Bertie is a young cavapoo who has recently had treatment here at Mochdre Vets after being referred following an operation on both of his hips joints!
Unfortunatly at only just over 12 months of age, Bertie required an an operation called a femoral head osteotomy (FHO) to both of his hip joints! An FHO is the surgical removal of the head and neck of the femur. It is the removal of the “ball” part of the ball-and-socket that makes up the hip joint meaning that the bones of the joint are no longer in contact, which eliminates the pain. Once the femoral head and neck are removed, the surrounding muscles and developing scar tissue work to support the area, and act as a false joint.
Bertie started treatment on the aquatic treadmill twice weekly for a month and has now moved onto treatment in the pool.
Initially as you can see by the photographs, Bertie had very little muscle in his hind legs and was very hunched in his spine. Bertie was mainly using his forelimbs to get around and treatment on the aquatic treadmill ensured Bertie used all of his legs correctly.
After 10 hydrotherapy sessions we repeated the muscle mass measurements we took at his initial assessment and we were amazed at Bertie’s progress. Bertie increased a total of 12.5cms in muscle mass across his limbs! He is now even in muscle in his hind legs whereas before treatment there was a 4cm difference! We are now treating Bertie in the pool to further increase his muscle mass and use of his new hip joints!
Bertie is now happily running around and playing as a young dog should be!
Can you spot the difference in the photos?
