Jasper update - not sure whether its good or bad news :(

StarFell

StarFell

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I just got back from the vets with Jasper, and I'm a bit worried. The vet was nearly sure he has just knocked himself; he said its common with large breeds, with him being lanky with not much muscle yet. However he also mentioned hip dysplacia
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He said he regretted mentioning it straight away as he didn't want us to worry unnecessarily, and he is optimistic that it was just a knock, but we have to take him back next week for another check, and if he is no better they are going to do x-rays. He said in the worst case scenario, if it is hip dysplacia, the outlook is optimistic because he is so young. Apparently they can do minor surgery to correct it when they are young; does anyone have any experience with this? Sorry for rambling, I'm very worried and a bit confused
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Hip dysplasia is basically the inability of the ball joint to fit into the socket and it is usually hereditary, affecting large breeds and can cause pain and discomfort in later life.
For this reason, while I don't agree with restricting exercise, I believe bigger breeds should not be asked to jump too high or do lots of flat out galloping until 12 months.
It can be aggravated by strain or accidental damage.

Ours (GSDs) are not normally x-rayed to identify the presence of HD until 18 months as the bones are not properly formed until then.
The x-ray will be scored by someone qualified, with 0:0 being HD clear and rising to something like a total of 108 in the worst case scenario.
However an unscored x-ray can still disclose bad hips to someone who knows what they are looking for.

I really think it is too early to say that he has HD. Does he 'wiggle' on his hind legs at all when he walks or anything? Is he unusually stiff for his age? What is the muscle on his back legs like?

I think your vet may just be erring on the side of caution and I don't think you should worry too much.

I know there are several people with personal experience of the condition and they can probably advice you better but until you get the x-rays I don't think you should turn yourself inside out worrying, I am sure it is just a little knock.
 
My old collie has it vet said it was really bad and he would prob only make it to 5 or 6
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however he is still hear at 17
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and he has only just started on flexicalm. He has alway run funny ( two back legs going at the same time ). I have been really lucky with him been a collie i was worried he would never stay still and rest after a walk but he knew that after a run he went to bed sometimes for a good few hour. He also used to get half of paracetomal. Please dont worrie yourself too much. What sort of dog is Jasper?

This is ben watch his back legs.

 
To reassure you, a lot of vets seem to mention hip dysplasia whenever a large breed dog is lame in a hind leg
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X ray is the only way to diagnose hd, and to be really sure the plates should be submitted for scoring by the BVA unless your vet has a lot of experience in reading hip x rays. I am lucky in that mine is great, but I have known of vets looking at x rays and saying the hips are bad and in reality they are fine. I am not too sure what surgery he is thinking of, there used to be a couple of options, one involving the muscle and the other being a complete removal of the femur head (ball of the hip), suspect there are more now.
As I said in my answer to your other post, I know how easy it is to imagine the worse. Presume he is on anti inflammatory and restricted exercise, I bet you will find a great improvement soon. It is important though to keep them restricted, no matter how mean you feel, when my girl was lame I never let her off the lead for the required 2 weeks, even though after a few days she appeared sound. Worth it in the long run. Fingers crossed he is soon good as new.


Ets. Drat everyone types faster than me. SHould also add, that I had a bitch years ago who had a hip score in the 90s, i.e. very bad, she lived until she was 13 and never had a days lameness in her life.
 
Our Old English bitch had quite severe hip dysplasia and she was 11 when we lost her to old age. We kept her weight down and she got around perfectly well.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone, I feel better now
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CaveCanem: He walks fine and I've never noticed any stiffness up until now. He doesn't have much muscle and is very lanky, but the vet said this is because he is growing very quickly.

Dingle12, thank you so much, I feel a lot more reassured now! Its nice to know that they can live a normal life with HD. Jasper is a bloodhound, there is a pic of him on my post further down the page
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Another story for you - our friend's bitch was made up to a champion, in the main, because of her amazing gait. When her scores came back for her hips, to everyone's shock, they were off the scale for HD.

She was spayed and retired from showing but lived a full and healthy life.
 
Well I just got off the phone with Jasper's breeder's teenage son, and although he didn't really understand what I meant by "hip dysplacia" he was certain that neither his mum or dad had ever had any trouble with their hips. So thats got to be a good thing, right?
 
Have you just changed your user name
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Were his parents hip scored, not sure how much of a problem it is in bloodhounds so they may not do them as a matter of course. I know it is easier said than done, but try not to worry, just for now think of it as a pulled muscle/knock to his leg. There is no way you will know for sure if he has good or bad hips until he is at least 12 months old so you are going to be a nervous wreck by then. And it is not the end of the world, there are quite a few of us on here with dogs with poor hips, all doing fine. As in the case CC mentions, my bitch with the awful hips won show classes on her movement, and went on to win veteran classes as well.
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^^^ What she said.


There is only one definitive way of knowing if a dog has HD or not and that is to get the plates scored by the BVA once the dog is the right age.
Not many cases can be detected by the eye.

I really don't think you should panic, just keep an eye on him, it really just sounds as if he has knocked himself.
 
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