FHO Recovery Day 1

Milo came home today from his FHO (Femoral Head Ostectomy) surgery (performed yesterday) on his right side. Everyone at the vets office loved him, and seemed to enjoy hanging out with him. He normally is a whiner, and will whine and bark for attention, but they said this was not the case for them. I was relived to hear that, as when he had his x-rays done, he whined/barked until I picked him up.

For those who do not know what an FHO is, they basically remove the femoral head and neck, in order to alleviate pain. The femur heals overtime, developing a fibrous scar tissue. This scar tissue is a 'false joint'. There is a wiki page on it if you are interested in more. This is just one of the methods used to treat hip dysplasia in dogs. Milo was not a candidate for a total hip replacement, as his femur is farther forward. The vet was worried that with a hip replacement, it could pop out of place due to the excess muscle and skin not holding it tightly.

Seeing him for the first time was difficult - his right side is shaved, but his foot is not - kind of like wearing a shoe. At least that gave me a laugh. Milo did not show pain other than after extensive playing before the surgery, so seeing him like this is hard. He walked out of the vets office and I helped him into the car. He was terrible on the car ride - he wanted to ride center console. I had to fight him to get him to lay down, and he would keep getting back up. We made it home in one piece, with a small amount of blood on his skin (except the wound did not look like it was leaking).

I printed out the TopDog FHO Therapy Guide and plan to follow it for recovery, as our vet only gave us the passive range of motion exercise. I've done a few things with him today, but do not want to push him on his first day home. He has been getting up and walking around, as well as picking up toys. He does stretch his leg out when he goes to the bathroom, which amazed me. I didn't expect him to extend it so far already.

Day 1: