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My small dog has a broken hip. Is bone removal surgery normal?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | unspayed | 4 months and 3 days old | 8.15 lbs

best treatment on a small dog with broken trochanter major. Vets here want to remove the top small broken piece on Monday. I want to know of that procedure is normal. They say it is very difficult to attach it again with small dogs. They told me it would be better that way and the doig will be running again in a few months.

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2 Answers

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Answered By Lauren Jones VMD

Veterinarian

Published on May 15th, 2020

Yes, this is a normal and common procedure for this type of injury in small dogs. The procedure of removing the femoral head (greater trochanter) is referred to as a femoral head osteotomy (FHO). I hope that Kiki has a smooth recovery!

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    Answered By Tomasz Wnuk

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Femoral head excision is a very common surgery for fractures of the head of the femur, like this. It is relatively easy to do, and most of the dogs do very well after the surgery, If Kiki is a small breed dog, most likely she will be fine and in a few months time you will not be able to notice which leg she was operated on. Fixing a fracture of this part of femur is possible but it would involve, in my opinion placing an intramedullar pin and a plate or wire. It would be complicated but a specialist in orthopaedics should be able to do it.

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