1 Year old with Hip Dysplasia..wanting to avoid surgery

[jocoyn]

Ok some helpful things:

Keep the mucles in the back strong. Walking him uphills and in chest high water is best.

Range of motion excercises are good to keep that joint moving as well as possible. If there is a doggie physical therapist within a decent drive it would be worth an appointment for them to show you what all to do based on his condition.

I also give turmeric 1000mg a day to my senior dog and 500mg to the older puppy ..... the old guy has some back arthritis but I am unaware if the young one has any ortho issues yet. Need to get him x-rayed for prelims at some point.

Vitamin C, Ester C - I am no expert on this one, maybe someone else can chime in with a good dose. I would start at 500mg a day...but with a young dog I am a bit hesitant with vitamin C and concerns about bone remodeling. Ask the vet about that one.

I give Grizzly Salmon Oil and Vitamin E (D form, not DL) 400mg daily. For the Salmon Oil the bottle has the number of pumps to give.

For the glucosamine, I like glucosamine + MSM. I give actiflex 4000, and calculated the level based on the glycoflex iii dosage. But cosequin is definitely good stuff but high dollar. I have heard dogs really do wonders with injections

Keep him lean and muscled. No jumping and avoid sharp turns on runs. They told me not to run my dysplastic female but I think it helped her because they were graded severe and never gave her any trouble till the day she died.

The other thing I would do is see if there is a holistic vet near you. My old guy is having some spinal issues and they are doing acupuncture and cold laser therapy and it really seems to help him.

[Jax08]

How about laser therapy? You are in CA so instead of running or high impact, how about swimming?

[Jmcgreggor]

Originally Posted by jocoyn

Ok some helpful things:

Keep the mucles in the back strong. Walking him uphills and in chest high water is best.

Range of motion excercises are good to keep that joint moving as well as possible. If there is a doggie physical therapist within a decent drive it would be worth an appointment for them to show you what all to do based on his condition.

I also give turmeric 1000mg a day to my senior dog and 500mg to the older puppy ..... the old guy has some back arthritis but I am unaware if the young one has any ortho issues yet. Need to get him x-rayed for prelims at some point.

Vitamin C, Ester C - I am no expert on this one, maybe someone else can chime in with a good dose. I would start at 500mg a day...but with a young dog I am a bit hesitant with vitamin C and concerns about bone remodeling. Ask the vet about that one.

I give Grizzly Salmon Oil and Vitamin E (D form, not DL) 400mg daily. For the Salmon Oil the bottle has the number of pumps to give.

For the glucosamine, I like glucosamine + MSM. I give actiflex 4000, and calculated the level based on the glycoflex iii dosage. But cosequin is definitely good stuff but high dollar. I have heard dogs really do wonders with injections

Keep him lean and muscled. No jumping and avoid sharp turns on runs. They told me not to run my dysplastic female but I think it helped her because they were graded severe and never gave her any trouble till the day she died.

The other thing I would do is see if there is a holistic vet near you. My old guy is having some spinal issues and they are doing acupuncture and cold laser therapy and it really seems to help him.

This was super helpful! You basically have your dogs on the things I was looking into. Reading something on Google and actually hearing someone use them and have good results are two completely different things. Hearing your girl do so well for so many years gives me hope. I never thought about the ester c and growth. That's def a good topic. I have heard about studie with ester c on pups to stop hip dysplasia in its tracks. I'm really liking the fish oil idea but worried about the vitamin e. Hopefully my vet would know a dose because wouldn't it be similar to giving fish oil for his skin/coat? Or are you giving a higher dose?

How do you feel about orthopedic beds? Our boy does sit on the couch with us but I think that's done. I'm worried even about that one foot hop up there.

Thank you so so so much for taking the time to write me back. I love this dog with all my being and I know I have a very tough road ahead of me but he is worth the tears.

[Jmcgreggor]

Originally Posted by Jax08

How about laser therapy? You are in CA so instead of running or high impact, how about swimming?

Laser therapy?

[jocoyn]

It is like a diode laser they hold and it penetrates deep. I can tell a difference after the laser and acupuncture treatments for my old guy. His hips have no trouble, just the spine and some neurological issues though.

The vitamin E is necessary if you give fish oil as metabolizing the fish oil depletes the body's stores of Vitamin E. You don't want to go wild and crazy with this stuff - because fish oil can also impain blood clotting so the recommendations on the bottle are what I use. the 400mg I have done for years on the Vit E as, I am sure, many have.

Swimming is good but the rehab PT lady told me it can cause too much hyperextension and not really work the leg muscles as well as walking in chest deep water. I am certain you have them in California! They also have water treadmills that are wonderful but that can add up both in time and money. The water takes some of the load off of the joints........

I can't stress how much my trip helped me come up with a program for my dog. She passed away a few months ago at 9 from an unrelated cancer but she was still chasing balls the day before she died.

[Jax08]

diode - that's what my chiropractor called it today. I'm using it for my herniated disk in my neck. They seem happy with the progress in just a couple of weeks.

So walking in the water is better? I'll remember that. Thanks Nancy!

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

OUCH! Acti-Flex K9 website hurts my eyes - do you use the dog version Nancy?

How long does it last for two dogs?

Sorry, OP! I am curious about that, too!

I have 4 dogs with HD, 3 mild and one who was severe enough for the FHO (she is 47#, mix) and that worked well for her. Keeping those hind legs muscled really does help. I am lucky in that 2 of my 3 mild are BC mixes and have very muscular hind legs! My GSD...she likes to lounge.

I use a lot of the same things. I do Springtime Joint, and am going to start rotating joint supplements because I swear I saw something that supports that idea. I use fish oils, and am rotating those too. Have used the Springtime 3-6-9 and also have used their Fresh Factors.

When my GSD had an incident with her back she went to PT and did underwater treadmill, the deep ultrasound thing (I was totally jealous because I had done that when I hurt my knee and it is awesome) and laser. I did see an improvement, but the place is over an hour away and she hates to ride, so it's more like 2 days for us, according to the theory of relativity.

A local vet is starting acupuncture and I am wondering about that, but for her, I think just getting her to move more would help - and it's not a pain thing, she's always been mellow.

One thing I am always curious about and would love to try is the stem cell therapy. But afraid to do it because if it didn't work, ouch $.

[jocoyn]

I use the horse version. It is the same stuff. The dog stuff is just diluted horse stuff. Oh gosh it lasts a long time. figure 7ml is about 1/4 ounce.....and 7ml is one dog per day at 1500mg I think....

I ACTUALLY I use an old Grizzly Salmon Oil pump! I measured several doses into a scale and it was just a bit less so one squirt twice a day.

I did just today add GLA in the form of Evening Primrose Oil to my supplements to get that Omega 9 in there. Not much.

[Jmcgreggor]

Originally Posted by jocoyn

It is like a diode laser they hold and it penetrates deep. I can tell a difference after the laser and acupuncture treatments for my old guy. His hips have no trouble, just the spine and some neurological issues though.

The vitamin E is necessary if you give fish oil as metabolizing the fish oil depletes the body's stores of Vitamin E. You don't want to go wild and crazy with this stuff - because fish oil can also impain blood clotting so the recommendations on the bottle are what I use. the 400mg I have done for years on the Vit E as, I am sure, many have.

Swimming is good but the rehab PT lady told me it can cause too much hyperextension and not really work the leg muscles as well as walking in chest deep water. I am certain you have them in California! They also have water treadmills that are wonderful but that can add up both in time and money. The water takes some of the load off of the joints........

I can't stress how much my trip helped me come up with a program for my dog. She passed away a few months ago at 9 from an unrelated cancer but she was still chasing balls the day before she died.

I am so so sorry for your loss. you sound like you were an amazing parent to her. I lost my last dog to cancer also. That was tough. Told myself I'd never get another dog.. two years later....8 week old puppy stealing underwear running through the house.

I'm going to look into the fish oil the more I think about it. I think our specialty center out here offers the water therapy too. I need to find out what type and how much. I take him on 30 minute walks cause I don't wanna push him. A nice portion of the walk is through grass around a park. Should I make the walk longer? Just so afraid to make him sore.


Speaking of pups, I've gotta share a puppy picture to brighten the mood

**** Image Removed by MOD due to size ****

[jocoyn]

Aww what a cute picture. I saw the other pix; handsome boy. Someone who sees him could comment more on the walks. UPHILL that is good - 30 minutes never seemed to bother my gal, Cyra, but all dogs are different. Let him tell you. The only time she ever got stiff was when the weather was cold and wet and I did give her metacam some towards the end.