Question about hip dysplaia

[jaggirl47]

So, if a dog has hip dysplasia without the normal laxity, how does that happen? I have been searching and searching google looking for answers and I cannot find anything.

[Kayos and Havoc]

Injury?

Usually a dog with uni-lateral HD has gotten the disease as a result of an accident, so I have been told. Dogs with Bi-lateral HD usually came by in due to gentics and environment.

I think how much the dog exhibits symptoms depends on the dog. Even if Zappa has only a little bit of laxity in his hips he may be more symptomatic than a dog like my Kayos who the vet said we should put down her hips were so bad. She never really had problems until she was 4 to 5.

So I think the degree of laxity may not have much bearing on the progression of the problem in the dog. The ortho that did Kayos said her hips were not the worst he had seen. They were really bad but not the worst he had seen. He also said he had done THR's on dogs with much better hips than hers. You treat the dog not the xray.

I still really wonder if the bone spur is not contributing to his problems.

[jaggirl47]

That's what I'm wondering now too. I talked to Chris earlier picking her brain about this. He drags his left foot (on and off) as well as constantly licking it. The good thing is that it's not toward the spinal canal. We will find out more when we get up to Texas A&M.
I think Zappa's right hip (aside from the fact that it does have arthritic changes) looks pretty darn good. It's pretty well seated in the pocket. You can see on the left side how much bone build up he has in the socket though. He has never had an injury. The only thing we have had to see the e-vet for is his GI issues, never skeletal. He never gets crated so he has free roam all day and night, but I have never seen him injured. He's a very laid back and calm dog (far from a watchdog. He howls at fire trucks and that's about it). It's just frustrating and I kick myself more and more as he gets older for not researching before purchasing. I wouldn't trade him for the world, but I think you can get what I mean.

[Kayos and Havoc]

I think breeding is a crap shoot. Kayos has rotten hips, her brother Jett has great hips. Go figure?

I wonder if the bone spur is not causing the foot drag and licking? I ask this because we found out it wsa causing Max to do these things. Zappa may not need hip surgery if it is the bone spur. I don't know what can be done about that. My Max is fairly old and has Spondylosis too, along with Cushings, so we opted to use NSAID's. He is on Previcox.

[Ilovealldogs]

My dog (non-GSD) was diagnosed with hip dysplasia at a fairly young age. She doesn't have a severe case and she is 12 years old and gets along fine and can still run although not as fast as she used to.

I agree with Kathy though. Breeding can be a crap shoot.

[jaggirl47]

Oh, believe me I know breeding can be a crap shoot. It doesn't help though that I was young and dumb and went to a BYB for my boy. Not that I would trade him for anything, but if I could go back and do it all again I would have researched first.