hip dysplasia

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DonnaM

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I have a pony with many problems from interbreding and poor nutrition, obtained through a rescue situation. The latest difficulty is a dislocated hip. The vet wants to perform surgery. I am not sure. What experiences can you share, for surgery or not to do surgery?

Thank you

DonnaM
 
Perhaps it is merely dislocated and not the type of degenerative hip dysplasia as seen in dogs etc.? Perhaps you can locate a horse chiropractor to get them to try and pop it back in? Just a thought. Good Luck.
 
If it is a dislocated hip this is going to be a rough road.........contact Staci Score of Mountain Meadows Miniatures she dealt with this and can probably help you out.
 
I'm bumping this back up in hopes that Stacy or Ann (Parker on here) sees this -OR Barbie too whose little Red Dawn was born with hers out of socket. Both Stacy and Ann helped me immensely when I went through this, Barbie was going through it at about the same time as me.

Coxofemoral luxation is the dislocation of the head of the femur, or the ball of the thigh bone, out of the socket of the pelvis (acetabulum). This luxation is usually the result of trauma, in my case my little mare we think got her leg caught under a fence. The round ligament of the femoral head that normally holds the femoral head within the acetabulum, completely ruptures or pulls away from its attachment, causing the dislocation.

Depending on the severerity it usually Cannot be simply put back in. The two options are Euthanasia OR Femur Ostomy. The size of the horse is very important since the femur ostomy is mainly a dog operation.

I've spoken with Donna and directed her to speak with Stacy and Ann.

After speaking with both myself, as well as long talks with 2 specialists at UGA and a surgeon in Washington state I opted to not do either of the options they gave me.

In the Femur Ostomy the ball is removed and the leg left to set up a false joint out of scar tissue. I decided not to have the ball removed and the result is the same....the place my Glorys leg was in healed by setting up scar tisssue and forming a false joint. Xrays were taken every 3 months on it.

This was/is a LONG process. Today she runs -on all 4 legs, bucks while running but not normal looking
default_rolleyes.gif
: and plays and rears. She is doing absolutely wonderful today a year and a half after the injury. She was confined for 3 months, I went out and moved her EVERY 2 hours and YES at night also. I massaged her legs and moved her legs and we made a tilt table to ease her over on to. She was put on banamine for pain and took Gastro Gard, she was also on MSM and Corti flex. The first week she stood and would not move, the only time she moved was the day I went out there after deciding to put her down, sat down on the hay manger and started crying, she walked over to me and put her head against my back. After thay day every day was planned around making her as comfortable as possible. She responded to what I chose to do and made regular improvements, in a month and a half she moved her tail again for the first time, in 6 months she bent and lifted that leg, in 9 months she could stand and bear weight on that leg so I could rasp the opposite hoof without laying her down. IT is a LONG process but now seems like it did not take long at all, this was less than a year out of my life I gave to her, I bred her it was my responsibility to do as much as possible to make sure she live dpain free or was put down.

I have to watch her weight and make sure both back hoofs are balanced, other that that she is fine today....WAY spoiled.

I have learned this is VERY common in miniatures. There are a lot of them out there with dislocated legs if you see one with a slight limp or it jsut looks like one side of their hip is sunk down a little this is the reason.

It is caused by trauma- injury or by stifle problems where the stifle is locked and a misstep is taken to force the ball out of the socket or the horse was born with cups too small or shallow.

I hope Donna finds what she needs, she is a very nice person put into a bad situation and I pray for her and her colt.
 
I too had a mare with a dislocated hip. Just didnt come in from the pasture at feeding time one evening & went out to find her dragging a hind leg. I talked with great length with many local specialists, none with minature horse experience, mostly based on big riding horses whom were not much good if they couldnt be ridden, so many said I should put her down. The operation was also suggested, but was very expermental & very costly. My vet also said that scar tissue could build a false socket, but the pain the mare would go through during healing would be bad, not to mention the extra care she would require. She was one of my favorite mares, & I decided to let her tell me when enough was enough. She never stopped eating, never gave me any indication that she wanted to give up. I did start her on bute, but discontinued it after awhile. She was kept in the stall for months, with very short hand walkings. I kept her weight very light. She did go on to be ok, she could run with the others, but you could tell her hip was stiff. We also had to lean her against the wall to trim her back feet because she was not able to put all her weight on the bad leg. Her bad leg needed trimming alot more than her good back leg. She went on to have foals with no problems after 3-4 years of healing. So there is hope. You have to let the horse tell you when they cant take anymore.
 
I also had a mare with a dislocated hip. The vet indicated surgery was possible but with only a small chance of being successful. We had to wean her foal early and confine her to a small stall in a quiet area, the stiller she was the better. After about 3 mths she was allowed out in a small paddock alone. Her dislocated leg is shorter than the other and my blacksmith trims that foot to fit her way of going, turns somewhat to the side, and he lets the hoof grow longer on the short leg. She has given us two beautiful foals since than, has no problems with standing on the injured leg when trimmed. You can see she walks differantly but doesn't hinder her much!
 
I'm bumping this up again. In the future someone else may be searching for this information. Stories from people who have went through this are comforting and will be helpful to the decision they'll have to make.

I forgot to add in my first post my Glory was also on (and stays on) ground Flaxseed.
 
DONNA:

Hang in there with your gelding. As you have seen by some of the other replies, the first thing that comes to the typical vet's mind, is put it to sleep. BUT DON'T, as I have two success stories of your same situation, and as you have read, so have others. Like I said on the phone, the hip operation is just wasting your money, and won't hold, plus the horse could die on the table.

As with any injury, of course there is pain involved, but that is what they make banamine for, and as everyone will tell you, if you ask, NEVER USE BUTE on minis, like we discussed on the phone. I used banamine for about three days, and the pain seemed to ease. Both, the mares I dealt with are fine, and have gone on to produce baby after baby.

Just keep the horse in a stall for two months, then outside in a small area for about ten months, and get him a sweet friend to keep him company, that doesn't kick, bite, or threaten other horses. Everyone that has used this method, seems to have saved their horse, and they are not in pain, after the first few days, and have gone on to live productive lives.

Please email me down the road and let me know how your gelding turns out. He should be fine, given enough time, and I will await hearing back from you months down the road, saying, OH, I AM SO HAPPY I DIDN'T PUT HIM TO SLEEP, OR WASTE MY MONEY ON AN OPERATION. Here is my email address for the future.

[email protected]

Will await to hear from you in the future, and I know he will turn out just fine, if you stay away from BUTE, and do what everyone else said they did, which is exactly what I did. My prayers will be with you and your gelding.

Take care, and email me, when things have been successful,

SEAHORSE
 
I'm bumping this back up in hopes that Stacy or Ann (Parker on here) sees this -OR Barbie too whose little Red Dawn was born with hers out of socket. Both Stacy and Ann helped me immensely when I went through this, Barbie was going through it at about the same time as me.

Coxofemoral luxation is the dislocation of the head of the femur, or the ball of the thigh bone, out of the socket of the pelvis (acetabulum). This luxation is usually the result of trauma, in my case my little mare we think got her leg caught under a fence. The round ligament of the femoral head that normally holds the femoral head within the acetabulum, completely ruptures or pulls away from its attachment, causing the dislocation.

Depending on the severerity it usually Cannot be simply put back in. The two options are Euthanasia OR Femur Ostomy. The size of the horse is very important since the femur ostomy is mainly a dog operation.

I've spoken with Donna and directed her to speak with Stacy and Ann.

After speaking with both myself, as well as long talks with 2 specialists at UGA and a surgeon in Washington state I opted to not do either of the options they gave me.

In the Femur Ostomy the ball is removed and the leg left to set up a false joint out of scar tissue. I decided not to have the ball removed and the result is the same....the place my Glorys leg was in healed by setting up scar tisssue and forming a false joint. Xrays were taken every 3 months on it.

This was/is a LONG process. Today she runs -on all 4 legs, bucks while running but not normal looking
default_rolleyes.gif
: and plays and rears. She is doing absolutely wonderful today a year and a half after the injury. She was confined for 3 months, I went out and moved her EVERY 2 hours and YES at night also. I massaged her legs and moved her legs and we made a tilt table to ease her over on to. She was put on banamine for pain and took Gastro Gard, she was also on MSM and Corti flex. The first week she stood and would not move, the only time she moved was the day I went out there after deciding to put her down, sat down on the hay manger and started crying, she walked over to me and put her head against my back. After thay day every day was planned around making her as comfortable as possible. She responded to what I chose to do and made regular improvements, in a month and a half she moved her tail again for the first time, in 6 months she bent and lifted that leg, in 9 months she could stand and bear weight on that leg so I could rasp the opposite hoof without laying her down. IT is a LONG process but now seems like it did not take long at all, this was less than a year out of my life I gave to her, I bred her it was my responsibility to do as much as possible to make sure she live dpain free or was put down.

I have to watch her weight and make sure both back hoofs are balanced, other that that she is fine today....WAY spoiled.

I have learned this is VERY common in miniatures. There are a lot of them out there with dislocated legs if you see one with a slight limp or it jsut looks like one side of their hip is sunk down a little this is the reason.

It is caused by trauma- injury or by stifle problems where the stifle is locked and a misstep is taken to force the ball out of the socket or the horse was born with cups too small or shallow.

I hope Donna finds what she needs, she is a very nice person put into a bad situation and I pray for her and her colt.
Good morning. My mini has loose stifles. It usually corrects within a minute but this last time it did not. The vet came and manually got the leg to unlock. A week later another comes to perform a surger y to cut the ligaments. Two hours later to no avail. He then took X-rays and said his femur is out of the socket. He manages to walk around dragging his leg but doesn’t appear to be in pain. He eats normally. I’ve been spending a lot of time with him and he appears to be dealing with it. In the cases where people left the leg for scar tissue to form a false socket, was the leg locked? I can’t afford a major surgery and honestly don’t want to put him through it if he can live with this and let nature take its course. I’m waiting to hear from three vets as of today for next steps. Any advice you can offer would be appreciated. Thank you, Lori
 

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