How can I help my puppy with her bad hips?
Question by DeAna: How can I help my puppy with her bad hips?
I was looking in the shelter for a new dog and saw her and how sad and lonely she looked so I took her out of the cage to walk her and realized she had bad hips. I know labs normally have this problem, and I felt so bad for her being left there so I adopted her.
They checked her and said she just has hip dysplasia but is there anything I should do for her at home?
Should I avoid walking her a lot or should I walk her more often?
Are there any special foods or anything that can help?
Please don’t tell me to bring her to a vet, I already had her checked and I plan to get her to a different vet. I’m trying to help in the mean time. So, if you do not know, thanks anyway 
She is only a year old.
Thanks!
Thank you very much! You all helped a lot.
I will find a better specialist to take her to. She isn’t so terrible that she cant stand or walk it just takes her some maneuvering and I think she is just happy to have human interaction.
I’m a little afraid also if I take her to the wrong place they will want to put her down or something… Am I being paranoid?
Best answer:
Answer by ☼▬krazegurl▬☼
Puppy’s and adult dogs can have all different stages of hip dysplasia some can be mild and not affect a dog at all and others can be so debilitating that surgery is needed. You need a good orthopedic vet not just a regular vet first off who knows his stuff when it comes to hip dysplasia. If you haven’t had her degree of dysplasia graded yet by x-ray then please do so. this will determine how much activity is needed, if surgery will help, and if any bone/joint supplements would do anything for her. This is usually the result of bad breeding and not using OFA certified dogs to reproduce. Kudo’s to you for saving this poor pup but you need to know now that this might become a costly battle are you prepared to deal with all that?
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Tagged with: help • hips • puppy
Filed under: hip dysplasia in dogs treatment
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Hip dysplasia has no cure and it only gets worse. But since your dog is so young, you might want to consider surgery. There is pain medication but it’s very serious stuff and lots of dogs can’t tolerate the side effects. Rimadyl is one of them, but you have to take blood tests with it too; serious meds.
Definately DON’T walk her more, it’s hurts and you’ll be aggravating it. Keep walks short so she doesn’t over exert herself, but make sure to walk often to keep the muscles from deteriorating.
Keeping her weight down helps a lot; swimming too. An orthopedic bed and heating pad can help too. You can buy harnesses to help up stairs or if she’s just having trouble walking and her balance is off, it could help. Don’t make her do anything she seems to not want to do.
I have to say, I’m surprised she sounds so bad for only being a year old and in the condition you found her in. Maybe it’s an injury. I couldn’t tell my dog had hip dysplasia until she was three – at the beginning signs.
You’ll get better answers from your future vet appointment I’m sure.
This link might help, provides detail:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2084&aid=444
Edit:
Maybe a little paranoid. They can’t decide to put her down, you have rights (if you were abusing her and the cops were involved, then they could decide that). They’d only SUGGEST putting her down if she’s worse off being alive (e.g. suffering, major pain, can’t move or walk). That doesn’t sound like your situation.
any special food can`t help for dysplacia ? Help of a good experienced vet is must, till that avoid long walk,and if you want to walk her then walk her only on soft ground, best luck for your puppy!!!!!
Poster above is right. Get her evaluated asap. In the meantime I would restrict her as much as possible until you know what you are dealing with and to prevent a fall. Nice thick soft bedding in a warm place would be nice as she may have some arthritis as well. (They don’t have to be old to have it) If she is overweight, start taking the weight off as that helps a lot and make sure she is on a good quality food.
There are a few things you can do to assist your pet:-
* If you suspect your pet has hip dysplasia, seek advise immediately to minimise the arthritic changes that will develop as the problem worsens.
* Monitor your dog’s body weight and avoid obesity, ask your vet or healthcare team for a nutritional plan
* Avoid strenuous exercise but provide moderate exercise as indicated by your veterinarian
here is another website that may help you:
http://dogs.about.com/library/weekly/aa110902a.htm
I would suggest you join the orthodogs [ http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/orthodogs/ ] yahoo group, there is a huge user-base there that is very knowledgeable with these issues. Also find a board certified orthopedic surgeon to look over your girl in addition to the new vet. I suggest getting a sling or harness to help your girl out, I love the “help em up harness” [ http://helpemup.com/ ]. I would want talk to the vet and ortho doc before wanting to give any advice, I can’t see x-rays, how progressed she is and what she is capable of doing. If your dog is very young or an anomaly in any way many vet schools would be interested in checking her out for free as a learning experience for vet students. When my girl went to the university she got a very through going over by one of the top veterinary neurology researcher/ teachers in the world and I got to keep a copy of the exam.
My shelter girl came to me with a spinal contusion, deformed pelvis, tibial crest avulsion and fused tail, we did not have a definitive diagnosis until we went to the university. Apparently she was kicked as a very young puppy and the professor said he had never seen an animal walk after the injuries she sustained hence why 5 vets and a board certified orthopedic surgeon would not put a definitive diagnosis on her.
http://bcr.w2c.net/presley/
Add: Most vets will not even tell you to put the dog down even if you ask “do you think I should?” It is your decision as to judge quality of life and how much money and resources you have for proper treatment. From what you said, I strongly suggest investing in the Help em up harness. Thank you for taking on the responsibility of caring for this disabled pet, it takes a special person to adopt a special needs pet with foreknowledge of their condition and making the time they have with us better. As the saying goes, “saving the life of one dog will not change the world, but it certainly changes the world for that one dog.”
I had a lab with hip dysplasia three years ago, unfortunately you can’t do much for her. What I did to get him exercised was take him for swims at the beach, he really liked it! but his condition got worse in just 8 months and we had to put him to sleep. I would consider talking to the vet to see if he or she has any information about ortho-groups like the one in yahoo.
Labs don’t “normally have this problem”. It’s from bad breeding, especially at this age.
You can make her more comfortable by
1. Consulting a vet. They will offer options like surgery and pain meds.
2. Keeping her very thin. On the *very* thin side of healthy. You should be able to easily feel 5 ribs, her hip bones, and traces of her spine. She should not be emaciated, but she should be quite thin.
3. Doing water exercise with her regularly. No impact and it will help her joints.
4. Keeping her lightly exercised on land. Whatever exercise she can do without pain should be done reuglarly and frequently.
5. Use Glucosamine supplements. http://www.thewholisticpet.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=548&ParentCat=40 is a great one.
6. No exercise that hurts her. Limited jumping, climbing stairs, or anything else that puts stress on the hips or she shows pain with. Stair climbing can be helpful in building the supporting muscles, but can also be wuite painful in some dogs with severe problems and severe muscle atrophy.
7. Ultra high quality food. Brands include Natural BALANCE, California Natural, Innova, Wellness. I would NOT do a high protein food like EVO, Timberwolf, or Pinnacle. A raw diet would be even better. http://www.naturesvariety.com/ offers a pre-made one that I adore. Well, I actually think it’s gross, but my dog adores it and she looks awesome since we switched. Venison and Lamb work best for her.
Vitamin C supplements, like Ester C may also help. 1000mg per day. MSM, Vitamin E, Dandilion/Nettle, Licorice, black molasses, tumeric; all may offer homeopathic results.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NAH/is_n1_v27/ai_20152679/
I know way too much about this topic.
Basically start with the lowest level of treatment and move up as needed.
In general, I’d use glucosamine and condroitin pills and ester-c pills every day. For exercise, swimming is best — think LOW impact activities.
1) You can start with buffered aspirin for pain relief. Most vets underestimate the amount needed. Dose as if she were a human being (think about weight…a human can weight 125 lbs and take two full sized buffered aspirin every 4 hours…if your dog is 60 lbs, try one buffered aspirin, with the AM and PM meal…see if this makes a difference. If any stomach upset, discontinue this and go on to next treatments).
2) If #1 not working, move on to a prescription pain killer like rymadyl. Start at the lowest effective dosage. For example, my 140 lb newfie can take 250 mg twice a day. HOWEVER, she gets 50 mg ONCE a day. This dosage level, well below maximum dosage levels works for her. She’s been on this for years (with CBC blood tests once a year, perfectly normal). Now this gives me plenty of leeway — if she has a bad day, I bounce it up to 100 mg. or 50 mg twice a day. Then go back. But if she gets really bad, I have tons of room to increase the dosage.
3) I would likely start this regardless of what else I’m doing. Start the pup on Adequan shots. This increases the snyovial fluid in the joints (like adding oil!) it is not a pain killer, it works to help alleviate the grinding of the joints. This needs an Rx from the vet, but you can get it over the internet with the Rx and give the shots yourself once your vet shows you how. It is NOT hard! You do a loading dose (2-3 shots per week) for the first month. Then drop to a shot a month, then a shot every 2 months and go on like that. It is not an instant results type of thing, you’ll see results in a month or so, and gradually. However this was a LIVE SAVER for one of my dogs. Most vets don’t know much about this, so you have to push to get it. Tell them YOU will be their experience. Don’t let them tell you you don’t need a loading dose period, you do. It’s worthless without the loading dose period.
Other thoughts — have the dog checked for Lyme’s disease. This can mimic hip dysplasia. Also are you sure it’s dysplasia? Some fast growing dogs get “pano”. It’s very painful but it goes away on its own! You might be lucky and have a dog with pano.
Best of luck. Don’t jump to surgery if somebody tries to push you that way. I’ve NEVER done surgery. Adequan and buffered aspirin or rymadyl did the trick.