treatment options for hip dyspasia - Page 2

There are lots of options from fairly non-invasive to more invasive, the most drastic being hip replacement. I would always start with the least invasive options and progress from there, while keeping in mind that the treatment choosen might not always be in the dogs actual best interest. Difficult to make any suggestions really without knowing age and if there are already clinical signs of lameness and what the prognisis is so far. As Hodie suggested, make sure puppy grows up and then stays lean and will be exercised appropriately. Avoid anything that will put strain on the joints. Ie playing with a ball is not such a good idea: starting from zero and pushing off to a fast sprint, stopping dead once caught up with the ball, or often twisting the body when close the ball if it is still bouncing around. Then turning hard, running back, often coming to a hard stop at the return. Look at the dogs motion before you engage in an activity and avoid such stresses, including sharp turns, hard stops, jumping, pulling, and repetitive motion like jogging and running next to a bike. Adjust exercise to the dogs physical limits. If 4 kilometers in one stretch are too much, settle for 3, or 2 or 1. Good exercise is free romping, and always stop when the dog seeks rest naturally, regardless of age. Make sure the pup does not get enticed to overdo it by other dogs or people. Good exercise for a dog with joint issues is swimming, couple of half hour walks and leisurely play time (romps), some search games that engage and exercise senses but not stress the body (ie have dog search food that you have spread on lawn, and/or use a treat ball for the daily feedings). For general maintentance a good food that will keep the dog lean naturally will help (as always I recommend Eagle Pack). Supplement with high doses of Vitamin C (2-4 grams per day of Esther-C); Glucosamine or Chondroitin with MSM, not as part of the food but proper supplementation in amounts that will have therapeutic effect; Omega Fatty Acids; kelp.

Non-invasive treatments for example are: CARTROPHEN injections, which are not available in the US, but Canada. I am sure you can order it in Canada and have it shipped and then administered by your vet. It lubricates the joints much like glucosamine/MSM just more effectively, is relatively inexpensive, works nicely, has few side effects and as far as I know can be given long term. Usually results show after 4 weeks. This would be more on the preventative side to make sure arthitic changes to the joint appear as late as possible or not aggrevate such changes further. PROLO-Therapy, comes from human medicine and consists of injections close to the joint that create scar tissue which will then strengthen the joint - not very common, but have seen the results. Worth a try. Gold implants, to control pain and arthritis - no personal experience with it in dogs yet but know of good results with gold injections in humans. Accupucture, can control pain and increase mobility, have it seen work well in arthitic dogs. Slightly more invasive but still fairly inexpesive is a procedure I forgot the name of right now, basically muscle is cut that will pull the joint togehter... The Rottie of my dads GF way back when had this done, short recovery time, great results, dog lived past 12 years. Plus there is a whole range of other options. Keep in mind that many vets these days offer advice that will fill their koffers first. I would never advise someone to do a total hip replacement. The recovery time (long) is torture for an active breed. If the hips are so bad that they need a total replacement - will the dog really have a good life even with a replacement? Talk to a human who has had hip or knee replacement, there is always residual pain, the joint is not like new afterwards... Contact a few vets for options and let the vets know that you are not just going to follow one advice blindly. That usually gets the best result from the vets. A vet that refuses to be 'monitored' in such a way is not a vet you want to stay with anyways. My vets know that I always consult with other vets I use for possible options or just to bounce things off of them. More people see more things, know of more things and think of more things. No experience with the triple pelvic osteotomy. Would be interested in hearing some results. Good luck.

I thought I would jump in on this. The advice of Hodie to keep the dog lean and the advice of DH about the way to exercise the dog (no twisting etc) are both very good advice. Basically the word displaysia means "does not fit", it refers to the ball & socket it is basically an incurable condition (imho). What can be done is to minimise it's effect on the dog. The basis of any excersise program is to build up muscle that will support the ball in the socket. Some form of hydrotherapy will be excellent to help with this as the dog will build up muscle without pounding the ball and socket joint. DO NOT allow the dog to be overweight!! Good luck Chris

I'm "blessed" with my second dog with a super shallow left hip. Had him prelimed at 6 months, as we knew that we'd be working in Schutzhund. I took him to a specialist, x-rays in hand. He really thought that he'd be a TPO dog. I questioned him about the number of dogs that have a TPO as puppies and then still need a hip replacement as they grew older. The odds were too high for me. After a sedation thorough exam of the laxity in his hips, he gave me great news. His hips are very "tight" and recommended up-hill trotting and exercise in chest deep to the dog water exercise. Swimming is not the answer for developing hip muscles. The dog uses mainly his front legs in swimming. It's not bad for them, and is great exercise but the act of running and trotting in chest deep water makes them use their rear muscles in a way that is great for HD dogs. Thank God that Jaden, at almost 3, is showing no signs of any problems. And yes I do play ball with him and work him in Schutzhund. I had a lab that lived to 14 before showing signs, and that was before all the great new supplements. I feed great food, keep all my dogs lean and fit, different than just keeping a dog thin, and feed them supplements, recently changing them all the Animal Naturals supplement. It's very important in a "sore" dog that you eliminate the inflamation before you give the supplements. All of this is just MHO. CH

Dogbyte Just to take issue (politley) a dog does use it's back legs when it swims. I have a hydrotherapy centre and we have a pool with underwater lighting that enables you to see exactly what is going on. Also swimming is excellent for building muscle on the hind quarters. One of the reasons is that it uses it's legs to propel itself forward and has to work against the resistance of the water to bring the leg forward again. Twice the bang for your buck and twice as good as uphill trotting with a lot less impact damage on the hip. I can catagorically state that any land bases excercise is not as effective as water based and can be very very damaging Having said that, I prefer to use the water treadmill in most instances as you can reproduce any gait that you like by varying the water height and the speed of the belt. The treadmill has glass sides so you can see what is going on and vary the amount of weight the animal bears down with. Anyway that's my opinion. Chris

Anytime a "pup" starts showing signs of HD it's going to be tough.

I also have a hydrotherapy pool for canines and yes, they DO use their back legs and they do develop all their muscles being used in swimming. One only has to take measurements to document this. Underwater treadmills are also useful. Pulling in sand or other types of exercise can be beneficial to dogs, but I would caution people about what they do if a given dog has already been diagnosed with dysplastic hips. The trick obviously is to find an exercise that the dog can tolerate without increasing discomfort or causing further joint degeneration or damage.

Hello everyone thanks for your replys. So here are the answers to some of your questions. My male is almost 1 1/2yrs old. I got his hips prelimbed when he was 9 months and he was diagnosed with mild hip dysplasia in his left hip with the following marked on the preliminary report sublaxation, osteoarthritis/DJD, shallow acetabula, and unilateral pathology. I knew something was wrong. He was having a very hard time getting up when he was laying down. He would have to try two or three times before he was capable of getting off of the ground. In the summer I am able to keep him well exercised by taking him swimming but in the winter I have been running into problems keeping him exercised. We get a lot of snow and it gets extremely icy, plus where I live there are a lot of roaming dogs and I don't want to have to worry about him getting into a fight with another dog or slipping when it's icy out. He has always been kept lean and is fed a high quality dog food. I also supplement his food with a liquid glucosamine and chondroitin, along with MSM. He was fine this summer but this winter he seems to be in pain. I tried to put a warm rice pack on his hip but he wouldn't let me and would keep moving to get away from me. I haven't given him anything for the pain because I don't know what is safe to give and what isn't. I have heard bad things about rimadyl and the effects it can cause. Yes I did have a guarantee with this pup and the breeder did honor the guarantee and give me a replacement pup. Mysti

Mysti, You say his dysplasia was diagnosed as mild. Who gave you that reading of the x-ray? And are you certain that his difficulty getting up was not due to say, panosteitis? I would talk to your vet about using Rimadyl. Do not believe everything you hear about this and other medications. It is a wonderful medication for the overwhelming majority of dogs and it may well bring him some relief. I have used it for years on many dogs without problems. There are, like with all medications, certain risks, but in my opinion, they are minor for the majority of healthy dogs. Certainly keeping him warm too will help, but he is not going to tolerate a heating pad probably, so don't worry about that. Do you have him sleeping on an ortho bed where he has some padding? That might be worth a try as well. I would go back to a good ortho vet and ask about options. I would personally not recommend something really major and invasive unless you are more comfortable that it would help. I have a rescue here whose hip I replaced and he has done remarkably well and one would never know he had a broken hip. How do you gage that he is in pain? If you are nervous and overreacting maybe he is not really in discomfort. One the other hand, perhaps he is, and therefore there are things you can try before going to some invasive surgery. Slipping on ice can be a problem. So it is likely wise to minimize his time out where he could slip. There is NO scientific evidence that glucosamine or chondroitin sulfate or MSM do any good for humans or dogs. But a trial of an anti-inflammatory would be a good move. If you do not want to try this, there are other medications that are similar that will help, or you can try plain aspirin in a dose your vet suggests. Your feeding him properly and keeping him lean and swimming him when you can are all good options. However, like with humans, it is really important that you find some way to get him some tolerable exercise this winter. Otherwise it just makes it worse. We have had the coldest winter this year I can remember so I know what you mean. But you must not just let him lie around. Good luck.

When he is in pain he will go and lie in another room of the house and doesn't want any other dogs or people around him. If you don't leave him alone he will give a small growl and then get up and move to another part of the house.