This morning, Anette, Manny and I left Santa Clara around 7:30am and spent the morning on the beaches of Santa Cruz. There is a dog-friendly beach right off of 41st ave in Capitola. Manny enjoyed playing around with other dogs – but he isn’t yet comfortable in the water (as you will see). Notice that when he runs from the water, he is running normally with all four of his legs!
Westies are by nature diggers and hunters. Manny loves the sand because he can keep digging and digging – and then find a new spot.
This is Manny in the back seat of the car, on the drive home. He positions himself so that his face can catch the wind drifting from the open windows.
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22 comments
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May 20, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Gene
Thanks for your site. My Westie Fiona just underwent the same FHO surgery and is at home recuperating. It is good to know there are others out there with the same problem, but who have successfully overcome it.
January 14, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Steve Quist
Congratulations on a successful surgery for Manny. How old is he and when did you first suspect he had Legg-Perthes disease? We live in Sacramento and have a 16 month old Yorkshire Terrier named Zoey. We suspect that she has the disease in her left hip and recent xrays seem to support this. It does not affect her when she plays or runs, but is noticeable when she walks normally. She doesn’t appear to be in pain. How long after Manny was diagnosed did you elect to have surgery and can you give me an approximation of the financial impact to expect? I hope Manny continues to recover nicely and has no future problems. Thanks. Steve Quist
April 30, 2008 at 3:02 am
Nala's parents
Thanks for the website. Nala our poodle was diagnosed with legg perthes today. She is 9 months old and our little baby. We are really nervous about the prospect of what she must endure but seeing Manny run around helps tremendeously.
Nala is in the same boat as Zoey (Steve Quists Yorkie) She runs and plays like a bat out of…….. but limps when walking normally. Did you have the surgery right away when diagnosed and if you don’t mind letting us know what to expect financially it would be great.
We will keep you posted. We still want to get a couple of more opinions before we actually believe it..
Thanks again
May 9, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Karen
I appreciate the effort you put into your web site. Thanks. My fox terrier Haley turned 1 year old on Tuesday and was diagnosed with Perthes yesterday. I noticed her favoring her right hind leg about 5 or 6 weeks ago. I waited 2 weeks hoping it would clear up and then took her to my vet, who took xrays and initially ruled out Perthes. He thought it was tissue damage and told me to keep her quiet for a couple of weeks, but to go to an orthopedist if the pain continued. The new doc diagnosed Perthes from the original xrays, and I could make out the difference in the joint (barely) when he pointed it out. Haley has consistently favored her leg or limped over this whole period, with some short spurts of appearing normal. Occasionally, she will yelp when we or our lab move her the wrong way. I have scheduled surgery for May 27. To Nola’s parents, my cost estimate was $1,800 to $2,000. From all my research, it seems the earlier surgery is done, the better the chance for a good recovery. Feel free to contact me at sassynme@comcast.net. My biggest concern is not the initial surgery and recovery (although I’m sure it will be heartbreaking initially), but the long term prospects for a healthy happy life. Don’t know if severe arthritis is something to expect or not. Good luck! I hope Manny is doing great now.
August 1, 2008 at 5:29 pm
chris
This page has been the best source with what to expect once your puppy has been diagnosed. My Cairn had surgery yesterday and at 10 mos. already had extensive damage to her femur and hip socket. The vet told me she would be very sore for a number of days, however after the short trip home she is sunbathing in the yard and putting her leg down when she walks. The thing she seems the most bothered by is the collar she has to wear. I am amazed by her. The surgery was estimated to be between $800-$1200 and ended up being $1142 including all of the meds I will need for her in the next two weeks. (I am in upstate NY) Her therapy is simple at home leg flexing and when her stitches come out she can go swimming to build up the muscle again. She is already eating normally and has gone to the bathroom outside with very little discomfort. I hope the next few weeks go as smoothly as her first day home. Good luck to all of you going through this process.
May 27, 2011 at 1:41 am
Monika
Hi Chris I have this same problem with my dog, mini pin”Demon” just came back from vet, they told me that surgery will cost me $3500 that’s to much for me, can u give me adress of hospital where your dog had that surgery. I’ m from NJ , thank you
August 16, 2008 at 10:43 am
chris
Just an update. Olive’s stitches came out after 10 days and off came the collar. Hooray. She is running around better than before surgery, seems to have no pain and never lost a bit of her Cairn personality. Although at first, the collar really distressed her, she figured out how to use it as a tool. Within a couple of days, she figured out how to trap our turtle and smaller cats in it. It also served as a great megaphone just in case we needed that terrier bark a little louder. She healed up remarkably fast but the first few days were painful for her even with the meds. Good luck to all going through this. I am glad to be well into the recovery period.
November 19, 2008 at 3:16 am
Hannah
This is a great blog. My Jack Russell ‘Turbo’ has just been diagnosed with Legg-Perthes. Being an orthopaedic nurse I had some knowledge of the dynamics of this disease but was very comforted to hear about recovery. Turbo is 9 months old and has remained incredibly active, racing aroun and play fighting with my other Jack Russell and Lab. He started to favour the leg about 1 month after he fell from a ladder!! I initially thought it was the injury giving him trouble but had him x-rayed and its Legg-Perthes. He has had very little muscle wastage probably because we live on a farm and he is constantly active and having to use the leg on the hills. (I’m in New Zealand).Looking toward surgery in the next 2-3weeks so knowing what to expect in the recovery stage has helped to allay some fears. I’ve been quoted $800 NZD for the surgery.
December 3, 2008 at 6:38 am
Nancy
Thank you first off for posting this blog about Manny which was very helpful. I just received confirmation today that Lola, my French Pug (half French Bulldog/half Pug) was diagnosed with Legg-Perthes Disease. There is still a possibility that it could be a fracture although looking highly like Legg-Perthes, but either way, surgery is required which is scheduled for next week. I am struggling with whether to have the surgery done at the Vet Clinic (where a surgeon will preform the surgery) or a Vet Specialty Hospital. I am told the surgery at my vet clinic would be the same surgery performed at the specialty hospital but could be more than $500 cheaper. I was quoted $1,700 for the surgery. I certainly love my dog and want the best which is why I am questioning which clinic to go to and wondered if others had the same dilemma? It is so heartbreaking to watch your puppy walk and run in pain and being that she is such an active puppy, it is killing me that I can’t take her to dog park or play with other dogs right now so regardless of the cost, I am getting the surgery done. Thank you again for sharing Manny’s progress, he is an adorable dog and I hope by now, he is fully recovered.
January 11, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Kym
1 year ago, my yorkie was diagnosed with leggs perthes on both hips. I contacted the owner of this website and was really afraid of the unknown…. as a result of the information from your website, and a possible positive outcome, my puppy underwent surgery on both hips about 1 month apart. before surgery, my puppy would walk on his front legs only and his back legs were more like the 3rd leg on a tripod. he tipped forward and occasionally lost his balance or when he peed, his entire backend lifted off the ground like he was doing a hand stand. anyway, after 1 year, my dog is completely normal! for a long period of time, the back half of his body was 1/3 the size of the front half and he looked lilke a crippled animal (not normal). that has changed and now he does look and act like a completely normal dog. it is really hard to believe that our puppy made it through a double hip surgery at only 6 months old, but he did and now he is perfectly fine. he zooms across our 1/2 acre yard like there is no tomorrow. we could have given up on this puppy (due to the expense and not knowing what the outcome would be) but my family loved this little puppy and we made a commitment to him. he didn’t choose to have this problem. it was worth it and my 3 sons, husband and I have absolutely NO regrets for making this choice. our dog is a part of our family!! thanks for the website. it was informative and encouraging at the same time.
March 25, 2009 at 11:41 am
Stephen
Our chocolate brown cock-a-poo Jackson is 11 months old and has just been diagnosed with Legg Perthes in his left hip…he fell from our neighbor’s lap a couple of months ago and yelped when he fell…he later started to favor his hind leg and we naturally assumed it was an injury..it seemed to resolve itself with time and rest yet also would return when he was more active than normal…x-rays last week confirmed the diagnosis…this blog has helped us to realize that dogs do well with this surgery on the whole…thank you for taking the time to document Manny’s recovery…I hope he is doing well..
April 6, 2009 at 1:42 am
Shelley
We have a Jack-Rat that is 13 months old. we noticed him limping at about 4 months old and when we took him in to be fixed they did Xrays and found the Legg Perthes disease. It is quite bad and the right hip is very degenerated. He is scheduled for surgery this thursday(9th Apr) I am happy to hear of the others that have had this surgery and have come thru with flying colors. He loves to play fetch along with our wire fox terrier so we hope this will make it less painful for him. Thanks for this blog!
July 7, 2009 at 12:06 am
Carol
I have a one year old Yorkie that was diagnosed with Legg Perthes disease in May 2009. My story isn’t as successful as all of your stories which saddens me. I noticed that my little puppy was limping when he was about five months old. I thought that he had injured his back left leg while playing with his mother, slipping on the ice or chasing the mop when I would mop the floor. I wasn’t sure. When I finally took him into see the Vet, she diagnosed him with the disease through X-rays. He turned one year old on 1 Jun 09 and on 5 Jun 09 he was having the surgery. I brought him home, nursed him with his meds, was really careful with him and took him for leash walks. He would not walk on his foot and held the leg tight up against him off the ground. I noticed his leg was getting smaller and there was no progress after the surgery. When I had picked him up from the Vet she had told me that she took just a little piece about the size of her little finger off of the bone. When I took him back for a two week visit she said that she wanted to do the surgery over AGAIN! This time taking the whole bone off. Well it has been two weeks and Beau still isn’t walking. The Vet thinks that the Siatic nerve is involved and thinks that it slips into the hollow area where she extracted the bone. I have taken him everyday for therapy to the Vet and she really stretches and works with his leg but to no avail. I have him on prednisone, and a muscle relaxer plus I give him a pain pill before therapy. My Vet told me to put him in the bathtub full of water and put a towel under him to hold him up so that he will swim. It only stresses him out and I don’t want to put him through this I think he is already stressed out. I am at wits end and I really don’t know what to do. I want a quick recovery for him because he is the sweetest little guy. I just love him and I don’t like seeing him just lying around not living a normal, healthy puppy life. I am hopeful that some of you that have gone through this will give me some pointers on what to do. For instance, what kinds of meds was your dog on, for how long and just exactly what kinds of therapy and for how long did the dog do therapy. I want to be hopeful but I am really discouraged right now. I have heard that the swim therapy is good but is very costly. Any advice is much appreciated.
July 7, 2009 at 1:05 am
Stephen
Our cock-a-poo Jackson had his surgery for Legg Perthes on June 17th….he held his leg close to his body for 2 weeks after but in the past few days has taken to using the leg more and more but still hops most of the time….we were told by our vet that most dogs take 8-12 weeks to recover from this condition and some continue to hop from time to time even years later…
I was so sorry to hear of your problem Carol … it is so hard to see these little animals suffer…hopefully your little one will improve with time..
August 25, 2009 at 12:32 am
Andrea
My 9 month old Yorkie, Scooby, was diagnosed with Leg Perthese disease a week ago and had the surgery the next day. It has been 6 days and he is not really putting any weight on his left foot. I have put him in the bathtub with me and lift him so that his feet do not touch the bottom. It’s like he’s running in the water. His staples will be coming out in 4 days and I am hoping he will start to put some weight on the affected leg. He is very active but he basically runs on the 3 good legs and occasionally walks on all fours. I am hoping he will be running on all four very soon. Thank you for your website as you have given me the optomistic attitude that he will be a normal, healthy puppy again.
August 26, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Carol
Hi All, I am reading these comments and I sympathize with you all. This is Carol and I had mentioned that my little Yorkie Beau had Legg Perthes Disease. Well he underwent two surgeries and in the end had to have his little leg amputated. His Sciatic Nerve was damaged during surgery so it was decided that he would never use his leg again and would always be in pain. BUT the GOOD news is he is so much happier now and runs, plays and rough houses with his mother whom I have. It took about two good weeks before his incision was completely healed over but now I think he is relived that he doesn’t have that “extra thing” in the way. I urge you all to hang in there, love that little dog like there is no tomorrow and take care of them. See an Orthopedic surgeon who specializes in that sort of area. My Vet was wonderful and she was so caring and wonderful to my little Beau. I know that she lost sleep wondering what went wrong and I know that she had tireless nights. But she helped us all get through the
terrible mess. I think we were more sick about it than Beau. Good Luck to all of you. My prayers are with you.
August 26, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Ryan
Thank you Carol for the thoughtful response / encouragement / update. I have been emailing all commenters directly but realize that it really should be up here for everyone to ready.
Happy Beau is doing well and, most importantly, is happy. The process is painful for everyone – but Manny is a happy dog now… and that’s most important!
August 26, 2009 at 11:35 pm
thefras
Just an update on Jackson..he is about 10 weeks post op now and doing very well…he can run,walk and play on the limb but still favors it from time to time….he is pain free though which is a blessing
September 1, 2010 at 3:07 am
Stephen Fraser
Just an update on Jackson our chocolate cockapoo a year post op….he has ‘fully’ recovered his mobility, runs like the wind and shows no signs of any discomfort ….
April 29, 2011 at 10:24 pm
hayleyalyse
Hello everyone! I have also started a blog about the disease and my Westie’s journey: http://dogswithleggperthesdisease.wordpress.com/. Please take a look, I hope it will help others!
-Hayley
April 29, 2011 at 11:02 pm
Stephen
2 years post op and Jackson our cock a poo is fully healed …
January 18, 2012 at 10:19 pm
Linda Cappar
My little 10 month old maltese (6 lbs) was diagnosed with Legg Perthes Disease day before yesterday. I had noticed for about 4 weeks that she would favor her right hind leg from time to time, but not often. It seemed to slowly get worse but she never exhibited any pain. She could run like the wind (usually in big circles) hopped down off the sofa with no problems, played fetch, etc., but she seemed to be favoring her leg more and more when she walked. While bathing her last Thursday, I looked at her leg more carefully since the fur was wet and did not obstruct the view of her bone, and realized that her right leg was showing some atrophy or not developing as well as the left. I called my vet’s office right away and they saw her the next morning. The vet I saw was new and I believe not long out of vet school. She looked at her and told me she thought I didn’t need an xray if I didn’t want to pay for one and that we could try rimadyl for a few weeks and see if the pain subsided (maybe she had just bumped her hip or strained something) and if it didn’t help much then come back for an xray. Misha is my baby! I told her to go ahead and do the xray which she did. She showed me the xray and it was obvious that half of the bone in her ball joint was not solid, but looked like a spider web. She said my regular doctor was out of town, but would be back Monday morning. This was Friday afternoon. She said she would have him look at the xray and give me a call. He called me and told me his diagnosis and explained it all to me. I took her into his office later in the day and he sat down with me and explained all about what was happening, what needed to be done to fix it and prognosis for the future and he scheduled her surgery the next day. She did great through the surgery, but was groggy and sore all last night, but she did eat some dinner and drink water. She woke up much brighter this morning and has improved throughout the day. She’s eating and drinking and walking around a little bit on 3 legs. She’s on 1 pain med and seems to be quite comfortable. She hasn’t offered to bite or lick the site and has required no head collar. The vet put the stitches very close together on the inside so there are no stitches to pull out. He predicts a full recovery and full use of her leg. The cost for this procedure was $150.00 for the first office visit and xray and $950.00 for the surgery. Very reasonable compared to what I’m seeing others say they’ve paid. We’ll continue to pray for our little girl and hope that anyone else who has this problem will be able to get the prompt, professional care that we did. Thank you Dr. Craig Corry (Animal Hospital of Onslow County)