HELP! Need opinion on x-ray of 6 month old pup - Page 1

Hello All ~

I need some opinions on this x-ray.  This is our 6 months old female GSD puppy.  She was playing tug and yelped very loudly and then the right leg gave out on her.  The vet took this x-ray.  She is trying to say that the pup has bilateral HD!!!  Other than this tugging episode, she has been completely normal, active and pain free.  PLEASE HELP!!!  They sedated her for this x-ray.  What are your opinions?  What do you think of her positioning for the film?



 

Positioning of the X-ray especially knowing that the dog was sedated is not great.
However, I don't think that positioning of the dog would help a lot in this case, as these hips are bad.....How bad I don't know but they look bad.
If you got this pup from a reputable breeder I would at least let the breeder know and go from there.
Good luck to you both.

Well, the positioning SUCKS, frankly. The stifles are supposed to be rotated INWARD, not torqued outward. 

That said, the acetabula [hip sockets] really don't appear to be well-formed--in fact, they look barely present at all, which certainly qualifies as bilateral dysplasia and rather severe at that.  Often when the hip conformation is like this, you really don't see evidence of the dog having any discomfort, because the dog isn't experiencing any as the 'joint' is so non-existent that there isn't any bone-on-bone contact between the femoral head and the acetabulum; these dogs tend to develop musculature of their hindquarters which allows the dog to move in a near-normal fashion but the limb can become easily dislocated under the right circumstances...and that sounds like this may have been the case for you pup. 

I suggest you seek the opinion of a veterinary orthopedist, preferably at a veterinary school teaching hospital if at all possible. You have some decisions to make regarding the best management options for your girl so as to permit her to have the best and most comfortable quality of life in the years to come.  I'm sorry you and your pup are having to deal with this situation; unfortunately, there's a limit to what breeders can do to influence the risk of hip dysplasia in their pups, and even in when both parents are certified as clear, and there's generation upon generation of certified hip dysplasia-free breeding behind them, there can still be a 'bad shuffle' of the genetic cards, and one or more pups in any given litter turn out to be affected with the problem.

Positioning is not good, but xray is still diagnostic.  IMO your vet is correct,  hips are not good, moderate to severe HD for breed and age.
 

I would look elsewhere for the reason for the yelp, actually. Maybe as simple as a sprain or strain.  Hips aren't great, but arthritis is what causes the pain- as Hexe said, pain (at this age especially) is often not a factor in cases like this since there is very little contact. Femoral heads are ok at this point and if you play your cards right, you may have a sound dog for years to come. Keep her skinny, keep her on floors w/traction (keep slippery floor time to a minimum), swim her as much as possible, work her in sand, up hills, etc. Build muscle WITHOUT impact whenever possible. No concrete or asphalt running, soft ground only...think of how a wolf pup would live and try to emulate that- lots of steady exercise, not bursts of exercise, natural footing, natural diet. Her hips are not pretty, but I promise you, I've seen sound 6yr old dogs w/far worse hips. T

Positioning is horrendous- hips aren't AS bad as they look. This pup is still developing. One thing I would put her on immediately if you do nothing else in the way of orthopedics is Adequan injections. I've seen amazing results when it's implemented BEFORE symptoms and degenerative damage appear. Don't waste money on a subpar ortho vet. Get a GOOD one or don't bother. MANY want to cut open any GSD they see. FHO may be an option as she ages. That's probably what I would do if she were mine- I'd try to do all the things I listed above and then as soon as they started bothering her or I saw radiographic evidence that they were getting bad, I'd opt for the FHO. That's a fairly cost-effective way to alleviate the dog's pain. LadyFrost on this forum has a rescue that she did this procedure on with good results. Maybe she'll chime in or you can PM her. 

Best of luck. 

Sorry to have to say that I agree with your vet.  How severe the problem becomes as she matures is very possibly how you manage her.  If these hips stay exactly like this she will probably not have problems until very late in life as there are no hip sockets to speak of which DOES help with arthritis or lack thereof.   Definitely notify the breeder as there might be other concerns for the littermates.  I would keep this bitch on low impact exercises;  swimming, walking in sand;  on grass or other soft surfaces probably for her lifetime.  No jumping.  YOu want to build up muscle to keep these hips in place.  Good luck with her, Nan

Jenni, the only reason I suspect the yelp was associated with the hips is the OP's statement that the pup yelped and then the right hind leg gave out under her--makes me think she may have hyperextended or even dislocated the right hip at that time.   

Co-sign the Adequan injections, keeping the pup lean, etc., but still think a consult with an ortho vet @ a teaching hospital is worthwhile, though I also agree that I wouldn't leap into surgery immediately, either.  I had a 'failed foster' whose hips were similarly lacking in any real 'joint' construction, and she never did display any signs of pain; at 4+ years of age, there still hadn't been any degenerative changes. [In the end, it wasn't her hips that became an issue but rather the fear aggression toward people that had landed her in my life as a foster to begin with, as that got markedly worse when I moved to this very rural area and lost my ability to keep her heavily exposed to other people on a daily basis.] 

wait 6 more months

Hexe, I don't disagree that may be why the pup yelped- it's certainly possible, probable, reallly. I was only trying to make the point that the dog is not in bone-on-bone pain and that this is not a death sentence. Yelp may or may not be related. 

When the hip slips in and out of the socket, there will be pain. There doesn't need to be bone on bone contact. This puppy has sockets that are too shallow to retain the ball and the ligaments are now stretched due to the incongruity.  The OP can re-xray if he or she wants, but this dog will always clearly be dysplastic.

I've bred a few and owned a few with similar hips. With conservative management dogs like this often end up making fine companions for their owners. It's all about restricting their exercise, forcing rest and keeping them on the thin side by feeding a quality commercial or homemade diet. Swimming can't hurt either. I would hope the OP contacts the breeder and lets him know about this.