Canine Hip Dysplasia - urgent advice needed

wornoutmumoftwo

He has it fairy bad in both hips (left side is worse) but due to his age no bone/cartilage build up...and Ive been watching his baby videos. he's been bunny hopping since we got him, just never saw it before.

The vet is talking options with me at the end of the month. I want to have the 'talk' now but guess I need to wait so she can see how he's got on

gettingready

Zara was diagnosed withboth displasia and arthritis in may 2010 - vet wanted to operate. Zara's vet is orthopaedic vet.

I did not go for the op at the time, still not now.

Reduced Zara's exercise, shorter walks etc etc and using some "laternative" treatment/help - she has a bio flow collar and also gets Ester C every day.

She is not limping any more and generally seems fine although her Xrays from 2010 did show really BAD hips.

Pls get second opinion.

krlyr

As someone else has said, I believe dogs are born with hip dysplasia rather than "getting" it but whether it causes them problems or not depends on various factors.
My last GSD had hip dysplasia and the noticable symptoms started when she was about 2 - the first one I caught was a stumble/trip, I thought something was up with her front leg actually, but the vet decided while he was x-raying her to do a full lot of the elbows and hips and that's when he saw how bad her hips were.
Unfortunately her behavioural issues ruled surgery out, but I don't think surgery is only an option until they're a year old - at 2/3 we could still have opted for surgery for Prue if she'd been a good candidate. I believe there's several surgical options for them and some are limited to/more effective in younger dogs though. Your vet should explain everything to you - remember that you're the customer here. A second opinion could be worthwhile if you're in any doubt.
Personally if a dog of mine was to develop HD now I would opt for the operation sooner rather than later. My GSD had to be put down at 4 because despite of doing nearly every other treatment bar surgery and hydrotherapy (her behavioural issues made that impractical too), she got so bad within those 2 years that towards the end she was struggling with 5 minute walks on grass - the day she couldn't get out of bed and was whimpering in pain was the day we made the decision to put her out of her pain. If I felt my dog could cope with the recovery period then I would be willing to put it through those few months of discomfort and enforced rest to give it a lifetime with "fixed" hips. But that's my decision and one that might not necessarily be possible with every dog, you have to look at each case individually and go by your own gut feeling. I know of someone on a dog forum I'm on who's young dog has had both hips replaced and it's unfortunately looking like one of the replacements has failed (I think due to the dog's anatomy - skinny femurs but wide hip socket or something) and they're going to have to put him through further surgery. So there is no right or wrong answer, it will depend on the dog, on your circumstances, on the vets opinion and a bit on the unknown - you can't tell how quickly the dog wuld decline without the operation, or how successful the operation would be, you just have to weigh up the pros and cons and the chances of things.

1sue23

My border collie a rescue dog has severe HD, he seems to have compensated and manages very well his walk is very ungainly and his feet look terrible with the dew claw in the wrong place , but he runs and still plays ball and can climb , he is now 11 and shows very little pain and is a very happy dog , but if you were to see his xray you would wonder how he does so well .
He was born with it and it was obvious from a very young age so I suppose he has never known any difference . I was told limited exercise but being a border collie this was very difficult and decided quality of life rather than length result happy active dog , having said that I don't go hill walking because Inclines are more difficult for him but he manages well jumping into the car and manages the stairs well and settles very nicely onto the sofa.
I did have a German shepherd with HD that did not manage well at all and had to be pts this was many years ago although she also had severe aggression issue that may have been caused by the pain she was in .

lisawood78

I have a Great dane with HD, severe, both hips. She is 3 and was diagnosed less than a year ago. It became apparent in her when she started to rock to get up, she would rock back and forth 3 or 4 times before she gained her legs. She is on a monthly steroid injection and daily painkillers an that seems to be combatting the problems for now. She can charge around like a pup and only really displays signs a few days before her injection is due or is she slips on wet/slidy ground she takes a while to regain her footing.
We have been told she may require full hip replacement later in life but we will assess the situation if/when the time comes that her current treatment is no longer effective.

Good luck

Little_Moo

My choc lab had problems with his hips, ask your vet to refer your dog for hydro physio - it helps massively. They swim against the current to build up strength around the hips in the back legs.

He is much better now.

Frugalista

gettingready wrote: »

Is it a German Shepherd perhaps? They really are prone to HD poor things, expecially if parents were not hip scored to prevent or lower possibility of this ilness.

Actually, that is not true. The breed average hip score is no worse than many other breeds - and surprisingly lower than a lot of other breeds.:D

http://www.bva.co.uk/public/documents/Breed_Specific_Statistics.pdf

winterwhite11

i was born with hip dsplaysia which was not sorted out and i now have arthritus,twisted spine and am in pain all the time.
i,m not sure if animals get same problem from it but if they do please sort them out with ops .

wornoutmumoftwo

I've been doing a lot of reading and studying his 'baby' videos, firstly he's been keeping his back legs together since we got him, I just didn't see it before, and he has a sidewards sitting position, so I can see now he probably had this from the start and the fall has made us notice it.

I have the vets at the end of the month and am going to ask to see a specialist bone vet and then discuss the posibility of the operation as from what I've read this will give him the biggest chance of a normal life. He has no bone deposit/cartilage building around his bones at present so I think (hope) he will be elegible for the operation. It's awful watching him hobble around when his mind's telling him he wants a long run about.

Thank you everyone for your input it's been a hard week for me and I appreciate all your comments.

Caroline_a

As I have a Shepherd I spent a long time finding a breeder who I thought had minimised heredity HD as much as was possible, but it doesn't stop me looking at my boy and checking him over! He's very big, but exceptionally long bodied, and I fear that any weakness from his hips will be exaggerated by his length and his weight - he's 54kg - but not overweight at all, he's just a big boned boy!

It's so difficult, we want our dogs to be perfect, and they often aren't, but all we can do is ensure that we don't do anything that might exacerbate any weaknesses, minimise any pain they suffer and do the best for them when we can't help with the pain any more.