hip dysplasia (advice on managing this condition without pain-killers?)

hi my 4 year old golden cross lab has got hip dysplasia .he had x rays and a e c g yesterday .been looking for sum advise on this. been told by the vet that he must only walk on the lead from now no running or jumping just controled exercise on the lead.he cant have pain killers has he had a bad recation last year to metacam . any advise would be very grateful thanks

Hi, is your dog in any pain from his hip dysplasia?

My dog has HD, and luckily she is in no pain at all, but I give her syn-flex, daily (among some other vitamins) which helps her joints.

http://synflexforpets.co.uk/

Swimming is an excellent form of exercise, and builds the muscles up around the hips, and helps to support them.
Speak to your vet and ask if they can recommend a Hydrotherapy pool.

I was told by our Orthopaedic vet that my dog can carry on her normal exercise routine, even though her hips are very bad.

Just wondering why your dog had an ECG aswell?

hi thanks for reply. he had e c g because he had sum blood test and sum of the results can back abit high liver muscle damage , and the vet wanted to rule out heart trouble with him having a bad recation too metacam. also because he his so tired after excersise and was unable to walk.

Soory to hear of dog`s problems............my 6yr old has HD and he is on natural pain releif.......... so far he is doing well on it , he is on "Devels Claw& Yucca" this is a combination of pain and anti-inflamatry........he is also on Glucosamine and MSM.................

you could also try Hydrotherapy (controlled swimming) ask your vet and do a seach for the nearest one to you............. I have to say that since Bandit has been going to Hydro he has inproved tenfold......... it is the best form of low impact exersice your dog can have.......it will also build up the muscle that is wasted around the hip joints, which will help to hold and give the muscle some support........

good luck with your boy

hi jackie thanks for information. does yoour dog have excersise off the lead only my vet said lead control only no runs. he said he could do long walks but on the lead only.my friend and i walked the dogs daily for about 1 .30 through the woods he loved it.should i realyy stop his fun althergether,

Yes my boy has off lead exersice , I just make sure he does not do to much........... I think we have to makes decisions for ourselves on this , I look at it this way my boy loves his walks in the woods , he is 6yrs old we manage him well..........and I feel , and this is only my own personal veiw.......I would rather he had quality of life , and if it ment it cut his life short a little , then so be it................ I am lucky Bandit seems to cope quite well , he also has Spondylosis of the spine..............

so it is down to you , if you can manage the pain well, I would be giving him his off lead walks in the woods, maybe a little shorter, and say 3/4 times a week instead of everyday.............you can also put him on a flexi lead so he can still sniff about but not do to much running (that is what I do, when I feel he has run to much)

Also watch his wieght, keep him on the lean side.

My Brett(BC)had a hip score of 68(34:34=68 )

Perfect is 0 & the worse is 106 so you can see he had severe HD

He was 13 1/2 when he was PTS with cancer. His hips never bothered him, I kept him spot on for weight & exercised him normally, fed him a high quality raw diet & took him swimming as much as possible. He never did agility but did do obedience & never had any pain at all. He could clear a six foot wall & the vet I use for my hip scoring X rays couldn't believe the state of his hips as he had jumped onto the surgery examination table ! He was never given any medication for his HD

Is your vet experienced in hip x rays ? Many vets misread X ray plates(one reason I use a different to my GP vet is Jill my X ray vet is one of the best around & is rarely more than 1 point out when she looks at the plates)

Hi Dogbetty sorry to hear about your dog being diagnosed with HD ,as Joedee says there are differing degrees of HD and it doesn't seem to affect some dogs too much. In addition to the advice above I would add keep the walks short and where possible on soft ground, this puts less pressure on the joints.

One of mine has mild dysplasia, he has never been scored but I have seen the X-rays and my vet spent a fair bit of time going through it with me. He is on chondroitin and glucosamine tablets from hyperdrug daily and he does swim in the local river but apart from that gets the same exercise as the other two that are perfectly ok. He does small jumps in agility and I keep his weight down so there is less strain on his hips, he goes back for check ups every 6 months.

I am very surprised at your vet telling you lead exercise only as this is something that was recommended years ago but thinking seems to have changed now. Has your vet shown you the X-rays compared to normal set so that you can see what the difference is? Have they gone throuhg it all and explained it all properly so that you understand exactly why they are making these recommendations?

I was advised by my vet to carry on as normal as they felt I knew better than they did how to keep my dog fit without putting a strain on him they also agreed with me 100% that he should not be on anything like metacam until he absolutely had to be as there can be side effects and he is a fairly young dog (almost 5) and he was diagnosed 18 months ago. I would speak to your vet further and if you have no joy find one that will talk to you about things like this. It really does depend on how bad your dog is. I have found with Kel that cold damp and wet weather is bad but then so is really hot weather, he has a coat for the winter to keep him dry but he doesn't wear it when it is cold and frosty (does that make sense?).

Both my vet and I are great believers in quality of life for a dog. I would rather kel had a good life and was happy and perhaps didn't live as long than that he lived to a ripe old age and never really did anything. In an ideal world I would have both but unfortunately I don't live in an ideal world.

there is no reason why your dog cannot have a normal life and run around off lead like any other BUT the first thing you need to know is just how bad his hips are and that means going back to your vet and getting more info and possibly getting your dogs X-rays sent off to be scored

My X ray vet & I are probably in a better position than many people in that we have a copy each of the X ray of a perfect pair of hips & I know Jill gauges the X rays she takes against them. The plates were some of the very first she ever did & belonged to our late imported German GSD. Copies of the plates are used in all the teaching Vet schools in the UK & several abroad to show what whole hip area should look like(& not just the ball & socket joint)

I get very concerned about GP vets diagnosing severe HD when they have probably only seen a handful of X ray plates & advising little or very restricted exercise

BTW dogs don't have to be KC reg to have their hips scored