some weight of my shoulders of relife that it can be done. thank you so so much

x

I once met a working Labrador that had had a hip replaced, it used to work a full day

The first thing I would do is ask to be referred to an orthopedic specialist vet. They have much more experience than your GP vet and will be able to give you a more accurate prognosis.

It's such a difficult one - money not being the object - because you need to weigh up what he will go through. I know of dog that have had operations and been fine. I also know of several that are on their third operation because previous ones have failed. Personally, for me, there comes a point at which enough is enough and I couldn't keep putting a dog through such operations just to keep him alive, however much I loved him - especially considering it's not just the actual operation, but the recovery time too. On the other hand, there are many successful operations where the dog has gone on to live a happy, healthy, relatively pain free life. A difficult decision, but do take expert advice rather than just going on what your GP vet says.

Have sent you a PM