DISLOCATION OF THE RIGHT HIP
A female poodle keeps licking her malodorous Ehmer sling area. What to do?
Veterinary stories by Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow) 26 Dec 2022.

On 5 Nov 2022, the poodle dislocated her right hip. Vet 1 from another practice put an Ehmer Sling and asked the owner to return in around 10 days for review and X-rays. But on 12 Nov, the dog kept licking furiously and frequently his right belly area under the sling. What to do?

The owner consulted me since the poodle was spayed by me some 13 years ago. The Ehmer sling was done by another vet nearer to her home around 7 days ago. Now that the owner was worried about the dog's odour and licking, the vet would not see her on the same day. She gave her an appointment 3 days later. She could not wait and hence contacted me.

"There is a bad smell," I told the couple in their 40s. "It is better to remove the sling and check as old dogs have poor immune systems. With the stress of licking non-stop despite your E-collar, bacteria could spread to the blood and whole body."

"The dog has another 4 more days for a review by the Vet 1," the wife said. "Can you take it out, wash the area and replace the Ehmer sling? In this way, the sling would "cure" the lameness of the dislocated right hind leg?

A rancid smell wafted up from the right hip area. A large triangular wound exposing the abdominal muscles of 1.5 inches showed up after removal of the bandages of the sling.

"Not advisable to put back the Ehmer sling as the wound needs daily cleaning to heal up. It needs to be exposed to air to heal by granulation.

“Bandaging will cause more infections of the skin. Septic shock and death as the dog is really old.
He has full mature cataracts. He was losing appetite and was stressed out. I will not do the re-slinging as the dog may pass away from infections and malnutrition.”


The wife reluctantly agreed. We had several free tele-video consultations about her dog care for the next few days to save medical costs for the owner.

On 27 Dec 2022, the dog is no longer limping and can bear weight on the right hind limb as well as any normal dog. The gait was not perfect but the dog was not hopping or limping.

The owner is very happy. This video is the evidence.

Another video of the history is at:
   • VET CASE: DISLOCATED HIP. Ehmer Sling...  



FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Toa Payoh Vets or me at +65 9668-6468

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