Hip Displacia - help please :)

S

Sheri

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 March 2009
Messages
339
Location
South Wales
Visit site
Evening all,

My 9 year old Collie X bitch has just been diagnosed with hip displacia, we knew it was coming as she is very short behind after a walk/ run, swim etc but now x-rays have confirmed it.

I have ordered her Chudleys Senior which has joint support ingredients in it and she is also on a healthy eating resgime - she isn't fat but could do with loosing a kilo or so which has been had to do over the winter due to the cold damp weather making her hips worse.

She is on 20ml of Metacam a day and it works wonders - only thing is its killing me money wise as its a POM! I wondered if anyone knows of a non-prescription alternative or a herbal form? I tried her on NAF joint supplement but she wouldn't touch her food with it so this is the only one I can't try!

Don't get me wrong if there is nothing that comes close to Metacam then she will stay on it but I thought I'd look around....

Thanks in advance :)

IMG_1481.jpg
 
Unfortunately I don't think any herbal supplements etc will be able to provide the relief that metacam or another NSAID will. The fact that she has got to 9 yo without needing pain relief is good though - alot of dogs with hip dysplasia will either show pain due to the dysplasia at a young age (6-12 months) or pain due to secondary arthritis at around 5-6 years.

You may well find that you can reduce the metacam as the arthritis settles after a period of rest - managament of OA secondary to HD in adult dogs is all about finding a balance between exercise/pain meds.
 
Metacam is an non steroidal anti inflammatory drug. All of these are POMs. Whatever you do, do not give any human Non steroidals...it isn't quite as easy as giving all species the same drugs.

You can give things like glucosamine tablets, human capsules...im sure you'll find a dosage somewhere on the internet or ask your vet. They often will get asked this. But this is the same as with humans, there is no proof it helps the joints, but does no harm. But it doesn't have pain killing properties like the Metacam so isn't a replacement.

Getting your dog to lose a bit of weight will help enormously and you may notice slight less lameness..

I'm afraid though that I can't think of anything as a replacement for a NSAID although I am sure many people will say they have tried certain herbal things. Judge your dog by its pain/ lameness to see whether things are working.

Good luck
 
My bitch is on cartrophen injections for spondylosis, I don't know if it would be suitable for hd but worth asking your vet. She is currently on one injection every 3 months, but as I recall the initial loading was once a week for 4 weeks, then once a month for 3 months and now her current dose. Initially it probably worked out more expensive than metacam but over the long term I am sure would be cheaper.
As others have said, a supplement isn't the same as pain relief so wouldn't recommend replacing the NSAID with anything herbal or similar.
 
Well worth trying are NZ Green Lipped Mussel capsules,use in conjunction with the metacam..and then try reducing the dose,you may end up managing without,every dog is different in their reaction. Activity is important as is also warm at rest..just like humans in fact.
 
Im going though this with my dog at the moment look very much like yours iv put him on aviform supplement he has improved alot he not as good as new but he thirteen
 
I think you need to be careful not to confuse pain relief with joint supplements which help improve joint function / slow deterioration. Personally I would have her on both!

Actually i didn't see any great benefit to my arthritic boy on metacam and he is now on Hilton Herbs Releave (a herbal "bute substitute" for horses and dogs) and doing fantastically well. he is also on Stride Plus (a glucosamine, chondroitin & hyaluronic acid joint supplement) and I noticed almost immediate improvements in him after introducing both of these. He is also a seriously fussy eater so if he will eat those then I'm pretty sure your girl will too :)
 
My staffie boy has elbow displaysia - he was on metacam but I switched to the cartrophen injections and he is also fed on JD hills mobility - he no longer shows signs of lameness. I now buy the JD hills on line though as was paying £69 for a £12kg bag but can pay £50 on line with free delivery.
 
I have two dogs with hip dysplasia; Lottie, our four year old Golden Retriever was diagnosed when we wanted to breed just one litter from her and had her hip scored (she had a score of 63!), and the other is our seven month old Springador, Pippa. We found out about Pippa's problem when her breeder (our gun dog trainer) asked if they could take her to be x-rayed because one of the litter (who was owned by trainer's sister-in-law) had just been put to sleep at the age of only six months. Apparently, she was so bad that the vet recommended that she wasn't brought round from the anaesthetic following x-rays. Both breeder and sister-in-law were devasted and so breeder decided to get all the pups x-rayed at her expense. Sadly, Pip also has HD although the vet has told us that she shouldn't have any problems until late middle age. Vet also commented on how responsible the breeder has been (it was an accidental mating between her Springer and her lab bitch which has a hip score of only 5!) by immediately paying for all the pups to be x-rayed.

At the moment, neither the Goldie nor the pup have any problems and I would like to put them on "human" supplements but I'm not sure of the dosage! Also, my soon-to-be husband is a qualified homeopath and has been looking into homeopathic remedies. Has anyone tried this route? I'd be interested to hear!

Only problem is, vet told us not to let the pup engage in too energetic exercise until she is a year old.......is she having a joke!!!!????? Puppy is crazy and last week climbed a five foot wire fence in my garden as though she were climbing up a ladder - couldn't believe my eyes!!
 
Sorry to hear about your 2 kc, but what a responsible breeder. I know it isn't easy but have to agree with your vet, try not to do too much with the pup, particularly jumping, but steady exercise is great, and when she gets older swimming will help them both. I had a GSD with a hip score in the 90s and she lived until she was nearly 13 and never had a days unsoundness, but was incredibly well muscled.
Can't offer any advice re human supplements, there are quite a lot of dog mobility supplements you could try.
 
with keeping the exercise under control - try the approach of little and often to keep the pup calm without overdoing it. Mine will go out for 30 minutes walks now twice a day or a longer mooch at a show and be perfectly happy, but if I tried to walk him for an hour he would be hurting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top