Opinions please on hip xrays 6month female gsd - Page 2

As routine exercise and for the rest of this bitches life I would swim her daily if possible.  That will help to tighten up everything plus build good muscle tone to keep these hips in their sockets.  I would not want to guess a grading at this young age but keeping her fit and muscled up will help her during her lifetime.  Good luck with her,  Nan

Has she been spayed?

yes she has been spayed and this xray was taken then

this puppy is only 6 months old........
relax and give it some time to mature.
swim the puppy, take it to walk and play on loose dirt or sand.....
try again at 12 months.

Too bad you have spayed her at such a young age, her hips will only go downhill from now,
you have taken away the growth hormones that could have possibly repaired the bone somewhat.

In my opinion, a large breed female should go through one heat cycle before being spayed, then you know
the growth plates have closed and she is matured.

My one year old GSD is in her first heat and her sister has not come into season yet, GSD's need time to grow 
their bones.

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf





 

Not everyone agrees on that, MIrasmom. It's done, why make the OP feel any worse?

Keep her trim and don't let her jump or play too hard. Frisbees would not be a good idea.

She may never have any lameness problems. My first female had similar hips, she too was spayed at 6 months and lived a healthy 12 years. Every dog is different.  I don't know what your vet has said, but for the time being, I wouldn't be talked into surgery as she may not need it. Wait and see how she does. There are many GSD's walking around and doing fine with worse hips.

 

Mirasmom, your explanation was exactly why I asked if she had been spayed. I'm going to post an article pertaining to this topic, but on a new thread. UC Davis research. PS. First heat does not necessarily mean full growth is attained. I have some GSD pups come into heat when only eight months old. I like to wait until the female is over one year, and males (if done at all) two years.

The x-rays don't look good.  Hips do not get better, the reason for the two year OFA is that hips that x-ray good can get worse as the dog grows but dogs with problems will not improve.

She is spayed, so you didn't plan to breed. The good news is that there is much you can do so that this girl can live a long, healthy and even pain free life. Do some research.  Pain comes from the arthritis that forms as the bone mal-forms and slides in and out of the socket. HD is not necessarily a prognosis for a life of pain or worse.  The good news is that there are no arthritic changes yet.  Find a vet that knows the ins and out of HD treatment. I would not consider hip replacement but I might consider Triple pelvic osteotomy which can only be performed on puppies who do not have degenerative joint changes. The goal is to position the femoral head more deeply in the acetabulum. This could provide normal joint function and prevent arthritis from developing. You also want to build the muscles in her rear so the muscles will do what the shallow sockets can't.

Even if you didn't spay her, her sockets would not have improved. However, had you kept her intact, the hormones would have helped with muscle strength as well as other things. A large breed dog should not be neutered before growth plates have closed. Growth plates closing does not necessarily happen before a bitches first season.  The information is not meant to make the OP feel guilty but the information may help someone else.

I am sorry you have to deal with this.

I have had maybe 10 dogs spayed before their first season, no problems.  My first dog died from pyo. I've assisted with pyo surgery; a risky procedure at best given the horns of the uterus are filled with pus and many times their normal size. It is almost always emergency surgery and the female is generally past 10 and a greater surgical risk. Now I spay my bitches when they will no longer be bred. When I did breed, I recommended that females were spayed before their first season. That was done and, again, no health issues that could have been attributed to early neutering and no breast cancer either. I guess we all base our opinions on personal experiences. For me I will continue status quo; it ain't broken here, no need to fix it. There are just as many internet articles promoting early neutering, but I don't want to get into that discussion. I do the best I can with my dogs as we all do. .

The OP has received some very good advice on the best way to handle her dog. When my first purebred dog xrayed with similar hip conformation,  I was sick with worry thinking she was going to be in pain and might have to be put down. That didn't happen, she did well, never took a lame step in her life.

I had a female that graded as moderate at 8 months old, at 2.5 years she passed ofa as good.
There is always hope!