Hip Dysplasia - Know the Symptoms and Treat the Disease Faster

[Beki]

the advised age is 12months to allow the skelital growth

x x x x

Our son - 4 yr old gsd we bought back from australia with us. - He has had displaysia since a pup. We have to regulate his exercise and is on daily doses of metacam in the morning and tramadol in the evening. This seems to manage his pain. He is still able to walk and run ok. Recently he slipped when paddling in a local brook and was panting heavily afterwards for few days and obviously in discomfort before a visit to the vet confirmed he had strained his back/spine. We are told with lots of rest it should improve and repair itself. The vet has got us to increase his medication (35mm meticam in the morning and 2 tramadol in the evening (for the week) and is currently walking around very stifly and sqeaking a lot (german shepherd talking). But the panting has stopped and it seems to be manging the pain at least. Any suggestions or comments that might help us. I am personally interested in any natural remedies - glucosomine, vitamins etc. Also can anyone recommend the best Hip replacement vetinary clinic in the UK ? against the obvious huge cost of the operation.. thanks - Richard

[ArchandEbs]

Originally Posted by richyb

Our son - 4 yr old gsd we bought back from australia with us. - He has had displaysia since a pup. We have to regulate his exercise and is on daily doses of metacam in the morning and tramadol in the evening. This seems to manage his pain. He is still able to walk and run ok. Recently he slipped when paddling in a local brook and was panting heavily afterwards for few days and obviously in discomfort before a visit to the vet confirmed he had strained his back/spine. We are told with lots of rest it should improve and repair itself. The vet has got us to increase his medication (35mm meticam in the morning and 2 tramadol in the evening (for the week) and is currently walking around very stifly and sqeaking a lot (german shepherd talking). But the panting has stopped and it seems to be manging the pain at least. Any suggestions or comments that might help us. I am personally interested in any natural remedies - glucosomine, vitamins etc. Also can anyone recommend the best Hip replacement vetinary clinic in the UK ? against the obvious huge cost of the operation.. thanks - Richard

Hi Richard

Arch has HD. He's 10 - he was a 34, 36 when he was scored. He has also now developed arthritis in his front leg. I got him off of the pain killers at 2 as I wanted to "keep them in reserve" for when he got older.

He's on a combination of glucosamine and fish oil and he has 1000mg a day. It seems to be doing very well and I only use metacam occassionally if he's overdone it when he's been running or if it's been cold.

We came the other way UK to Australia and the climate here has helped Arch.

I chose not to have hip replacements as Arch has a fear of needles!

If it's any consolation and no disrespect to the vets here - I found the veterinary medicine more advanced in the UK and there are a lot more drugs available in the UK that aren't licensed for use over here.

Someone recently told me that she'd never seen a GSD look as good as Arch for his age - so it seems to be working

[Kaylie]

Maggie has unfortunately got quite a few signs of hip dysplasia, although thank God none of the painful ones as yet, I have to wait 2 weeks before X-rays and it’s, as you can imagine, torture not knowing. Her signs are; swaying from side to side at rear end whilst walking (we always called her ‘wiggle bum’ and thought it was just her), bunny hopping whilst running, leans against thing when sitting, stretches a lot (possibly trying to push ball into socket) vet said she has weak muscles in back legs (although you would NEVER have thought so watching her play etc) and she reacts badly to knuckle testing.

This all came about as we were on holiday with her last week and she some how twisted herself and got a limp, we took her to the vets on holiday then to our normal vet yesterday even though limping had stopped and in no pain, both vets thought the limping was a sign of an underlying problem, which may not have even been picked up on until she is older had this not happened.

She has always been playful, happy, bouncy, fast running, and extremely agile, we even thought about doing agility with her after she’d reached two years old due to how agile she is, so I couldn’t believe it when vet thought Hip Dysplasia as quite a strong possibility. After hearing all the signs of it and realising that even though she isn’t limping, in pain or struggling to get up & down, she does have a lot of day to day signs of it as mentioned above.

She was exercised little and often up till 12 months old as recommended for GSD’s, and she has all the nutrients for healthy hips in her Royal Canin GSD food. All my family, who have always had GSD’s are shocked that Maggie of all dogs could have HD, simply because of how strong she has always seemed.

She is the most important thing in my life and we will do whatever we can to ensure she lives as long and, most importantly, HAPPY life as possible. I just can't help feeling that Hip Dysplasia will ruin her entire life, and I just don't want that to be the case. She is not even 2 years old, 2 in October, if its spotted so early and going to get worse and worse, then surely she is going to get bad younger in life?!

Thanks for reading my ramble.

[LOVEGSD]

Originally Posted by Kaylie

Maggie has unfortunately got quite a few signs of hip dysplasia, although thank God none of the painful ones as yet, I have to wait 2 weeks before X-rays and it’s, as you can imagine, torture not knowing. Her signs are; swaying from side to side at rear end whilst walking (we always called her ‘wiggle bum’ and thought it was just her), bunny hopping whilst running, leans against thing when sitting, stretches a lot (possibly trying to push ball into socket) vet said she has weak muscles in back legs (although you would NEVER have thought so watching her play etc) and she reacts badly to knuckle testing.

This all came about as we were on holiday with her last week and she some how twisted herself and got a limp, we took her to the vets on holiday then to our normal vet yesterday even though limping had stopped and in no pain, both vets thought the limping was a sign of an underlying problem, which may not have even been picked up on until she is older had this not happened.

She has always been playful, happy, bouncy, fast running, and extremely agile, we even thought about doing agility with her after she’d reached two years old due to how agile she is, so I couldn’t believe it when vet thought Hip Dysplasia as quite a strong possibility. After hearing all the signs of it and realising that even though she isn’t limping, in pain or struggling to get up & down, she does have a lot of day to day signs of it as mentioned above.

She was exercised little and often up till 12 months old as recommended for GSD’s, and she has all the nutrients for healthy hips in her Royal Canin GSD food. All my family, who have always had GSD’s are shocked that Maggie of all dogs could have HD, simply because of how strong she has always seemed.

She is the most important thing in my life and we will do whatever we can to ensure she lives as long and, most importantly, HAPPY life as possible. I just can't help feeling that Hip Dysplasia will ruin her entire life, and I just don't want that to be the case. She is not even 2 years old, 2 in October, if its spotted so early and going to get worse and worse, then surely she is going to get bad younger in life?!

Thanks for reading my ramble.

Oh Kaylie, I'm so sorry to read this about Maggie, I can imagine how devastated you must feel but there's hope, there are loads of dogs that live with HD and live full and happy lives.

Please keep us posted on the x-rays and I'm sure there will be plenty of people who can offer advice and the rest of us will be here to support you.
xx

[joyce]

Kaylie If it is HD her life does not have to be ruined, she should be able to run and have fun as normal, dogs with HD need the exercise to build up muscle, If I ever had a dog with HD I would treat it as I would any other, One of my friends has a dog with HD he swims runs in fields and jumps gates rather than wait for them being open
Hope this helps

Here is a photo of the dog

[Kaylie]

Thanks both of you for your replies.

Joyce, do you know how old your friends dog is? I realise she will most likely be okay and not notice too much change in her until she is older, I think my main worry is that when she gets to about 6 or 7 she will hardly be able to move!

[joyce]

Originally Posted by Kaylie

Thanks both of you for your replies.

Joyce, do you know how old your friends dog is? I realise she will most likely be okay and not notice too much change in her until she is older, I think my main worry is that when she gets to about 6 or 7 she will hardly be able to move!

He is 3 Kaylie, I have heard of plenty dogs living well into old age with HD AND more importantly having a good quality life.. No vet can say its HD without xrays, the swaying could be down to over angulation in the hindquaters I have seen many do this and have good hips, and if she lacks muscel this could also be a contributing factor, if she hurt herself the limping may have nothing to do with the hips it could be her spine she had hurt.

Wait till you get the xrays you may be worrying for nothing xx
Keep us updated xx

Kaiser sometime runs with the hopping of the back legs togetherShould I be worried?
Other times he gaits and runs normally beautifully
When standing he sometimes has his back legs standing close together too
Someone said they would like to see more tight muscle on his back legs

Linda x

[joyce]

Linda

Again alot of dogs bunny hop it dont always mean they have anything wrong with their hips