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The rehab on the femoral head removal procedure is long and a little complicated, but I suspect your vet knows it and can instruct you. Also don't worry about the size and weight of the dog as once the area is healed and scar tissue in place it will make no difference. He will likely alwasy have a limp as he will have lost some of the anatomical properties which will leave him seemingly weaker in the hip because of the poorer body mechanics. He will have to be non weight bearing for quite a while and need some range of motion done with him to prevent to heavy a loss in his range of motion while healing takes place. Healing is slow in this case as the scar tissue needs time to establish firmly before any weight. Dogs with 3 good legs do well on this will likely be non weight bearing without any problem on his own. In my prior post I may have not been clear about pain. Normal pain post op and while healing is taking place, but once the the scar tissue is established it will not cause pain like one would see in a normal joint as the joint with its pain receptors almost does not exist and thats what I meant about scar tissue not having pain receptors. Pain receptors will be in the acetabulum (socket of the hip as opposed to the ball of the hip) and the joint capsule itself. See if you vet can leave the joint capsule as much as possible as it has properception sensors (position sence) that help the dog a great deal in his recovery and will have pain receptors, but these, once healing has taken place should not cause pain as the problem was in the femoral head.
Joe
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