FCE Dog with Dislocated Hip

[Guest guest]

I have an unusual situation that I have not yet had to deal with and

was hoping for some guidance from the rehab group. I have been

treating a 7 year old border collie that suffered an FCE about 2

months ago causing him to be completely down in the rear. We have

been doing extensive daily rehab on him for almost 8 weeks and he is

still not ambulating or thigh pulling on land yet. He will however

ambulate to some degree in the UWTM with water level at midthigh. He

is still very flaccid in the rear, does not react to feet pinch

especially on the right hind limb(with minimal to no deep pain), has

no bowel or bladder control, but will hold himself up in standing for

a few seconds if placed. I was not discouraged yet at his slow

progress because I know there is still so much time to possibly gain

his function back however, as of yesterday we discovered that he had

a dislocated right hip that my vet was unsuccessful in relocating

under anesthesia today. Now I am extremely discouraged at his

possible outcome and prognosis of ever walking again and am not

really sure where to go from here. I have dealt many times with both

of these diagnoses/problems, but not simultaneously. I would love to

hear from anyone out there who may be able to give me some insight as

to where to go from here with him and what we may be able to do with

him. In additon, he has been acting much moodier, depressed, and

unwilling to exercise lately. His mood changed when he started going

home with his parents after boarding with us for over 5 weeks and so

we attributed it to that, however, now I have a better understanding

as to why he may have been acting this way due to his dislocated hip

that was probably popping in and out without us even realizing it

since he is NWB and the owners unfortunately have been negligent in

his care allowing him to drag himself around the yard and house all

day despite our repeated instructions. I am pretty certain that he

would not be a good FHO candidate at this time due to his lack of

complete function and muscle tone in the rear, however, maybe some of

you out there may have other advice. I feel really in the dark with

him at this point and am not sure where to go from here. I imagine I

can't make the hip much worse with our current rehab, but am not sure

if it is feasible to expect him to gain function back in the rear

when he has such neurological deficits along with tremendous atrophy

and a dislocated hip. Any help/comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Shari Sprague, MPT, CCRT