dysplastic dog - Page 1

here is the scenario, one of my dogs is almost 3 years old; he is working lines, a rescue when he was around 10 months; good overall qualities with veyr high prey drive; i don't work him; he is one of my pets. took him for an x-ray exam of his hips; his left hip is busted with signs of regeneration and remodeling of the joint; areas of translucency and obvious asymmetry with the other hip which looks good; the bad hip looks actually terrible! i'm not sure what to do... i was recommended a total hip replacement The vet was surprised the dog is not in pain and moves and runs so well, just as much as I am surprised. What would you out there do if this was one of your dogs????? is unilateral hip dysplasia possible?? or could this finding be the result of inflicted trauma? a total hip replacement costs around 3k!!. I was offered the alternative of putting him down because he will eventually suffer in pain... he is a healthy dog! any comments are appreciated! kosta

I had a dog who was severely dysplastic and lived to be 12 1/2 and I just had to put him down a few months ago. He was diagnosed with the same as yours at age 4 months and I was told to euthanize him then. That dog taught me more than any other dog I've ever had and he lived a relatively pain free life. I would never euthanize a dog that is outwardly not experiencing debilitating symptoms. I had acupunture and chiropractic adjustments done for my guy and it seemed to help a lot. At the time I didn't have the money for expensive surgery so I opted for medical treatment instead and it worked. Use your own instincts about your dog. If he is living a full life, why cut it short just because someone suggests that he must be in pain. There are all kinds of medical alternatives available to consider. You will know when his quality of life is less than it should be. Best of luck. Judy

thank you. he moves well, runs well, doesnt' limp;the hip really looks terrible on x ray; the vet thinks he must be in pain but his drive and energy takes over it; he couldn't get a full view on x ray because he couldn't extend the hip fully for the proper x ray position; i think he is not in pain but i'm afraid the way the hip looks can only get worse... the vet didn't diagnose hip dysplasia but server degenerative joint disease. i don't have that kind of money; i appreciate more views of other people if they were facing this dilemma, kosta

I've seen this question posed on other lists.... I am very hesitant to go cutting a dog who is not showing signs of difficulty.... nowadays I think we are so quick to fix things because we have such great technology..... it's a really tough and personal decision to have to make.... First off, don't tell the dog he has a bad hip, he obviously doesn't know it just yet! I know of more than one dog with really bad looking joints on xray who lived to a ripe old age when given appropriate exercise (swimming is the best, but walking will help too), kept very very lean... I would say rail thin, given a great diet and good supplements..fish oil, glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, hyaluronic acid, etc... adequan injections of need be. I know of others who were miserable, I myself had a 5 month old with some of the worst hips I've ever seen!! I believe that any time you cut into a bone you are setting it up for future arthritic changes.... I believe that the surgery knocks the "crap" out of them and they are in so much pain afterward, I really wonder if its the right thing to do.. and yes unilateral HD is entirely possible.. had a dog diagnosed at 2 years, he lived to be 13 and was in very good shape.. There are a ton of dogs of all breeds with bad hips running agility and they are fine!! It's true, they will have arthritis eventually but so will they with a surgery.. I think you have to decide, and yes the money is a huge part of it... as well Good luck

I would let him go on for as long as he is comfortable. Like JudyK said, he will let you know when he is in pain. Vets don't know everything. I know the x-rays say one thing, but if he is happy, then I would treat him sypmtomatically as the need arises. Best of luck, Theresa

Trust your dog, he will tell you if he's in pain and then there are many pain meds you can try. In the meantime you might want to think about giving him something like Cosequin. There are other less expense supplements that have similar ingredients, but in my experience none work quite as well as Cosequin. Years ago I placed a severely dysplastic dog to be a companion for a blind child. The puppy was very lame at 6 months. I rested him, gave him a joint protective medication, kept his weight down and in a few months he was no longer lame. He lived to be around 12 if I recall correctly and the only problem he ever gave his owner was he jumped the 6 foot chain link fence, so they needed to modify it to keep him where he belonged. He was never xrayed again, but given he was severely dysplatic at 6 months, I'd expect that an xray would have labeled him as a hopeless case as an adult. I'm glad I gave him a chance.

BTW, Kosta, I forgot to mention this dog had severe HD in BOTH hips. Frankly I'm surprised that any vet would suggest putting down a dog for something that "might" happen in the future.

I have friends whose vet said pput dog down and they were as pig headed about vets as I am, and the dog lived to be 13 years old , she used the Geletin Joint and a Gold Supplement that Im sure some people on this board are able to relay where to get,,,let the dog go till u see he is in pain , then put him down, I dont have 3 K either nor or those surgeries every even 50% reliable and u spend a lot more mabee 2000 more in outpatient bills and upkeep in ad to the original bill and them 4 years or 2 years lataer have to put dog down because it didnt work and the dog may not go through the surgery physically and wont be the same dog after all that trauma.......my opinioon from site of others having spent thousandss and lived to tell the do not ever do story......A specialist in this field is over that price and I wouldnt let an ordinary vet touch it.......

I had a situation pretty much identical to what you are saying. Kept the dog thin & well muscled (lots of swimming & running in chest deep water). He had no pain until 10 yrs old, & I had the hip replaced at that time, with excellent results. Keep listening to the dog, but start putting a little $$ away in case you need to replace the hip down the line.

I had a bitch with grade 4 both hips. The left hip had only a half of the femoral head. Xrayed at 26 months with slight arthritis in both. She liked to work so we quickly did 1,2,and 3 and then retired her as she showed signs of weakness in the rear. We have extremely cold winters so I limited her outdoor time and started her on glucosamine. She came through that winter great and I thought of competing with her but after a month of work I saw instability. Stopped and rested her and did an FH which helped her use her working needs. She is now 9 years and still happy and going strong. I did then and still believe that her high pain threshold was her savior.