Need recomendation for bed for 3year female with signs of early hip dysplasia...

[Zellie&Major]

I'm new to this community...I was looking for help for Zellie's hip pain and came across this forum. Hopefully you can help me out! Right now, our vet said b/c she's a bit over weight it's hard to tell if it's all attributed to the weight or early hip dysplasia....either way I want to get her a new bed that will at least help alleviate some of the pain when she rests...also any "cures" or other preventive ideas would be appreciated...not opposed to alternative med....we looked at many different options for my 4year old male, Major, when he had "uncurable" allergies as a pup to keep from giving up on him and finally found something that worked! He's now a happy, healthy, loving, 120 pound baby! Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks!

(Zellie is overweight b/c my bf's in the army training and my current roommates are uncomfortable with GSDs...so Zellie is having to stay at bf's parents'...they love to feed her to show love...I'll be in a new living situation in a couple of months and can take Zellie back, so I'll get her diet in check then!)

[RogueRed26]

I have heard of ortho pedic beds that have foam and springs to give comfort. I would look into purchasing one. You can even possibly check one out at petsmart and see if she likes it.

[Good_Karma]

ChiroBed

This is the bed we are getting for our girl (should be delivered in a week!) with severe HD. You can also ask your vet if she should be on supplements. We use Glycoflex 3 for Rosa.

[jocoyn]

My gal has severe HD and has a cheap wally world bed - does fine

But weight weight weight it HAS to come off and keeping those rear leg muscles strong are both paramount.

She was 3 at diagnosis and is 8 now with no problems. no surgery. no drugs.

[Metalsmith]

Does your girl like to swim? Do you have a decent sized body of water somewhere close to you? Swimming is a fantastic low impact excercise for strengthening rear leg muscles.

[Zellie&Major]

Thank you all for your help!!!

Sarah, yes, there is a pond across the road from bf's parents'...however Zellie just likes to wade in and jump out She does love the pool though...now that's it's getting warmer I'll try to get her in the pool more for a bit of fun exercise!

Nancy, Thanks for the encouragement! I'm hoping as soon as she starts losing weight we'll be able to see an improvment! She's such a happy little goofball!

Leah, THANKS so much for the link! I'll ask her vet about the bed and the supplements...my brother works at her vet's office...I'll get him to ask her vet today or tomorrow. I'll let you know what he recommends for her then!

Texas Lone Star Ranger, Thanks for the recommendation! Zellie is slightly spoiled and might like her new bed better if she got to help pick it out! I'll take her to look around before we make a final decision!

[kiya]

That Chirobed is nice but its expensive. I get foam pads for a double bed and fold it in half, wrap a blanket around it then put a sheet on top for easy cleaning. Great bed about $20.

[carmspack]

what do you mean by early signs. Are you talking about a low grade , borderline , grade one. Those should not handicap a dog. Get the dog up and moving, even if you have to put her on a treadmill and have her walk a slow pace. 120 pounds for GSD is not a good weight, pardon me for saying so.

Get her off feeds with grains which are higher in pro inflammatory omega 6 , Supplement with fish oil - DHA / EPA , omega 3 high .

Put her on supplement that has high value ORAC , anti oxidant , anti inflammatory.

Walking gets endorphins flowing and that is a pain reliever.

Do an x ray to see what the problem is , how much remodeling or arthritis you have.

Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs

[jocoyn]

We spent the money to go to an orthopedic vet and a canine physcial therapist to help me set up a routine.

Walking uphill or wading in chest high water are both better than swimming per the rehab person. We have serious remodeling (sockets flanged, femoral heads look like mushrooms). We were discouraged from serious jumping and immediately retired her from SAR. They would rather me NOT throw balls with her and I do throw them more in a way she has to hunt for them than just chase them pell mell and I don't want her making sharp turns, but I would rather let her play hard and wear out quicker and maybe put her to sleep earlier than make her a miserable couch potato dog when she is not that kind of dog. It must be working - like I said the little stinker is 8 and other than looking like a pogo stick when she runs seems just fine.

I think different dogs are different. The vets take was he sees many more dogs suffering and PTS with DM and spondylosis than bad hips.

We do feed grain free food. Do give omega 3s (good grade of fish oil). We really did not see any difference with glucosamine supplements so quit.

NOTE: Strong rear leg muscles help keep the femoral head seated in the socket. The more it bangs around the greater the remodeling and damange - it is absolutely important to keep the rear drive STRONG and will help later as most really old dogs I have seen eventually start to loose muscle mass on the back leg and compensate eith the front ones.

[Lucy Dog]

Not really an answer to your question, but have you at least x-rayed her hips to see if that's even her problem? The cost of a good ortho bed probably costs as much as finding out if her hips are even the problem.

I'd start with finding out the route of her issues and go from there. If the x-rays show HD, then you can start with making her life more comfortable through supplements and beds.

If it's not HD, work on getting that weight off. I think x-rays would be the place to start if you haven't done that already.