Another example of really bad hips - pup

[bianca]

Please excuse the quality of this pic, it was taken from a phone but here is my pup at just over 10 months old. Two specialists have reviewed the xrays and have said severe hip dysplasia (one who reads PennHip here). Due to scheduling we only have an appointment with both early next month. But we have been told he will need a THR possibly bilateral.

This was taken under sedation and the vet felt he could not straighten the left leg out as he felt the hip may 'pop' out.

[jocoyn]

Those are definitely very bad.

Is FHO an option they might discuss as well? It may be something to research before you go in so you can ask good questions.

[wolfstraum]

poor guy! Those are undisputably bad - positioning won't help....

I know there are alot of sources for diet, exercise, etc on the net...and more than a few people here who have experience with managing severely dysplastic dogs...so you will have a lot of support here.

Lee

[bianca]

Thank you both for your replies, I appreciate it. Apparently one specialist said an FHO is not the best option for him. We were meant to met both specialists (different vet clinics) last week but one had to postpone so I am only going off our email correspondence for now.

I have been doing some research and have a list of questions to enquire about. Cooper will be 1 at the end of the week so this was totally unexpected. His breeder has never had a dysplastic dog before and his dam and sire were hip/elbow scored before breeding.

I have him on some extra supplements from hearing the bad news. I am keeping him very lean. And limiting his exercise, poor boy he did so love playing a bit of fetch.

Oh and not that it makes any difference but he is a working line too.

But whatever he needs, he will get.

[bianca]

Oh and I wanted to add his breeder has been an absolute gem about all of this, she has gone well and truly beyond what she needed to do

[onyx'girl]

Bianca, you should pm Veronica....her boy went thru both side FHO in the past year. She was fortunate to have a local vet do it for very reasonable cost. Panzer is doing well now post-op. He had them done just a few months apart.
Here is Panzers thread with a pic of his x-rays....not much different than Coopers:
Panzer's Horrible Hips

[Verivus]

I don't see why FHO isn't an option. My dog's hips are just as bad and 9 months post-op he is doing great.

[Bear L]

To the OP - did you do an x-ray because there was a cause for it? Just wondering if the dog feels any pain or if a dog that feels no pain and acts normal can still have those hips.

I'm always a bit paranoid about my dog since I don't think she has good conformation nor a nice trot even though she's approaching 1 years old. I don't see pain but do wonder how accurate would pain indicate HD or not.

[Verivus]

IME, pain is not an accurate indicator. My dog has severe bilateral HD and hardly showed any pain. It was only noticeable after walks.

[bianca]

Thank you Jane for that link

Bear - I actually took him to the vet for a limp (his front right) and asked while he was under to xray his hips as he does bunny hop sometimes. He has had issues with his elbows (Hygromas and has had surgeries for that) so I hate to admit but I put down some of his muscle wastage due to restricted exercise etc. Now that I know, I have been noticing how loose he is in the rear.

Chrissy - thank you very much, I will certainly ask about an FHO. We have not seen either specialist yet as we live in a small country town and it has been hard to coordinate appointments. But we are seeing both on Nov 12 so I will go armed with all these questions.