We brought Raven, a long coated German Shepherd, home when he was 8 weeks old. We started to notice his hips "popping" when he was 5-6 months old. Other than that, he seemed normal. Slowly, we started to recognize that Raven's default position was laying down. He would become tired easily, and walk like a stiff old dog once he awoke from his naps. A few times, he'd whine when he tried to get up. Based on these reasons, we took him to his vet around 7 months of age. After x-rays, he was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. We had to make a very hard choice: Let him be for now, and see what happens in a few months; or, have him undergo TPO (triple pelvic osteotomy) before it's too late and our only option left would be total hip replacement.
The hardest part of this choice was knowing how playful and happy our 75 pound puppy was...how would he cope with a surgery so extreme? His life of daily walks, trips to our barn, and romping around the back yard care-free with his little cousin (Sula), would abruptly end. That thought was tough, not to mention the pain he'd go through, so early in his life. Our vet even described the surgery as being similar to being hit by a truck.
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| Raven and his pal, Sula |
We decided to go through with the surgery. I'm writing this blog to give updates on Raven's healing, to describe what we do to keep him safe, and to help anyone else who has to make this difficult choice so they know what to expect.
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