treatment options for hip dyspasia - Page 1

What kind of treatment options are there for a pup that has hip dysplasia? I've been reading online about the triple pelvic osteotomy, does any one know how effective it is? The pros and cons to doing this? What about the total hip replacement? What about non surgical options? I love my new pup dearly but can't really afford to have a total hip replacement done. Any help you can give me would be great. Thanks. Mysti

Mysti Someone else will have to answer this question but sorry to hear about your pup. How old is it? Wish you the best on this..

If u know it has hd take the pup back to breeder. Did u have a contract/ w/ guarantee? and if not, u dont want to hear my solution to the problem. All the money u are gonna spend wont fix it and its unfair to put the pup thru that or any misery. How old is pup and how do u know it has HD?

Mysti, you might want to check out this website http://www.oslf.org/index.htm. It helps people like us who cannot afford such an expensive procedures. I was about to go this org to help me thru the moments with Zambi, as I thought that the only treatment was surgrey. I Later had 3 professional vets ( 1 was an orthopedic surgeon) telling me that it a bone fracture that never healed correctly. You may subscribe to the yahoo's Orthodogs group at http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/orthodogs/ or email orthodogs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Right now theirs total of 6465 members. By the way... If anybody have any space money laying around... PLEASE donate it to http://www.oslf.org you will help others with their k9s to get the best possible procedure.

It is my understanding TPO is not the best option for a dog that will mature over 60lbs. Can you please tell us how old your dog is & if a young pup, how was this diagnosis arrived at?

The information you have not given is what signs the dog is showing, if any, and how was this diagnosed? The bottom line is that many dogs with dyplasia do just fine if kept lean, given appropriate exercise and if necessary, some sort of analgesic. I have seen many dogs who were dysplastic who showed no signs of discomfort and led a normal life, and I have seen others who were uncomfortable at some stage in life. Putting a dog down is not always the best or right decision, but one has to take all the information into consideration. Personally, with the clients I have who have done such expensive surgeries I think they wasted their money. Most let the dogs become obese to begin with and that did not help. Like in humans, dogs can and do live productive lives with minimal intervention sometimes. Finally, a prior post asks about where you got the dog and if you got it with a contract and guarantee against hip dyslasia. If so, at the very least, you should review the options specified in the contract. If not, then get all the information and I suggest you considering conservative options first. Appropriate exercise, such as swimming the pup, may make a big difference. And be sure it is not a problem like panosteitis to begin with. Good luck.

Doing some research on this is the best thing you can do. Get educated on the subject. Don't just listen to peoples opinions. OFFA web site can get you in touch with qualified vet surgeons that are listed with and I believe approved by them. The Vets [ call them all ] can give you a wealth of knowledge on all options. As with any thing in life, learn all you can on the subject. There are other treatments that can help prevent the disease from becoming so debilitating but I would rather you research these out so you can have first hand knowledge of their effectiveness. The best contract in the world will not fix this problem and depending on the severity of the disease it doesn't have to be the worst problem in the world. Hope this helps and my heart goes out to you. In the meantime love the little guy.

Good post Hodie, there's nothing like a little hope. Hip dysplasia has the sound of something terrifying and that's not necessarily the case. You have homework to do Mysti.

If theirs no contract or guarantee... You are not inside the dumpster quite yet. you should checkout your local laws to see if you are qualified for the Lemon law. You may visit http://www.malteseonly.com/lemon.html to learn more.

There have been a number of good suggestions as well as questions such as age, etc. already here. I have had several dysplastic shepherds (one that a vet said would not walk past one year of age) that lived quite comfortably until age 11. At that time I was not aware of acupuncture for animals. Now, that would be one of the first non surgical things I would try if a holistic veternarian determined your pup was a candidate for it. You can "google" holistic veternarians, and I believe it will list them by state and what they practice. Best of luck with your puppy - you have many options. Judy