GSD - Severe Hip Displaysia - my first post

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moneypit1

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Hi, I have had 9 GSD's so class myself as quite knowledgeable in general on the breed. Bitches I find, are "bitches" and supremely loyal and more aggressive than the male. However, I have a GSD at the moment that is exceptional. He was diagnosed with severe hip displaysia in BOTH hips at 9mth old. X-rays at 15 mths and referral to one of the top specialists in the field resulted in an ear mark for sugery on one hip, possibly two when the need required. To cut a long story short, at the age of 2 I took him off Rymadil (pain killer) and took him out every day whilst riding my horse. He has covered 5+ miles a day for 4 years and is super fit. Last night he changed. In a moment he told me he could not cope. Today i took him to a new vet (as we moved 4 years ago, with old records forwarded) and basically he cannot come out with me and the horses anymore. He is, apparently, a textbook case. 6 years old and the hips are leaving their curse. Have been given new pain killers and reccommended Synaquin daily at a cost of £2.50 a day for the rest of his life. Surgery is NOT an option to me, he is an outside dog, he lives outside and has not been on a lead for 4 years. He is by far the most loving dog we hve ever had. I suppose my point is, has anyone else experienced what i am going through now. I know i will have to let him go but hope to get another 2 years with him. xx
 
Firstly I am so sorry about your dog, I have had dogs with bad hips ( a bitch many years ago with a score in the high 90s) , but I was lucky in that she actually never had problems with her hips. Although his hip score is probably irrelevant as he is showing pain is it the score even on both hips or is one higher? When you say he could not cope, did he start limping or was he just reluctant to go out with you? If you can make him comfy with the synaquin would he be happy with a gentler pace of life, swimming is excellent for bad hips, if you have any sort of hydrotherapy pool near you I would suggest you give that a try, or if we have a nice summer are you anywhere near the sea to swim him.
I agree with you re the operation, my mum had a bitch who had it after an accident which shattered her hip and it was a long slow convalescence. Sorry I can't be more help.
 
Poor lad. We had an Old English Sheepdog who had HD. Surgery was not an option for her and she was on painkillers for most of her life. She was fairly active but could not do long walks. We lost her at 12 so don't give up on your boy he can still have a long and happy life.
 
Oh you poor thing.
I can't really help in terms of his condition as I have never had one with HD.
I can identify with you, when I say I have a super male after a lifetime of bitches and I don't know how long he will be with me. What I will say is that his time with me will be fun and painfree, if short, rather than long and full of operations and contant medication.

Hopefully MM's advice will help x

Was anything flagged up in his breeding, if you have it? PM me if so.
If his HD was hereditary, the more producers that can be taken out of breeding programmes, the better.
 
I can't recommend trying acupuncture enough, three of my late dogs have gotten acupuncture for different reasons. The first because of HD fault and extra bone growth on one vertebra that could pinch her on very rare occasions, the second because one of her hind legs didn't grew straight when she was young and the third because she had some vertebras that grew together when she was old.

Acupuncture helped them more than any glucosamin pill or painkillers like Rimadyl, usually there was not a huge difference after the first session, mainly they slept more relaxed but after 4 to 10 sessions, they behaved as if they were half their age or younger and that effect then lasted for about a year.
For some reason, if we took a 10 to 20 minutes walk after the session before going home by bus or car, the acupuncture seemed to have a better effect.


They really did walk like dogs years younger than their actual age, I remember once when a new but experienced vet nurse had begun working at "my" vet clinic, she asked for the age and obviously she didn't believe me when I told her, because when the vet came she asked her to check so that the age was correct and only when the vet confirmed it, did she believe that my lady wasn't at the most perhaps 5 years old, without in fact well over 10 years old.


Currently I have a 16 years old moggy that about 4 years ago, e.g. became more reluctant to want to jump up in the cat tree where their food bowl stands. We took her to the vet and x-ray showed that she has three vertebras that has grown together, we tried Metacam and she got a little bit better, she jumped up in their cat tree to the food bowl but that was it.
Then she also got acupuncture and about 4 years later and without Metacam, she's not only jumping up in the cat tree where their food is, she's also climbing to the top of another cat tree that we have that goes from the floor to the ceiling, she sometimes play a little with the other cats, though she usually does prefer to take it easy.
 
So sorry to hear about your boy, I have also had no expereince of owning a dog with hd, so can only go with the others and wonder if swimming is an alternative exercise.
However I was prescribed metacam to one of my boys, a truly exeptional working dog, with arthritis in his front leg following an accident, it did keep him working fit for a further 2 years but he died from a liver tumour, which has been possibly linked to longterm use of metacam.
Keep us informed of your progress, thinking of you
 
Hi, i don't often post in here, but thought i would tell you about a GS bitch i used to have.
About twenty five years ago, i bought a GSD, and my then boyfriends sister bought my dogs brother.
With in 18months both dogs had been diagnosed with HD, the bf, sisters dog was pts, because he was strugerling (sp) to walk.
After a chat with the vet i decided to go for the op, the worst hip was done first, if she could cope with being on three legs until the first healed anough to take full weight, then the second hip would be operated on as well.
All went well with the first op and she had the second as well.
Long story short, She was fine, as she got older, (9-10 years), she did start to struggle on hilly walks, we live in a valley so was difficult, and for the last six months of her life we didn't walk much at all, but i think she lived a full life and she died at thirteen years old.
I don't know if this will help you decide what to do, but it does go to show that there is life after HDsurgery.
 
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