Dog double hip replacement - any experiences?

[Confused09876]

Following a few periods of poor health, I’ve just been advised by a specialist vet (following referral from a local vet) that our 4 year old cockapoo would benefit from double hip replacement surgery.

He said they would do one hip first, let it heal and then do the second. Our dog is insured but we would need to top up her insurance by c£6k to pay for this treatment.

Has anyone had a dog that has gone through this surgery? Would you recommend it? How was your dogs recovery? Has your dog returned to their “normal” levels of activity post the operation?

Im especially worried about the recovery for an operation like this as the vet advised she would need to be kept in a crate for 2 weeks post each operation. She would really hate this, but it might be worth it if it gives her a good quality of life.

Any insights really appreciated. Thank you!

That's a big op. While it's a couple of weeks of crate rest it's then months of restricted exercise and gradually building up the muscle condition again. Have you had her elbows x rayed? I wouldn't want to embark on this route if other joints were dodgy as well as the hips.

I have no personal experience of this but, as a pet owner and volunteer of 50+ years, I would not put a pet of mine through this. Facilitate the best life possible for her, including pain relief, and closely monitor how she is getting on, for however long she seems happy and contented.

Thats a good point, I didn’t think to ask that, I was slightly in shock that they were suggesting such a big operation. I assume they also X-rayed her elbows as well. I will call tomorrow and ask!

Shitting hell. That’s terrible for a dog so young!!

Were her parents health tested? If not, I’d be asking for those checks as well. They’re only a few hundred - thousand. I wouldn’t want to commit to more until I was certain her health was 100% on everything else - elbows, heart, eyes etc. Otherwise you could be looking at a lifetime of expensive operations, and misery for her.

I would also be reaching out to the breeder to let them know, and others who have puppies from the same litter if you’re in touch. Hip dysplasia is almost always genetic (there’s a degree of ‘nurture’ - people who use ball launchers, let their dog get fat etc all can make it worse), so the breeder should absolutely be informed. And they should be horrified.

Your dog won’t ever return to her normal levels of activity - even if she were capable, you’d be an idiot (sorry) to risk future harm. Hip replacements are not a cure. You’d be looking at a very limited life going forward for her.

I wouldn’t put one of my dogs through it, if it happened to me - it’s not a life for an active young dog. But if your dog is otherwise the pinnacle (and I do mean pinnacle, not just ‘she’s okay’) of health and you’re committed to maintain exercise boundaries, not doing things like overfeeding, ball chasing, jumping on or off furniture etc. then it’s up to you.

Our dog has been diagnosed with hip dysplasia too. For the last year he has been on a host of pain meds but recently had an x ray which showed significant decline.
We saw the ortho surgeon last year and will see him again this year. What he told us last year is that often when one hip is done it mitigates the need for the 2nd one to be done so it’s not an automatic assumption that both will need to be done.

We have thought long and hard about the op (and the few other options like a partial hip replacement instead of total). The recovery is arduous but given he is only 8 he stands to make a good recovery and have much improved quality of life.

This is all despite checking his parents hip score prior to getting him.

Just to add, our surgeon said our dog WOULD return to the QOL he used to have or at least very close. The alternative is to have your dog on long term pain meds but even those have consequences for health. It’s a tough decision but I would seek out a referral
and all the options to make an i formed choice. The surgeon we saw last year spent over 1.5 hours going through everything with us, thankfully insurance paid for this as they don’t come cheap!

My 5 year old border collie is 3 months post total hip replacement. The specialist surgeon absolutely said he could return to normal activity levels and even dog sports. The first month was incredibly hard as he was on crate rest the whole time. However, with sedative and lots of mental stimulation (kongs) he coped well. We were then allowed to build up by 5 mins every 10-14 days of lead walks from 15 mins. He is now running round on it and pain free.

Do tell the breeder as this is a huge failing on their part. I know breeders of designer mutts don’t usually care but they really need to do the proper genetic tests. That’s a huge operation dog. Personally I wouldn’t put them through it. I’d manage the pain for as long as you can and then put to sleep. Buy from an ethical breeder next time. The amount of suffering unethical breeding causes is enormous.

@Brucetta I'm quite surprised to hear your dog can do dog sports such as agility (which is my first assumption) after everything!! That's most impressive. My experience is that the working dogs who have it done (Goldens and Cockers are the ones I know best), they never get up to where they should be for their breed - i.e. 45 minutes of exercise, or an hour, but never 2-3 which the 'healthy' version of the breed can take and the vet has always been clear they shouldn't encourage things that might cause implant loosening or fractures. For some dogs that's okay, and it's okay if your dog has nothing else wrong with them...

...but something tells me OP's dog is probably not from (fully) health tested parents. Cockerpoos are notorious for serious health issues given the sort of person who typically breeds them (farmers, backyard breeders, 'family' breeders - those who breed two random dogs with no clue etc).

Other issues might include PRA, glaucoma, cataracts, elbow dysplasia, FN, vWd, MvD etc. With hip dysplasia this bad in a dog so young, unless OP has been completely negligent (and we're talking ball launchers from 8 weeks old every day, to excessive levels, over-feeding etc), it's hard to imagine that the dog is from healthy parents. And it's one thing if it is only the hip dysplasia...but forking out so much money without being sure what other health issues her dog might be pre-disposed to is a huge risk. Not one to be taken lightly. Imagine if OP put her dog through this, then in a few years it develops MvD or PRA...

I know a couple of labs who’ve had it done. One quite recently had the second hip done and is horrifically young (8 months at first op) so not sure yet of outcome longer term
The other had hud done at around 5yrs lived to 12 1/2yrs very happily and did most things bar agility. Still did two walks every day until the end - he died from unrelated causes
This dog also had cruciate surgery which was the harder thing to both recover from and live with long term

To be fair, the lab in question was walked twice a day religiously but probably for an hour at a time. Carried a ball and hunted it rather than thrown. Didn’t rough house by preference anyway but would have been prevented for his own good. That sort of thing

That's interesting. My immediate reaction to the double hip replacement was 'Hell no' and two weeks of crate rest would be nowhere near enough.

My 5 year old spaniel has had surgery for luxating patella, followed by TPLO surgery or a ruptured cruciate ligament. She now has arthritis in the knee joint.
She was on crate rest for 11 weeks following the cruciate surgery and had a month of restricted walks after that. I've been advised she can only do 2 or 3 walks of 30 minutes a day for the rest of her life.

Thanks everyone for all your advice, it’s really appreciated and hearing from some people with knowledge and experience has been really helpful.

Unfortunately we don’t have any details of her breeder or background as we got her as a rescue when she was around 6 months old. She was fully checked by the vet when we got her but they wouldn’t have been looking for anything specific at that point.

We have booked into the vet on Monday for a full health check to see if there’s anything else we need to watch with her. She is such a kind, happy and active dog normally so seeing her mope around looking sad is really tough. Once we’ve got the results from Monday my partner and I will try to make the right decision for her.

Thanks again

@SpanielsGalore I was thinking of your girl when I was thinking of the Golden's I know who have had to have double hip replacements! The idea of any dog being back up to full speed in a few weeks seems bananas.

@Confused09876 just to say, I am sorry you and your girl are going through this. It's a horrible condition (and makes me so angry at backyard breeders!)

I am really surprised at the negative comments re hip surgery. My experience has been really positive. We had a resuce lab and a long term foster collie(still here 4 years on!) who both had hip replacement surgery.

Yes the initial recuperation is hard but it does pass! Crate rest for us was longer than 2 weeks.

The months of initial recuperation were ok really. We had simple and easy physio to do - gentle walks which gradually increased in distance and duration. We had mats down so no slipping. Made sure enrichment was not chasing or twisting - very easy to do a lot of scentwork.

We spent a lot of time in coffee shops, pubs, cafes in beauty spots watching the world go by and the dogs getting out and about when on restricted exercise. It was ok. Also nice to see both dogs out of pain.

They went on to have fantastic lives no one would know that they had had issues. We made minor adjustments for the lab but none for the collie. He is off with the sheep most days if we let him. The lab loves mantrailing and was out at 5.00 this morning on a trail. Then spent the hot day lying feet in the air relaxing!

The lab can easily walk more than 45 mins so our experience is way different to @TheHungryHungryLandsharks .

Tbh I am not sure as an owner what choices you have.

Have the op usually most dogs have a much better quality of life.
Dont have the op the dog will be in constant pain and on painkillers for life
Put the dog to sleep - which really is not an option when there is a treatment that will resolve the issues.

I would want reasurance that elbows etc had been looked at but even if they are damaged it would still be a better option to have the hip surgery to take the pressure of the other joints.

Our experience was positive and we have two very happy dogs who are painfree loving live.

Hope you get some professional reasurance OP