Traci/Davet -

[Mou Chat]

Tell me about LEG-CALVE- PERTHES, please.

Mou Chat

[davet]

i'm going to look it up but just a guess and going back 50 or so years i will say it is a condition of the hip where the femeral artery becomse severed in the hip socket.......just a guess and will be curius to see how close i am...will be back

[Mou Chat]

You are right, Davet. What causes it and what do you do about it?

I (((think))) my vet said something like "cut the ball off". How can

that work, and the dog still walk?

[davet]

i found a site for humans which is no help :

http://rarediseases.about.com/library/w ... 12602a.htm

but when he says cut the ball off he means remove the head of the femur which becomes necrotic or dissolved due to lack of blood nourishment...it is not a big whoops, in fact before these exotic bits of surgery for hip dysplasia came about we used to do femeral head excision and got as good results at one third the price...the dogs (and humans ) can and do form a new socket when the head is removed,,in a few months you don't even notice the difference except for a little change in gate.. we referred to it as just legs-perthes, don't know whre the calves came from....man you have taxed what little is left of my mind cause we are moving and all my text books are packed,,,except my horse anatomy book, which i have finally thrown away....let me know how you make out

[davet]

whoops, forgot the cause...i think it is usually traumatic, ie something causes the femur to be pulled from the socket and the artery either ruptures or is damaged....but congenital predisposition may also be involved.......forget.....

[Mou Chat]

Thank you, Davet. I am glad to help you stay on your toes!!! I will
let you know. She goes in the 18th......all 2 pounds 6 ounces of her.

[davet]

mou chat, when you find out ask Traci to E-mail me,i will be moving around the country for about a month but will pick up my e-mails occaisionally...

[Mou Chat]

I will do that, and thank you for your input.

Mou Chat

[Traci]

Mou, can't add much more to Davet's post, only that I would recommend the surgery as soon as possible. Unlike cruciates or patellars, your vet will probably request your little one on an exercise program very soon after post-op, he will instruct you on this, and you'll want to get a recheck every two weeks (for about a month or so) to ensure it's healing properly, and that *you* are compliant with the exercise/activity program.

Davet is right, after femoral head&neck removal, your little one will fair much better than any other conservative treatment. Not to mention no more excruciating pain, lameness or degeneration. Btw, the majority of cases are congenital, with toy and minature breeds predisposed.

Lastly, contact your breeder about this, and request (ha, if you can) that the dam and sire breeding is not repeated.

[Mou Chat]

Hi Traci-

I have contacted the breeder, but no response yet. We are not going

to give her back, so she need not worry about that. She is ours, no

matter what. She is scheduled for the 18th of this month, next week.

Thanks, Donna