The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

I have a 9 year old cocker who has severe bilateral hip dysplasia. She is rescue from a puppy mill who has alot of health issues. We have done medical therapy along with laser treatments. She has an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon at our Vet School for a consult regarding hip replacements. The x-rays indicate a great need for this and we have been waiting for them to start doing them on medium sized dogs for awhile. Has anyone had any experience with this surgery?

I have not had it done personally. On a cocker, I wouldn't do the replacement. They do quite well with a femoral head ostectomy.

That may be what the referral is for.............can you please tell me what you know about this procedure ?

I doubt it, if they are referring you to a surgeon at a teaching hospital they are likely talking about replacement.

Regarding the FHO it's quite a simple procedure. The remove the femoral head from the femur and the scar tissue forms a false hip joint. Dogs under 40 pounds do very very well with this surgery