Hip Dysplasia

[cathrynlast]

Hi all

I have an 18month old saluki whippet (we think) who has reasently been told he has possible hip dysplasia. I hadnt previously realised this was something that affected the lighter weight big dogs and so was wondering if anyone had any experience of it at all??

As part of trying to sort it he has to know be kept on lead for all walks having previously had two off lead walks generally with a lot of bouncy other dogs to wear him out which is leading to me struggling to keep him entertained. He is also on a prescription diet which I am not allowed to supplement with treats so any hope of training keeping him thinking seems limited. Any suggestions would be very gratefully recieved.

Many Thanks
Cathryn

[andywillow]

Has hydrotherapy been suggested? It will certainly tire him out and probably help his hips too

[Nettie]

I had a saluki x greyhound who had HD, he lived until he was 17.

First question is has he had x-rays to see if he actually has HD, if not, then that would be the first thing that I'd have done.

Secondly, if he has then as Sue has suggested hydrotherapy can work really well. Indy used have hydro in a dog walker, basically an underwater treadmill, this was gentle on his joints but really worked at building up the muscles around his hips which in turn helped stablise his hip joints. I also put him on a joint supplement (Joint Aid from www.vetvits.co.uk)because inevitably HD will lead to arthritis so a supplement can really help slow up any arthritis.

He was fed on a raw diet and we let him take as much exercise as he wanted.

Hope that helps.

[cathrynlast]

Thanks for the suggestions I should have mentioned that I spoke to my insurance and they will only cover hydrotherapy if he is either pre or post operation so he is only going once a week as that is all I can afford really.

He has had x-rays and from what the vet said they think it is most likely to be HD but he is still growing and the growth plates in the hips have not yet fused and so it is a slightly tentative diagnosis to be reassesed once he has finished growing.

I have had a look at the joint aid supplements and will be getting him some of those in the meantime.


Thanks again

[Deleted]

Hi, sorry to hear of your problem, especially with such a young dog.

I hope you don't mind me asking, but I am curious as to what prescription diet he's on? It's just I've never heard of a special diet for hip displasia so was wondering what was in it to help (other than of course keeping weight off him).

Is there any way of using some/all of his food as training treats, rather than just in his bowl? If your garden isn't too big, so that he can only mooch, you could scatter some there so he has to search for it (as soon as this bloomin' rain dries up! ) and use the rest to teach/train with.

[cathrynlast]

He is on the hills prescription J/D which i think is normally used for arthritis type conditions but they are hoping that it might help Dylan as he is still growing so not sure if it is always suggested for HD

I hadnt thought of the using his food as treats idea that could be really useful I could also put the wet food into his kong

Thanks

[Flaperoo]

No experience of this, but just wanted to say he is so young and I hope he is as fit as a fiddle very soon

Maryx

[Deleted]

Thanks for answering my (nosy) question. Whether it's the diet or something else, I'll have fingers crossed that something helps to improve things for him very soon.

[julies]

Have you considered a raw diet and homeopathy? if nothing else my homeopathic vet works out cheaper in the long run than conventional treatments (and usually -in my experience) works better

I go to Chris Day just outside Oxford 90 mins from Birmingham and worth the journey .. he'll recommend a raw diet and as he's a vet it's all reclaimable through insurance.

I do TTouch and I worked with a dog with Hip Displaysia and it kept him mobile .. local Practitioners are listed on www.tilleyfarm.co.uk or org.uk I forget which Check out too the work done with GSDs and HD .. they were fed high dose Vitamin C (as non-acidic Ester C) which was found to help .. I used to feed an arthriticky lurcher Ester C and it seemed to help him plus the usual Chondroitin, Glucosamine, MSM too

Good luck with him

julei x

[Nettie]

Forgot to answer your question as to why he may have HD. Hip displasia is not common in hounds however as well as being hereditary it can be caused by over exercise when joints are still developing. This is especially common with workers who are worked hard before skeletal maturity has been reached. We think this was probably the case with Indy who was a greyhound x saluki, he was obviously used for coursing and it is likely he was worked too early in his life which caused the HD.

[cathrynlast]

Thanks for all the ideas. I shall have a look into it and see what looks like it might suit him

Luckily he doesnt seem to be in too much pain just confused about why he isnt allowed to run all the time!!