Not good news, but at least its news right?!

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Lucy_Nottingham

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Ok, well Beau has hip dysplasia!
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(cue mild tears by me!)

But at least I now know what monsters we are facing, rather than the horrendous ones floating around in my mind!

Its a mild dysplasia, but a noticable one (on a scale of 0-4 it would be about 1.5 ish I would think)
Its also only his left leg, his right is perfect! Which is good in one sense but bad as it means both legs are now predisposed for early arthritis as left due to not good joint, and right due to him likely compensating on it off the left!

GAH!

So, onto management control now me thinks! He is about 2kg over weight so that will be coming off!!! Regular walkies (not stupid long ones) (and if they are there will be lots more swimming involved than land running wherever possible!)

Im glad I now know what I am dealing with, just wish it was better news! But the vet did it for me for half price due to me being the vet student on placement there, thats for GA, Metacam and x-ray and full day in kennel for £70 so I was like THANK YOU! (cue hug for the vet!)

So I said Id keep you all updated, so now you are!

Can me and beau please join the "my dog has hip dysplasia but we are managing it" club please?
 
Aww (((hugs))) hun! Can't offer any practical advice I'm afraid, but you're right, it's been identified and you can put the scary mind monsters to bed! Better the devil you know and all that!
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Sorry - not very helpful I know - hopefully someone else can be of more use!
 
Hugs to you i will join your club my 17 year old has it and has only just started on Metacam
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he has gone all his life with nothing he has just never had really long walks and if he had i would make him rest.
 
Was it bad enough that you could notice it on the x-ray then?Obvs if he was being scored the plates would be being sent away.
If you don't mind, would you be able to post a pic?

The fact that it is only on one hip probably means he did himself an injury at a young age, rather than it being hereditary and may not be so serious in the long term, if that makes you feel any better.

I agree about getting the weight off, there is no benefit whatsoever to a dog to be carrying anything more than it needs to, much less a dog with HD.

Good luck with everything and hopefully you have sought comfort from some of the many people on here who manage dysplastic dogs very well.
 
Prose- yep definetly gonna be kept in check!!! And if it gets to the point where he is unable to enjoy his walks or life in the house etc then I am shelling out for a hip replacement! I am not having a 3yo (currently 18mnths) collie who can't run around and enjoy life! And at least that way he will get good use out of it until he is about 10 then we can reassess!! but heres hoping it won't get to that!

Bought some glucosamine, chondroitin and fishoil/omega 3 tablets on the way home (all 3 in 1 tablet!) so we are now going to be on one a day (unless we have a longer walk then it will be a 2 tablet day!)

I just hope its as manageable as we are taught it is at uni, and that he is as strong about it as MurphysMinder's dog!!! (and I also hope she has gotten over her pergolide experience!! (hugs!) lol)
 
Katy - thank you (blushes)

CC - It wouldnt suprise me, however he has had almost not a single day lame in his life until recently!

The vet gave me the x-ray and I will be scanning it into the comp to do a case study on him for uni so as soon as its done I will post for you!

The image was not sent away to be scored as it was noticable enough on the x-ray to say yes its not right so thats what i have to manage!

ALSO found out on clinical exam he has easy moveable patellas (not luxatable, just moveable!) so I was like FOR GOD SAKE DOG! ARGH! lol

Also CC - yes the weight will be off and staying off!!! I thought he had gain a pound or 2 over the last month, but h*ll no I am not having an overweight dog!

Anyone know of any hydrotherapy places in the North West or cheshire btw??
 
It could have been anything Lucy, don't stress it, I am totally paranoid about B since he jumped off the A-frame a few months ago (I watched that, you can imagine!!!) so I will be interested to see the plates.

As KW says, I can't think of a better prepared owner for him to have, I am sure he will be just fine.
 
OMG CC I think I would just have heart failure and keel over!!!
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There is only one plate (good thing about hip x-rays only need the VD view for joints! unless concerned about a fracture of the pelvis itself!)
It is also slightly under exposed but can clearly see the skeleton which was what we were wanting so it doesnt really matter just hope it copies onto here ok!
can you just use a scanner to copy it onto your comp?!
 
No idea
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I would just take a pic of the plate over a lightbox
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Yeah, was horrible, I think people could have heard me shouting 'JESUS!' for miles around....I threw his ball over and he literally followed it over, he took off from the very top
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prose- fab thank you very much!

CC - o dear yup would defo have induced a lucy style heart attack!
I tried taking a pic over the light box but unfortunatly the camera picks up on the streaks of light that are released from the box so it just looks like a liney x-ray! Which is just a bit naff!
Il try scannign and see what happens!
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hehe
 
[ QUOTE ]
prose- fab thank you very much!

CC - o dear yup would defo have induced a lucy style heart attack!
I tried taking a pic over the light box but unfortunatly the camera picks up on the streaks of light that are released from the box so it just looks like a liney x-ray! Which is just a bit naff!
Il try scannign and see what happens!
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hehe

[/ QUOTE ]

Awww sorry it's not better news Lucy.

I seem to remember you thought Beau was lame on a front leg when he was very young......didn't he keep falling over when retrieving a ball?

I drove past a Pet Physio and Hydrotherapy centre in Homleschapel the other day. Not sure how convenient that location would be for you.
 
no idea I will have a look patches. thank you!
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ye he kept falling arse over t*t after balls, but now I think it might just be a lack of co-ordination/stupidity issue there! lol Unless he goes lame on the front in which case, if he has elbow dysplasia too Im just gonna chop all 4 legs off and attack him to a remote control car and just drive him round like a nutter!!!!

hehe

and thanks im a bit miffed it wasnt better news too, but at least (as i say) i now know what im working with (or against rather)
 
Arrr now I was having a horse train of thought.....opposite diagonals for lameness!
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I remember watching some of a stupidly morose film called "Boxing Helena", perhaps you could have a "Boxing Beau". I guess you're too young to have heard of the film though.

Best of luck with him.
 
[ QUOTE ]
ahh i see what you mean!

nope never heard of it! But hten again Im only 22!
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hehe

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You're but a child. I'm 38...but I do have a son who is 21 (not that it's anything to be proud of really!)
 
I'm sorry that the answer was what it was but as you say, at least you now know and there is lots of things you can try to see if they help Beau.


I've written several times on here about the success I've had with acupuncture on 3 of my late dogs and 1 cat. The first dog who got it had before we tried acupuncture, due to a HD-fault, cut down her walking to a minimum.
As in that she during the day no longer followed my mother from the living room and up the stairs to her bedroom or the toilet, without sat/laid waiting below for her to come back down instead. When out on walks, she walked until she had done the business that she needed and then she sat down and refused to go in any other direction than home.

The later maybe worked for her but not on long term for my other dogs and though I can take separate walks for a while, in long term I wouldn't keep a dog like that, especially since she did it because she wasn't comfortable. We did try swimming/hydrotherapy with her, we tried painkillers, pills with glucosamine and pills with New Zealand green-lipped mussel, they all worked a little but none worked as well as acupuncture!
After a completed treatment of about 6 sessions, without painkillers, she slept so relaxed, believed she was as strong and fast as when she was in her prime and it did happen that Nessie now instead sat down and refused to walk further if she thought we was turning around to go home to soon!

With acupuncture as her main medicine she enjoyed long walks for the rest of her more than 14,5 years life. So hopefully you'll find something that works for you and Beau too.
 
Thanks FL

At the moment our only prob is getting up off a hard floor if lay down on LHS for al ong period of time, or after a long long walk, lies down on hard surface for any period, then gets up = 10seconds of lameness and then is 100% again!

there fore my aim is to keep it at this as a maximum or preferably almost eliminate even this little bit of lameness as much as I can!

If it does get worse however acupuncture will defo be on my list as I have seen it work miracles on a horse!

glad your dog had a good life as a result of it! I just hate that they have to go through it!
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Oops, I forgot, have you tried stretching? That helps strengthening the muscles and then the muscles can better help to compensate, at least that's the theory I've heard.



And please don't mention laying on hard floor to me, Nessie was a Spitz, curling up in snow - no problem (not that it happened that often), curling up on hard floor - no problem, curling up in soft and comfortable dog bed or on dog rugs especially bought for her old and stiff joints - not likely and usually not by own choice = sneaked off as soon as owner turned away, if owner insisted she started breathing as if she was about to have a heat stroke and sighed with relief when returning to cool and hard floor...

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It was only until she really got old that she did begin to appreciate a little extra comfort. But until then, it was quite frustrating, I knew there was things that could have made her life easier and she simply wouldn't have them. All I could do was making sure she had the option.

About hating what they have to go through, I think that is more our problem, we (or at least me) think about how their life could have been without this, they don't.
 
Wasn't on here last night so only just seen this, sorry not good news but sounds to me like its certainly manageable. I've roughly calculated that 1.5 out of 4 on the scoring system would give him a score of around 20 on that hip (apols if my calculations are way off, I'm useless at maths). That is not horrendous in the grand scale of things, I bred from a bitch with a score of 25:4 because my vet and Dr Willis (THE hip man), said it was almost certainly a traumatic score. Her offspring were low scoring.
Anyay back to management, def agree to keep him slim, swimming is great and lots of exercise though not too mad. The more muscle he builds up the better. Although I'm not very good at reading x rays if you post the pic I can compare it with my good and bad ones if that helps.
 
Im still working of figuring out this blinking scanning m'larky!
But I will be posting the pic asap!

FL - OMG tell me about it! he has LOADS of bed and only 1 he will sleep in and that its last thing at night the rest of the day he is exactly the same as yours, snow, hard cold floor, you name it he will lie on it, except the other 3 beds I have bought him!!!! ARGH!

MM - I hope its not that bad! He is (as I say) fine 99% its just that 1% that makes me panic!

Gonna look for some hydro places round me, apparently there are a few!!! (didntk now that!) seeing as most of the water round here now has ice on it!

god I hate winter (mostly snow!)
 
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