Would like input regarding dogs with hip dysplasia

[JackieMaya]

I'm at work so don't have time to type too much, but I would love to get any input that any of you have who's dogs have hip dysplasia.

Did you have surgery done? Was it successful?

If you elected to go with the drugs for the rest of the dog's life instead of surgery, did the dog have a happy life? Could he/she play with other dogs and not be in pain?

I just think that it would be so hard to keep a 14 month-old happy, energetic, fun-loving puppy quiet and only on a leash outside for the 6 weeks or whatever the recuperation period would be for surgery.

I want to do what's best for Pooh Bear, and the more information and first-hand experiences I can get from people, the better.

Thanks, everyone!

[CincoandDahlilasgirl]

Ok well I had a whole bunch of info that the stupid IE messed up and deleted so heres the last piece of info I got. The other stuff I got doing a google search on dog hip dysplasia(sp)
[quote]I recommend Femoral Head Excision for any dyplastic dog weighing 45 pounds or less. A dog in this weight range will regain near normal mobility once it's hip has healed and scar tissue had formed. Larger dogs do not generally respond as well to the surgery; the scar tissue simply cannot support the heavier weight. Although the pain of dysplasia subsides, a heavier dog has less stamina and sometimes carries the affected leg in an awkward fashion. The recovery period for this surgery can be very long, 4-6 months, and uncomfortable. On the positive side, no exercise restrictions are necessary. In fact, the more exercise the patient gets, the quicker the recovery.

If Femoral Excision is called for, I recommend surgery on both hips at the same time. This forces the dog to use both legs immediately. Operating on only one leg at a time necessitates two hospital stays, two surgery's under general anesthesia, and additional expense to the owner. This approach also permits the dog to walk around on three legs and delay healing.

Triple Osteotomy of the Pelvis, in use for approximately 10 years, is the most common "preventative" surgery for treating hip dysplasia. I use the word "preventative" advisedly because the procedure does not prevent dysplasia but can prevent arthritis and therefore the pain caused by hip dysplasia. Candidates for Triple Osteotomy of the Pelvis must be at least 7 months old and have signs of partial dislocation of the hip. It is essential that the femoral head and the acetabulum are normal in shape and that there is no arthritis present. The abnormal finding on an X-ray must be only the painful dislocation. If the joint is allowed to remain as it is, arthritis will most likely form within 6-8 weeks. It is therefore important to have the surgery performed as soon as possible once a diagnosis is made in order to prevent arthritis.

The word Osteotomy means to cut bone. The purpose of the surgery is to set the bone into the socket. This is done by cutting the bone in three places and rotating the acetabulum so that the femoral head rests securely within it. Once the bone is cut, it is held in place with a stainless steel plate and screws or a combination of screws and wire. It is not necessary to remove the plates, screws, or wires.

The most important aspect of this surgery is determining the presence of hip dysplasia before arthritis occurs. In breeds that have a high incidence of hip dysplasia, X-rays should be taken at 6 months, 10 months, and 18 months of age. While the dog is sedated, the veterinarian should feel the joints to determine if there is any dislocation as the X-ray could be taken while the hip is not dislocated and therefore yield inaccurate information. Unlike Femoral Head Excision surgery, a Triple Osteotomy can be performed on only one hip at a time. Of the four hip surgeries discussed here, this one is the longest and most difficult. Additionally, we do not want the patient to start walking on it for a while because only the screws are holding the pelvis together. The opposite leg can be scheduled for surgery 6 weeks after the first one. The recovery period for Triple Osteotomy is 6-9 weeks. During that time exercise restrictions must be enforced. The dog is not allowed to use stairs, walk on slippery floors, or go outside unless on a leash. Two to three weeks after surgery, the dog can be walked for exercise. In any practice, there is a 98% success rate for this surgery. Success means that I am satisfied and the owner is satisfied with the dog's response to the surgery.

Total Hip Replacement involves replacing the ball with stainless steel and the socket with high density plastic. This procedure has been commonplace in the field of human orthopedics for many years. It has also been available at specialized veterinary hospitals for some time, however, it was not until 1976 that the procedure we know and use today was developed. A specially designed artificial hip is made for dogs.

Candidates for Total Hip Replacement typically have arthritis in the hips which caused mobility. Once skeletal maturity occurs, surgery can be performed at any age. I have performed this procedure on dogs as young as 13 months and as old as 14 years. Another indication for Total Hip Replacement is a poorly healed fracture of either the ball or the socket. Dogs in need of Total Hip Replacement must be examined by the veterinary surgeon to rule out any other possible cause of lameness. Often dogs are referred to me for Total Hip Replacement unnecessarily when a knee (stifle) ligament is torn or when arthritic changes in the spine are causing the pain. It is important that we treat the patient and not the X-ray. Just because a dog has arthritis in the hip does not mean that this is responsible for all of its lameness. Additionally, candidates for Total Hip Replacement must be in good health. Any underlying illness or skin infection must be treated before surgery.

In this procedure, the femoral head is cut off at a carefully determined angle, then all tissue is removed from the marrow cavity of the thigh bone. A trial prosthesis is inserted to ensure a good fit. Next, the cartilage and some underlying bone are removed from the socket and holes are made in the bone for cement that will hold the plastic socket. The plastic socket is then cemented in place. The marrow cavity of the thigh bone is also filled with cement, and the prosthesis inserted. Once the cement hardens (in 3-5 minutes) the ball is locked into the socket and the surgical site is closed. An X-ray is taken after surgery. The patient is discharged 2 days after surgery, and the owner's are instructed to follow the same restrictions mentioned for the Triple Osteotomy of the Pelvis. Approximately 60% of my patients walk out of the hospital better than they walked in. 6 weeks after surgery a dog is allowed full mobility.

The success rate of this surgery is 95% or better. Almost every pet owner reports that after 6 weeks the pet "feels better than it has ever felt", "hasn't felt this good in years", or " It's whole personality has changed- it is a happy dog again". Once healing is complete, the patient can return to normal activities, running, jumping, and playing ball. One of my patients is a search and rescue dog. In summary, hip dysplasia if detected early and treated appropriately should result in pain free hips for your pet.

We are also recommending several nutraceutical to the diet-these include MSM, glucosamines,and omega 3 fatty acids as soon as the disease is diagnosed. These products may help reduce the progression of degenerative joint disease. We are also recommending the use of non-steroidals such as carprofen or Etogesic for pain control when needed. Again, acupuncture is a very useful adjunct in therapy.It can be used as an initial therapy if surgery is not an option or if the TPO or excision arthroplasty is performed to aid in your pet's long term comfort.

We recently treated a Labrador with acupuncture. This pet had a TPO one year ago at approximately 7 mos. of age. The pup did very well, but recently was experiencing pain. Radiographs were taken and the surgical sites looked excellent. We treated this dog with acupuncture. Two days later, the owner called and stated her pet had scratched it's face for the first time. I was concerned that the dog was in pain, but what the owner meant was that the dog was able with acupuncture to reach it's face. We were thrilled with the adjunct therapies of both acupuncture and surgery.
[/quote]
[url]http://www.cah.com/dr_library/hipdysp.html[/url]

[JackieMaya]

Thanks for the info, Cinco!

Someone on one of my horse sites also gave me some links to info about hip dysplasia.

I'm gravitating more towards managing Pooh Bear's hips with meds rather than surgery. He's such a happy, active boy that it would be so hard for him to be quiet and not be able to play for how ever many months the post-surgery recuperation would be. I just want him to be a happy dog who can play with his sisters and not be in pain. The groomer that I took him to as well as the vet both said that he's one of the happiest puppy dogs they've ever seen, and so well-behaved.

I'm going to do a lot of research and talk to as many people with experience with this as I can before I decided what to do.

[Horsefeathers!]

I'm certainly no HD expert, but I will relay my own personal experiences.

My Lab (Tucker) had FHO surgery about 2-3 years ago. He had dysplasia that was caused by trauma to his pelvis. At some point in his life, according to x-rays, his pelvis and one femur had been broken and healed wrong. The way they healed caused the one femoral head to basically back out of its socket and he ended up with dysplasia, if that makes any sense. We weighed our options and went with the FHO (Femoral Head Ostectomy).

It was recommended that he begin using that leg almost immediately. I felt so bad because I was present during the surgery and saw just how gruesome it was, and I knew he had to be really sore, but we had to work that leg almost from the very beginning. We were not to keep him confined and still.

All in all, I'd say it was a success, generally speaking. Tucker is now eight years old, not a spring chicken, and he's having some bad days. Arthritis is really setting in on him. Bear in mind that he still has some old damage to his pelvis that couldn't be fixed, so we were just taking what relief we could buy him. He did seem to get around much better for a while, so I still consider the surgery a success. If he didn't have the other damage, I'm sure it would have been even more successful. We aren't considering more surgeries for Tucker; we're going strictly with pain management. We've really weighed this one out and I would rather see Tucker's life shortened with pain meds than have him linger on in pain. He does get glucosamine/condroitin/msm supplements and they do seem to help, but we do now give pain meds when he tells us he hurts. For a while, I was adamantly opposed to the longterm use of pain killers, but I can't just watch him suffer just so I can keep him here longer.

Our little Devin (Lhasa Apso) also has HD, about as severe as it can get, in both hips. He has virtually no hip sockets. He can "bunny hop" (his version of a run) anywhere he wants to go, but can barely walk without his legs going all over the place. He is much younger than Tucker (2 1/2 years old) and we aren't considering surgery at this time. We have tried different things, with varying degrees of success. He gets glucosamine/condroitin/msm supplements and they seem to help. However, far and away, the best thing we've tried for Devin so far has been Adequan injections. I've not been able to find any harmful side effects from using it longterm like you might see in pain killers (not saying they don't exist... I just haven't heard of any). As long as we keep Devin jacked up on Adequan, we don't have to give him pain meds. As long as he continues to show relief with Adequan or glucosamine supplements, we won't even be considering surgery.

In a nutshell, having gone through one surgery and dealing with another dysplastic dog, I believe the way I will handle it from now on will be to try to control the pain before resorting to surgery. With Tucker, we went virtually straight for surgery. I don't regret it, but I wish I had tried glucosamine or Adequan with him first for a substantial period of time. I mean, if it had helped, he wouldn't have had to go through the surgery, right? So as long as Devin is doing well, surgery isn't in his future.

Again, I'm certainly no expert, but this is just my insight from living with HD. Good luck to Pooh Bear.

[JackieMaya]

I got an email from Pooh Bear's foster mom, and she said that the rescue I adopted Pooh Bear from will pay for the triple pelvic osteotomy, which runs around $2,000. It will have to be done at their vet. So I'll talk with her tomorrow and get more info.

This surgery would probably be the best for Pooh Bear, but I'm just worried about how he'll handle all the down time after the surgery. Has anyone had this done on a young active dog?

But at least things are looking up for my little boy!

[StarFox]

First I want to tell you how sorry I am that you have to go through this. I understand how you feel. Zebra was diagnosed with Servere/Moderate HD at 15 months and had his TPO at 17 months. On the hip that only had moderate HD we got the TPO. The hip that has Servere HD we are getting a Total Hip Replacement (still saving up for that one).

The only "meds" Zebra gets is 500-750 mg of Glucosamine and 400-600mg of Chondroitin a day. I don't like allot of the meds that are out there right now for HD. I find them to risky and the side effects scary. I also want to start doing some non-traditional therapy for him by a holistic vet.

It isn't that bad trying to keep a young dog from being active after his surgery. It's not easy but it's not impossible. I remember after Zebs surgery and we had brought him out to the van to go home and right as the nurse and I were about to pick him up he jumped right into the van. Only 5 days after his surgery! Typical dog. :roll: When he got home he had a chance to go potty and then he went into his crate. I found that a big wire crate is nice because a dog can see out of all sides of it. I took him out every two hours to go potty and then it was back in the kennel. Put food in there once a day and gave him water every hour. He had to take pills 3 times a day. I think he was on3 or 4 meds at the time, Deramaxx, Clavamox, Zantac (for the hearburn that the other pills gave him) and some antibiotic so he wouldn't get an infection. He had to be in his cage like this for one month. The second month he could walk around but not much and only supervised and for short periods of time. The surgery was approx $2300, not including the meds and the previous x-rays and dr. visits. Very steep price, but was it worth it? Absofrigginloutly. I was not working at the time and had the luxury of living at home and I didn't have to work. This was difficult for me and I was home 24/7, i'd imagine that it would be difficult for you too, but I don't think it would be impossible.

I can tell you that it is emotionally and physically draining taking care of a dog with HD that has just had surgery but it was worth it. The money, the crying, the everything. Now with only one surgery done Zeb dosn't fall when running, dosn't bunny hop, dosn't cry out in pain if someone grabs his legs.

I don't want you to think that having surgery is the right thing to do or the best thing to do because it might not be for your situation. But I just wanted to share my experience and why I did what I did.

Also I have a stack of info on HD in a folder, I wish there was some way I could send it to you. :-? Oh and if you have any questions or anything just PM me. :D

[DogPaddle]

I fostered a dog, Tyr. He had very bad HD, he was quite young. We put him on glucosamine/chondroitin. It cost us just over $30 for a 500ml container of liquid med. The container lasted over a month. He enjoyed the flavour and would do tricks for the med. He rarely needed aspirin, perhaps once a week and apparently if we had tried yucca in addition to his gluc/chon he might not have needed that. He played a bit less than my other two dogs but he was an active dog in a three dog house. By the time he was 18 months he, according to his foster home did not need the glucos/chon although he was getting a large breed dog food with glucos/chon. He will likely have to go back on his meds sometime around 6-7 years of age according to his vet's best guess.

[xavierandrea]

Again I want to say I'm sorry to hear about Pooh Bear. My Free was diagnozed with HD at 6 months. Severe on one side and mild to moderate on the other. (I can't remember which side now I'm sorry.) I elected to not do the surgury. We placed Free on 1500mg of glucos/chon, Ester C, multi vitamins besides her daily brewers yeast and cranberry tablets. The vet suggest the glucos/chon for her joints and the Ester C to help absorb it. Free do have a limp and it is obvious there is something wrong with her. She doesn't trott she waddels. Its hard to explain how she walks. She does not pick up her pick up her legs, you can actually hear it slide across the hardwood floor. She does play with the other 2 dogs. At times they will get a little ruff with her and she'll yelp, they will sniff her bum and lick her face and then lay down together as if they know she is hurt. It is hard to explain I hope I not blabbering. ( And my spelling is so bad, I do apologize in advance.)

[Rowie-the-Pooh]

First off, I'm so sorry about Pooh Bear. :(

Secondly, I'm by no means a HD expert. I've never even had experience with HD, but heres my take on it. You could keep him on meds, for all of his life which I feel wary about IMO. Or you could do surgery and get it done with.. yes, for 6 weeks he will be cooped up. But being cooped up for 6 weeks means a life without HD pains! Well, that's the way I see it.. in the end its your decision :wink:.