HELP! my dog has legg-calve perthes disease....

[anth75]

(( i have 2 Bichons, a 13 month male gino and an 8 month lilly. about 2 months ago we noticed she wasnt running up the stairs like she used to and limping at times so we had her checked out by our vet who took x-rays and noticed a little fracture and wanted to wait 2 months to take another so we took her to mass vet and had a digital x-ray done which confirmed that it indeed was legg calve perthes disease but what i dont get is she ran up the stairs today....TWICE! we have an apointment to have surgey done on both legs tomorrow morning and we are VERY nervous for our lil baby. has anyone gone through this before? we dont know what to expect and are very scared and nervous. thanks

[Andrea]

I am so sorry for your little   having to have surgery.  I am not familiar with this disease.  I just googled it and see that it is also a childhood disease.  It seems that it could be hereditary from a recessive gene. The average age that it starts to show is 7 months just about the time that your baby started showing problems.  The outcome is very good with therapy after surgery.  I am so sorry and will keep your baby in my prayers for a full recovery.  I would definitely contact the breeder to see if they are aware of any recessive genes that could have effected your  .

[Sherry M.]

I have never heard of it before either.

I am glad that there is something that can be done.

Will have to google it later when I have time.

[anth75]

thanks Andrea. Me and my wife are so nervous! i hate even taking her away from Gino(my male bichon). My wife took Gino to get groomed sat and i stayed home with Lilly and she cried and howled the whole time for him! we are very nervous as the first bichon we got(from a diferent breeder) had a liver shunt and had to be put down only after a week of having him so we a little on edge right now. My wife spoke to the breeder and she denied any of her pups ever having any problems for that matter. Gino is from the same Sire as lilly so thank god he is fine!(just itchy!) We tried calling her back to let her know for sure that it is LCP disease and she never returned my call! wont buy another pup from her again! all we can do now is pray and hope everything turns out well! my friends and family think we are nuts cause if trupanion dont cover it, its gonna cost us 3500,00 for the surgery on both legs! but at this point, we love her to much and suffered to much pain when we had to put down our first 9 month bichon. thanks again for your prayers Andrea!

[Freedom (Sandie)]

Hi there,

I've never heard o that one either.  I am sorry you are having to go through this; and very glad someone posted that the surgery and therapy have a very high success rate!

Here is a link to the Bichon Information Station:
http://www.bichonfriseusa.com/

The top part is all health issues; and no, it does not include the one your Lily has.

Further down are sections on grooming, selecting a breeder, training a puppy. I have it bookmarked and refer to it often.

Prayers from RI for your Lily!  Please let us know how things progress.

[Andrea]

Please keep us posted on the outcome of the surgery.  Seems that the sooner it is diagnosed the better the outcome.  Thank goodness you and your wife were so proactive and sought a second opinion.  I do not think that anyone here would hesitate to have any needed surgery for our  babies.  Anyone that advised you otherwise is obviously not a dog lover.  There is a lot of wisdom and knowledge on this board and everyone is willing to offer help and advise.  I think that I would not buy another dog from that breeder as there seems to be a lot of health problems. 

I am Andrea and Noah, who is 7 months old, shares his home with me in NC.  Welcome and please keep us posted.

[BichonMommy (Cathy)]

Sorry to hear about Lilly 
It sucks that the breeder won't take responsibility for the disease. Do you know if she had her dam and sire tested? Responsible breeders should have the parents tested before they are bred. Our breeder has guaranteed that Snowy's parents have both been tested for hips and eyes, and our contract states that we have a 2-year health guarantee.
$3500 is a lot of money. I hope your insurance will cover it.

[anth75]

Andrea, I signed up to this site today and I am glad I did! I have someone I can talk too about it because I talk to people without dogs as most my friends and family do not own dogs think I am nuts to spend that on my dog but she is priceless to me! She was just sleeping on my chest and I almost cried and It takes a lot for me to cry! We caught it very early as she still uses both legs at times and doesn't limp that much yet so her muscle strentgh is still there so hopefuly that will help her heal quicker. Cathy, I can't believe she would answer our call back. First call we made she acused the vet of misdiagnosing it and said she never heard of the disease which then rang an alert bell to me. She has been breeding for 30 years. I tried to go to her web site and it is down,weird! Wonder if something may have happened. She gave us a 1 year health guarantee but when we called she told us its only on her vital organs! We are not happy but are trying to remain posative for lilly.its water under the bridge now because regardless, she still needs the surgery. Its gonna be so hard to drop her off in the morning but I know its for the best for her. Both my pups are from the same sire, just glad gino is ok! Just can't believe someone would breed sick dogs for money! Makes me sick! I will keep all you posted tomorrow and thanks for all your prayers and concerns

[Sugar Junky (Jackie)]

I've never heard of that one before.  Sorry to hear that.  Keep us posted please.  I hope everything will go well.

[lorraine]

I wish you all the best when your little one has surgery and I can understand how you feel. They are so precious and you don't want them to suffer.
That breeder is awful, at least she should show some concern for the puppy.

[Susan J]

I do hope that Lilly has a quick and complete recovery from the surgery.  I'm sure that her condition is hard on the whole family and my heart goes out to you. 

[Lin]

I am so very sorry to hear that Lilly has to under go surgery, but we do understand your concern so post often for support, we are here for you.
I'm sorry I don't know of this disease either but I do know a leg surgery will need disciplined after care. Alison just went through a leg surgery with Abby and she did a fantastic job of setting up a safe place to recuperate and did her best to keep her calm for the weeks of recovery. Go down into her thread and read about Abby's care.
Keep us posted.

[EDDEL]

Sorry to hear Lilly has legg-calve perthes disease.  It is a condition that Bichon breeders, responsible & knowledgeable breeders that is, are aware of.  It's even listed on the national breed club's health website click here.  The article will answer many of your questions I'm sure.

Abby , one of our member's Bichon, recently underwent surgery for luxating patella.  I know it's not the same condition, but it'll be of interest & help to you.  You can read about her recovery progress and see pics in this thread.  You would need to do the same for Lilly.... restrain her from running/jumping etc.  It'll be a long road to full recovery (Lilly will probably need physical therapy) but it can be done.  After 8 weeks of home-nursing, Abby is running & blitzing again (see update here).

Please keep us posted about Lilly's surgery .  Know that I'm sending well-wishes (all the way from Singapore) to you, your wife, and especially dear Lilly.  

[Marsh's Mum (Carol)]

Hello, and

I'm so sorry you and your family are going through this terrible ordeal.   Shame on Lily's breeder!

I just wanted to put my two cents in from our own experience.  Like Abby, our Marshmallow had ACL surgery on her knee two years ago.  (She was 7 years old at the time)  She, like Abby, recovered beautifully, you just have to remember to take the recovery process very slowly, which will be very hard for you as Lily is a bichon puppy and is naturally inclined to be very bouncy!

One thing you will probably have to think about in the future is joint supplementation.  Once you've had surgery, you will almost always need to have some joint support somewhere down the road.  You might not need it until years from now, but its good to know its coming and be prepared.  Marshmallow is currently taking SynFlex and we couldn't be happier with it.  At the beginning of the winter season this year she was starting to limp, the cold was really bothering her.  I got her a sweater that has legs so her knees would be warmer, and then did some research online (with some help from my friends on this board ).  I ended up getting a joint support pill, which is great if you can get her to take it, but Marsh refused it on her food and I had to stuff it down her throat daily.  Instead I found SynFlex, which is a beef flavored liquid that I put on her food every morning. (only 1 mL dose!) She now does not limp at all!  As a matter of fact, she's as spry as a puppy, bouncing and running all over the place!   It is also worth mentioning that there is a SynFlex for people as well.

Anyways, just wanted to reassure you that Lily should make a full recovery, as long as you make her take things slooooowly (keep her in a kennel a lot in the beginning and leashed to you after that to keep her from running or jumping on the furniture), and keep an eye out in the future for signs that she might need some joint support.

Good luck to you all, we'll be keeping Lily in our thoughts and prayers!

[anth75]

Thanks for the info carol. Dropped her off at 9 and now am anxiously awaiting the phone call. Will update you when I hear from them