Ok, so I've been putting off asking this, but....

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Cedars

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I'm pretty convinced we're going to find that Chloe's problem at the moment is her hips.

If I'm honest, I've always noticed that she's walked a little funny through her back legs, and watching her in the field today, I'm more convinced than ever. She's 18months.

If it IS her hips, what happens next? She's downright miserable at the moment. Is there a doggy equivalent to Bute? Does it work? Are there other treatments?

How long are we talking before treatments stop working? What I'm asking is, how long have we got left?

Would very much appreciate any answers you have, thanks.

Hannah (and Chloe!)

P.S. Dont watch Marley and Me when you have a sick pup!
 
I guess it depends what it is that's wrong with her hips. There could be a surgery or permanent fix that could put her right for the rest of her life.

My dog was on metacam for 6 years. Its not recommended for extended use but we did and he is fine now.
 
The only way to be sure she has bad hips is to have her hips x rayed and preferably submitted to the BVA for scoring. Whilst some vets are very good at reading plates others in my experience can get it very wrong.
I have had dogs with bad hips (have Buffy at the mo and she is nearly 10) and they have never been miserable as you have described with Chloe, in fact they have never really showed any signs until old age so I would still suspect something else is causing her problems. However, should it be her hips there are lots of things you can do. There is a surgical option, either to just remove the femur head, or they can have a full hip replacement. If this is too extreme then pain can often be controlled with metacam or similar. It is important to keep a dog with bad hips slim, and well muscled, swimming is ideal exercise.
 
Thats what was worrying me today. She is super skinny, not an ounce more fat on her than she should have, and she is very muscly. Before this all happened she was extremely active and she isn't losing muscle mass noticeably at the moment.

Have looked into our local dog swimming pools and there are quite a lot so thats good.
 
It doesn't sound like bad hips if it came on suddenly, it is usually a very gradual stiffness/lameness as they get older, or if really bad they are lame from very young. Has your vet offered any suggestions, has he done x rays?
 
Shes going in on Tuesday for a liver function test and an adrenaline test. If they throw nothing up then he's going to xray. I'm just convinced, looking at her in the last few days, she's in pain, not feeling poorly. She has become increasingly impossible to convince to come away from the car into the fields with the horses, and the only thing that could make her NOT want to go to the one place she runs around is pain, surely?

But then she'll still hop up into the car without problems. So I dunno....
 
As MM, get a proper x-ray (IE it has to be done in a certain way, postitioning, etc, and get it BVA scored. Then possible options if the worst comes to the worst are drugs or surgery.

Hoping it's not HD or ED but if she is in pain and has even tweaked herself just slightly, jumping in and out of the car might be uncomfortable for her. In the meantime, if you can't lift her, can you fashion a ramp or box that she can climb on halfway up or down, to minimise the jarring impact?

Severe HD in youth is quite rare unless it's caused by an injury so chances are it's something else.

Oh, I know how you feel, I watched Bolt when I was convinced B had bladder cancer and I cried the whole way through it....
 
CaveCanem said:
Hoping it's not HD or ED but if she is in pain and has even tweaked herself just slightly, jumping in and out of the car might be uncomfortable for her. In the meantime, if you can't lift her, can you fashion a ramp or box that she can climb on halfway up or down, to minimise the jarring impact?
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Sorry, I meant to say she leaps into the car with gay abandon - and will stand by the gate pining to get back in the car if we're with the horses! So she's NOT in pain jumping - or is at least hiding it very very well!

Other than that, I'll definitely get it BVA checked (do I just ask my vet to send it off?). xxxx
 
You need to wait till your vet has xrayed - and they might need to send off the xrays to a specialist vet (my vet had to) so you might not get an answer straightaway. Metacam is an anti inflammatory (quite strong) - be warned that it can make some dogs quite sick so watch out for that. On the second course my staffie started throwing up so was put onto Rimadyl - not as effective. In my dogs case, he, at the age of 3 and being a very active and slim dog, had elbow displaysia - which of course is not meant to happen to dogs like him. Surgery was suggested which I wasn't keen on so he had a course of 4 injections of cartrophone at weekly intervals and on vet advice - switched onto JD hill joint food. This week ( 2 weeks after the last injection) he has suddenly started to become a lot more comfortable and the lameness has reduced considerably so fingers crossed it goes completely. The JD hills is also reduced calorie to help but my staff is definately not overweight.
 
Luci, what symptoms did you notice in your boy that made you take him to the vet to find out about the elbow dysplasia? If you dont mind me asking. xxxx
 
It has to be sent to the BVA and your vet should be able to do it - not all vets do though and it's important that the dog is lined up correctly for the panel to be able to score the plates correctly.
Some plates can reveal damage so bad it's obvious to the naked eye, but thankfully (This does NOT mean Chlo, so don't panic!) this is rare and that is why the scoring system is there)

Here's a link that can help:
http://www.bva.co.uk/Hip_Scheme.aspx

(PS ALL breeders of dog breeds prone to HD should have both parents tested and only breed from low-scored stock! Please! If only to prevent pet owners like you, Flamehead, having this sort of worry :()
 
I have had dogs with bad hips x-ray wise that haven't bothered them. and I've had dogs with bad hips and when not on metacam they are downright miserable, and it can come on over a couple of days, e.g if they had a big hoon/stepped awkwardly and jarred themselves, they can be very sad sad dogs. Could be hip problems, worth a shot. Is she sort to have them poked, when you move them do they make a cracking sound?
 
you need to get your vet to check for HD....

i had my spaniel x-rayed for this - came back clear - just the way she walks (shes a bit weird!) :D
 
Right, excuse the bullet points but easier to see. Symptoms so far:

Generally just sad. Unwilling to run around as much, not as "excited". Sometimes unwilling to jump a wall she always jumps, but mostly fine.

Slamming her bum against the floor, almost as if she doesnt realise she's doing it. Its really quick and she doesn't rub against the floor or anything.

She stretches her back legs out when she gets up, but she does also stretch her back as well (you know when their front legs go out and their bum stays in the air).

The vet noticed some laxity in her stifles the other day.

She's not sore to have them poked, and can with ease open her legs out like a frog.



Thinking about it I'm going to ring the vet tomorrow and ask them not to bother doing the liver/adrenaline tests until they've checked her hips. The more I'm reading about it the more sure I am its probably not a blood thing.
 
Oh I agree it's a lottery SusieT, friends of ours had an amazing moving bitch who was made up to a champion by 18 months, but when scored, she was off the scale.

But I do think in the grand scheme of things, for the issue to improve, it's much better for breeding stock to be x-rayed and only bred if the scores are low.

As I said to Flamehead last week, I thought my dog's hips were totally ballsed but they were fine, he'd actually hurt his back and was easily remedied.
 
Oh, and her dad was hip scored, good score, mum wasn't. But even knowing what I know about hip scoring etc now I'd still take her if I had the chance again, you genuinely couldnt want for a better puppy. xxxx
 
really it could be anything, from her lower back down.
hip problems can be quite rapid, i had a terrier pup that showed a limp at the beginning of the month and had to be put down at the end because her hip joints had disintegrated in a 3 week period, apparently it happens quite often in terriers.

i would make an appointment with your vet, and get it straightened out before you start to worry about long term painkillers. for all you know she could have just strained something, or adopted an odd gait.
 
I wasn't commenting at all CC on breeding but on clinical symptoms as such in terms of how bad hips haqs ime affected tthem, think you got a bit confused there.
 
Alright children....

So from her symptoms do you think it sounds likely? Damn the bank holiday, going to have to ring them tomorrow anyway and hope they don't shout at me!!
 
I thought that was quite cordial! :p :)
Only the vet can tell you FH, I think is what we're all trying to explain :) we can't diagnose sat here on our computers, just make suggestions, please try not to panic in the meantime x
Fingers crossed it's just a wee tweak.
 
Just a thought reading through the posts you have made on this thread Fh...is it possible one of the horses has kicked her? You say the place she usually runs around is at the yard and she has suddenly become reluctant to go and would rather jump in the car? Just a thought.
 
Hmm will just have to ring tomorrow and hope I dont get the nasty lady on the phone......! Just dont see the point in using up our vets fees on the insurance if its sounding more and more likely that its probably something with her hips.

Thank god we got cover for life on her insurance!
 
Vizslak said:
Just a thought reading through the posts you have made on this thread Fh...is it possible one of the horses has kicked her? You say the place she usually runs around is at the yard and she has suddenly become reluctant to go and would rather jump in the car? Just a thought.
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Hi Vizslak, good thought, but no there is absolutely no way. She's not allowed in the field with our youngster and mare, she's only allowed in with my OHs gelding. Frankie, bless his heart, couldn't kick anything if he tried! And she's ALWAYS supervised. So we'd definitely have seen it if it'd happened. She did get trodden on by our mare about a year ago, she screamed blue murder but the next day with running around with her cast on lol! So no, I don't think its fear, I think its pain. Thanks for the thought though its appreciated, please keep coming up with thoughts as it might just be the right one! xxxx

To add, we watch her like a hawk because shes the worlds greatest disappearing act - so if you're not watching her 100% of the time you just lose her! So we always have an eye on her (either my OH or me).
 
ok erm...zapped by a leccy fence? my friends dog got zapped by the cow fence once...took about 3 months to persuade her back out of the car at the yard again! :rolleyes:
 
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