Help!! my 6 moth old got his hip x-rays back - Page 1

The Vet has reffered me to a surgeon. I know the left hip ( right side on picture ) looks bad. Is surgery the only hope? Should I do it now or wait until later? What about natural help like Glucosamine with Chondroitin. Swimming, massage? He doesn't seem to be in any pain now.

You have non-surgical options -- and don't go to surgery until you are seeing serious symptoms, anyway.  Read, read, read on the web:

1) Glu-Chon as you already know can help.

2) Megadoses of Vitamin C can help.  (See research by Belfield).

3) Interesting mixes of anti-inflammatories, anti-oxidants and glu-chon, such as found in pycnogenol can help.

4) Swimming can help.  Lots of swimming can help a lot.

5) Losing body fat can help -- but hold onto as much muscle as possible.  Keep in mind that when greyhounds are dysplastic, no one knows without xrays, because their musculature is compensatory. 

6) Build up hip muscle as well as you can without straining his hips and causing pain, as well as you can.

7) Anti-inflammatories will help years from now when you see real symptoms.

8) Surgery in a few years, or more, or never -- but not now.

I had a dog with hips no worse than this who did not OFA but nonetheless competed, jumping, until he was 7.  Never needed surgery.  Died at 12 1/2.  But he swam for miles every summer and I kept him heavily muscled.  Not skinny -- you must have muscle to hold the hips together.  But not fat -- worthless weight hurts.

I should add that very high protein (35% and more) raises acidity and draws calcium away -- bad.  But high protein helps build muscle -- good.  So what do you do?  I would stick with high protein but add some cottage cheese for calcium every day.

If you are a gambler, you can do more.  You could give your dog DHEA (get it in a health food store).  It is a precursor to steroids, but not a sterioid, itself.  It can help a six month old build muscle and lose fat.  It may have long term negative health implications, however.  If I had a pup with these hips I would probably try about 10 mg of DHEA a day when I was going to exercise him heavily, and nothing on non-exercise days.  When an adult, you could go up to about 50 mg a day reasonably safely.  Ask Abhay if he confirms this -- he may know better.

i just spoke my breeder she said 6 months is to early plus he was sedated and the legs pulled. Also the x-ray was tilted. She said wait till was a year old. so i am not as worried.

That dog has ok hips for 6 months. The dog is poorly positioned and the dog is young wait 6 months and  get a vet that is skilled in taking OFA xrays. His sockets are nice and deep and the balls are well formed without signs of wear.

davegaston,
Listen to MVF.  Personally I would consider talking with or getting another vet.  Surgery is not only incredibly expesive, about 2 k as I recall and the long prognosis is not good according to the research I have done. Not a good option IMO.
Did you send them to OFA ?  If not why ?  OFA does a good job of evaluating and the charge is only a fraction of the cost of the X-ray,  $ 25  for pre-lims and $30 if you want the x-rays back.

The X-rays looked to me to be poorly done, was the dog anesthised?  Either way I think your vet went way over board on rec. a surgeon.  Your vet is the problem more then the hips in my opinion.  There are way too many vets out there that do not have a clue.  IMO I would follow MVF advice.  I would be real curious to see how your dogs hips look at a year, might suprise you.  Always spend the extra $25 to get a real opinion, they also take into account the poor positioning. Good luck and remember that you don't need to panic over this situation, I don't believe it is as serious as your vet has made it out to be. Again, JMO

The dog is very poorly positioned for the radiograph and the left femur is displaced. I would examine him again six (6) months from now. In the meantime, place him on an adult dog food with a 24%-25% crude protein level and use a Glucosamine/Chondroitin supplement to lubricate ALL of his joints.

Some good advice already-keep him lean. I see no serious issues with his hip quality at the moment. He has much laxity but he is a puppy. When you examine him again, let him spend the early part of the day with good, but not strenuous exercise, and use the minimum amount of anesthaesia to sedate him, if any at all is needed.

Other supplements? Beware. Additional calcium alone will upset the calcium vs. phosphorus balance. Any addtional calcium should come from green (uncooked) knuckle bones as it will be balanced.

I can only make an estimation by looking at the radiograph pictured above, but I do not see any serious problems with the hips of this puppy. I do not see any femur thickening and I do not see any arthritic nodes. Of course he is still a baby. Raise him carefully as you should anyway, and tell us what you discover six months from now.

Best Regards and Good Luck,

Bob-O

Looking at the x-ray the only thing I can say is that, in my oppinion, your dog does NOT need any type of surgery.  Most likely, the dog is not even dysplastic.  The x-rays were done terribly, the position of the dog is terrible and thus makes the hips look much worse then they are.  I would wait until he is a year, keep him on Glucosamine/Vitamin C and a quality dog food, then re-do x-rays with a vet who knows what they are doing.  Leerburg.com has a great article on the difference bad positioning can make on an x-ray. 

If want to send a xray to OFA for a prelim do not send that xray get a reffereral from a local gsd club or breeder for a skilled vet and take new ones! Again just wait for  6 more months it will give you a better idea on how the hips will look. Try to get it done without anesthesia if possible and with digital equipment.

I don't see anything wrong with this pups' hips other than what could be normal laxity in one hip - at 6 months old laxity of this nature can be quite the norm.  Take x-rays again in a few months - close to a year old would be best - and use sedation, more importantly use a vet that knows how to position the dog exactly straight.  I'm confident if you do this you will see a nicely put together set of hips that would pass OFA without a problem.

molly