Background
A few months ago, just as she hit one year old, I noticed that Greta (Greta the Great or Greta the Destroyer, depending on what she's gotten into) was favoring her back right leg at times. It didn't slow her down, but she was definitely leaning to the left after playing. I decided to take her into our vet to have it looked at. I'd thought that she'd injured herself playing. Even though it didn't slow her down, I wanted to be sure that I wasn't ignoring something that would later in her life be a larger problem. X-rays were taken. (This was a process, she didn't go completely out with the first round of sedative, so she was given another bit. She was still awake-ish, but the vet and the vet tech were able to get her correctly oriented for the x-rays.)
The x-rays showed that her right hip socket was too small for the head of her femur. My vet talked with me about options.
A few months ago, just as she hit one year old, I noticed that Greta (Greta the Great or Greta the Destroyer, depending on what she's gotten into) was favoring her back right leg at times. It didn't slow her down, but she was definitely leaning to the left after playing. I decided to take her into our vet to have it looked at. I'd thought that she'd injured herself playing. Even though it didn't slow her down, I wanted to be sure that I wasn't ignoring something that would later in her life be a larger problem. X-rays were taken. (This was a process, she didn't go completely out with the first round of sedative, so she was given another bit. She was still awake-ish, but the vet and the vet tech were able to get her correctly oriented for the x-rays.)
The x-rays showed that her right hip socket was too small for the head of her femur. My vet talked with me about options.
- Do nothing - she's young and strong and I could leave it for a year or two.
- FHO surgery - cost estimate at about $1,600. It doesn't fix the joint, but the top of the femur is shaved so that it will fit into the hip socket. Muscle and scar tissue form an artificial joint. She may always limp some, but she won't have the pain she's been having.
- Hip replacement - cost estimate at least $6K. A hip replacement would last about 8 years. Greta was just 1 year old when we went in. She will (in all likelihood) outlive the joint, and I'd have to do it again.
FHO surgery seemed the best option for us. I didn't want to wait a year or two. Greta's very strong, so I wanted to have the surgery done while she was fittest. Also, I could pay for it now; that might not be the case in a year or two. So I looked at my work schedule and picked a time when I would be home for a month. I picked February 23 for the surgery - a Friday, so I could pay attention to her as much as she needed for the first two days afterwards.
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