Living with hip dysplasia - Page 1

I have a female (3 yrs old) and she just got her HD result: e (severe) dysplasia. The vet who took the x-ray and also others who do not know the bitch, when they saw the result, they asked me if the bitch has a normal life. All say that the dog should face serious difficulty in moving. Her life up to date is pretty much normal apart from the fact that she sits slightly more times than normal (compared to my other bitch that she got a1). Otherwise she is running up & down and when I trained her for conformation shows she did 5-6 kilometers per day with no problem. I was not aware of the fact at the time but she is really pulling hard on the leash and trots much faster than my "a1" bitch. Could it be that the dry food I feed her (Acana large breed since she was 1 year old) plus the liquid glusosamine & MSM complex I have given her from time to time has made such a big difference? I have switched during the last 3 months to Techni-Cal Bone & Joint formula which contains glucosamine & chondroitin sulfate of 2000 mg/kg. Any other suggestions regarding her diet and/or exercise based on your experience are more than welcome. Thank you.

Hi Petros, My GSD bitch Lily was diagnosed with severe HD at one yr old & was PTS after a short illness at the grand age of thirteen!! She managed to live a happy active life until the end. I made sure that I always gave her regular exercise & never over did it. I gradually built up to a good level of half hour - twice daily off lead at her own pace, if she was lame after i would drop back to the previous level, i eventually found what she was best suited to (limit ball chasing as it stresses the joints. On sat & sun she would have one walk a day but it would be much longer. I kept her weight at 32kg and also gave glucosamine/chondroitin which worked wonders. At 6yrs she stiffened up a bit but this was eased with Rimadyl. I also built up her vit C level gradually from 100mg -3000mg over the years & gave her a multi vit. She later also had Yarrow tablets & Royal Jelly which is good for animals a bit out of tone due to limited exercise. I limited additives to her diet that might aggravate arthritis & kept the house warm in the winter & gave her an orthopaedic bed to sleep on. I found that extremes of weather would set her symptoms off, but they would settle after a few days. She was the best dog ever & her illness didn't have any bad effects on her life at all, she was quite a famous dog & appeared on TV & in newspapers & magazines, her sheer love of life brought a smile to many people who met her on their daily commute. Although she must have been in pain, she woke up every morning full of joy at a new day. Many dogs are PTS with this illness, which is a pity. With a little extra care & consideration & never over doing it with them, HD is not a death sentence & in my experience, one of the easier disease to manage than others that GSD's are affected with. I wouldn't worry too much about your bitch, it sounds as if she is in very good hands & I wish her as long & as enjoyable a life as beautiful Lily.

Thank you very much Lily Dexter for your encouraging feedback. I felt very sorry for her a couple of days ago when I saw the result but with your story I feel much better! I shall try & do my best to comfort her and relieve her through exercise and nutrition. Thank again once more.

I was devistated when I got my females' OFA results...Moderate HD on one side. I never expected it by the way she moves. She's lightning fast and can turn on a dime. She's now 4.5 years old and you'd still never know by looking at her in action. She's never shown any lameness or discomfort. The only thing she really does is lean more on the good side when she squats to pee. My vet said to keep her on Glucosomine/condroitin (she specified to make sure it has MSM in it, not sure why) and active as usual until I see signs of discomfort, then treat her with rymidil (sp?) as needed. She gets plenty of excersise and I try to get her to the pool or pond to swim once a week which is the BEST excersise for her, and boy does she LOVE to swim. Keeping her lean and muscular is a must for her to have a chance at living a normal life. Good luck, Melanie

Petros, I am glad to hear your bitch is coping with the HD. My bitch was diagonised with severe HD at the age of 4mths, along with Pano and HOD. The poor girl has been through the mill. She is now coming up to 1 year and is doing well, but if you know what your looking for you can tell she has HD. The Pano still causes her pain and lameness, she also gets depressed and looses her appetiate occassionally. The HOD has cleared and left no obvious signs of having had this disease. When I found out my girl was in this state at such a young age, I contacted the breeder who said they would have her back but have her PTS. I decided against this, as I felt she could have a good life with the right care, and as she is a very loving and affectionate dog, I couldn't bring myself to have her PTS. She is doing well taking all the necessary supplements and I hope she will continue to thrive and live a full life with us at home. Another reason for responding to you is that I have decided to try the Techni-cal that you have put your bitch on. I have been looking for this type of food for sometime, but the glucosamine & chondroitin sulfate measurements have been next to insignificant. So thanks for mentioning this food in your thread.

These are wonderful posts on this subject. 99% of the time having a dysplastic dog put down is not necessary for the good of the dog. Most do quite well when the owner uses a little common sense and when the dog gets the right supplements. Glucosamine and chondrotin is not all created equally. Some brands are better absorbed by dogs that others. Cosequin seems to do a good job with most dogs combined with MSM. This supplement also comes in a liquid that may be absorbed quicker and I believe it is also avaialable as an injectable. Nothing works for every dog, sometimes it takes some trail and error. One of the most severe cases of HD I had in one of my dogs was diagnosed in a 6 month old large boned male. He was so lame he could barely rise or walk. As happens with many dysplasic puppies, he outgrew the pain stage and I placed him in a lovely home where he lived a long painfree live as a companion to a blind child. The only problem they ever had with him was his jumping a 6 foot fence LOL. BTW shame on any breeder who would require the return of a dog in order to validate a warrantee. Even worse is saying they will put the dog down if it comes back to them. With that sort of contract one could guarantee anything with inpunity as most owners are not going to return their dog and certainly none would do that if the dog were to be put down. Next time you see a contract like that, run in the opposite direction.

GSDfan- The MSM helps stop the joint from being destructed by inflamation. It acts like a steroid, fighting arthritic conditions such as OA and RA--especially the autoimmune type, such as Rheumatoid Arthritis. I can attest to this---For the last few years, I realize my own system has taken on some RA features. I tried an experiment by comsuming a MSM tablet. In a few hours, I had a sore throat (which, I haven't had in years). My recent, over-active immune system was being blocked. (I would probably give MSM separately from the Gluc-chond supplement--and a dosage based on knowing my dog's immune system. If a dog is highly allergic--it might cause additional problems). Petros-- Glad the MSM was able to help your dog. I also gave one of my dog's Rimadyl--but only when needed (not on a continual basis). It was a miracle drug as far as he was concerned (no problem). JDH recommended some reading material on Rimadyl in another post that put the drug in a somewhat unfavorable light, but my dog was one of the lucky ones that benefited immensely from it. (The younger the dog, I would only administer when needed---as to not do damage to liver and kidneys (as with any drug). If the dog was old, I would continuously administer to relieve pain. And Petros-- Twenty years ago, a vet told me one of my dogs could crumble at any moment. I was extremely careful with him. Never let him run with the others---we would take our special walks together--never over doing it. He was a very happy dog who never seemed to be in pain. He lived for 12 years--a lot longer than a couple of my others.

My puppy was diagnosed with Severe HD at 6 months old on both sides – she couldn’t even get up without crying. I couldn’t consider giving her back to the breeder. She was prescribed Rimadyl. I did some research before giving it to her, and found out there are some SERIOUS side effects associated with this medicine, and some dogs die. I also found out that most dogs do well on ¿ of prescribed dose. I saw no other choice but to start giving her ¿ of the recommended dose, and she did great. She was also on Glucosamine, chondrotin, and MSM, but I guess because of the severety of her problem it didn’t help too much. I’m glad it worked for others. She was on and off Rimadyl for about 3 months until she was old enough for FHO. We did one leg at a time. This surgery requires a very extensive and deliberate rehabilitation, but after several months she was using the operated leg fine. After almost a year passed since her surgery, I noticed her showing signs of stress and pain again, so we went ahead and did her second leg. After a couple of months since her second FHO – she is a healthy and happy dog, and can run and jump just like any other dog. Her hips don’t bother her at all, and she is off all meds. She is 3 years old now. FHO is recommended for dogs under 25 kg, and she is a very small Shepherd – that was very lucky for her. The recovery after surgery is not painful for the dog – at least I didn’t see any signs of discomfort. She wanted to play Frisbee the first day. But you have to keep your dog confined, and take her for short, ever increasing, walks several times a day. (It increases up to 45 min 3 times a day). This way the dog gradually learns to use her reconstructed hip joint. It just takes different muscles to get that leg moving after the surgery, and takes time to develop good coordination of those muscles for the leg to move in normal fashion. So even if your dog starts showing symptoms that interfere with her quality of life, it’s not the end of the world. There are surgical options out there that will fix the problem for good. I hope it doesn’t get to that point though!

Thank you all so much for sharing your precious experiences with me. This is one of the very good things of this database.

I have a female working/showlines with unilateral HD. I have her on supplements, I keep her lean. I take her swimming during the summer at least twice a week, generally every day during the week. She is active as my other dogs who have good hips, she plays ball, runs the fence, chases the cat. Oh by the way she is almost 8. She never limps except when she over does it with the ball and I try to be very careful that doesn't happen. I would never consider putting her to sleep because of a bad hip as long as she isn't in pain.............