# When Should I be Concerned About Hip Dysplasia?



## Koda.k (Feb 7, 2011)

I'm not sure if she has it or not. Can't tell if she's the world's calmest dog, or in pain and doesn't want to do anything...She's either playing or sleeping.
She seems to walk unrestricted and without discomfort and when she runs, she runs hard. I've watched a few videos of other dogs with CHD and I haven't seen the tell-tale back leg hop, outward paw stance, or frog sit associated with the disease, but she does seem to sit more on her rump than on her hind legs, and sometimes she will lean to rest on one hip before she tires of sitting and lays herself down. When she gets up from lying, she pushes herself up with her front legs, then fully stands with her hind legs. She seems to trot normally with an even gliding stride, runs hard and fast, but when she walks her butt waggles, or sways a little, but it looks natural.
What is normal? What can I expect to pay for a hip ex-ray? Some say I am being paranoid and should just let her be the dog she is, but if she's suffering, I want to help.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Well....I have a golden with mild hip dysplasia (both hips) and he wasn't showing any clinical signs. If your dog has that diagnosis, please keep in mind that it isn't the end of the world, doesn't always mean surgery, and actually doesn't mean your dog is in pain. 

As far as the clinical signs - 

*slowness in getting up in the morning 
*popping or bumping sounds from the hip area, particularly if you have a puppy or a young dog. 
*sorta bunny hopping while in a full gallop - my dog actually does this one. But so does our collie who has perfect hips, so it isn't always a definite clinical sign. 
*Reluctance to trot or jog without switching to the bunny hop. My guy doesn't have this problem. 
*heat or warmth if you feel the hip joint area after a play session or walk
*the sloppy sits 
*reluctance to roll over on the hip while lying down

If your dog is at least 24 months, I would do the xrays. If anything to alleviate any worries you might have or so you can come up with a game plan for heading off any future hip problems. 

Xrays here in Michigan cost about $80-120 for just the xray, depending on where you go. If you have your dog put under anesthesia first, it will cost a little more than that (I was quoted $200-220). You don't have to do the anesthesia route, but it will produce more definite xrays. My guy was wiggling while they did the xrays the first time, so they looked worse (moderate vs mild) than they actually are.

If your dog just has hip dysplasia on one side or mild bilateral hip dysplasia like my guy, then your vet will just give you a treatment/nutrition/exercise plan to ensure your dog has a long and mobile life. 

With Jacks, this means - daily walks, glucosamine/chondroitin/msm supplements, and watching him for any reluctance or message that he's not comfortable doing something. And my vet encouraged me to do agility and obedience with my guy and let him jump and run around to keep his muscles built up in his rear end. 

One thing we did this past week was an exercise with a ladder, which basically has the dog using both the front and back legs to step over all of the rungs. Jacks was nervous about bumping his feet the first time, but after a couple reps, he was easily striding through the rungs without any problems with his front or rear. I imagine if he were compensating a lot for his back legs/hips, he would have had more problems with that exercise. 

<- So again, it isn't the end of the world if you get this diagnosis.


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

I agree with Megora on most counts. However if you are concerned about your dog, get the xrays now do not wait until they are 2. Your pup may be fine, but isn't piece of mind worth a couple hundred bucks? If your pup does unfortunately have HD, you can start a game plan of management now that can work for you. If you wanted to submit the xrays to OFA for recording, then yes they have to be 2, but to find out whether or not they have HD, you do not need to wait. 

Teddi was diagnosed at 9 months. She had a total hip replacement for her 1st birthday. She was BAD. The clinical symptoms that were listed are "signs" but each on by themselves are not. 

For us with Teddi, she didn't bunny hop a lot... at first she ran like a pup. She had energy, she had love for life. It was just sometimes... I would see her limp. I thought I was seeing things because it was not common. Yes a quiet pup could be a sign of pain, but it can also be a quiet pup. Teddi was NOT quiet. She was very stoic though, she just played through the pain. She got to be about 8 months, struggled to get up stairs, had issues with the 'down' command. I think it was my gut most of all, so we took her in for pictures. Sure enough. 

Our vet said weight control is a MUST!!! Thin is better, any extra weight on a dog with joint issues is too much. So to this day Teddi is kept on the thin side of normal. Moderate, controlled exercise, you want strong muscles to help the joint. Swimming is a great one, very little stress on the joint itself. We put her on joint supplements, and he said to give her NSAID's as needed. Well that time came really fast. She stopped eating, she hurt so bad. It took the medicine to make her want to eat. She is not a fussy eater. 

Some dogs are symptomatic as pups, and grow out of it. We wanted to put Teddi's surgery off until she was 2 and see if she would grow out of it, but she left us no choice. Not all HD dogs need surgery, if you are diligent with the things mentioned above you can manage the dog quite well. Also, things like acupuncture, and physical therapy can do wonders, and help stay off the surgery. 

I honestly do not think your pup sounds too much like HD to me. But if it were my pup, and I were concerned, I would get an xray to be sure. It will give you piece of mind. And yes.... there is life with HD but let's hope that won't be the issue.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

^ Seconds. I didn't mean to say you should most definitely wait until 24 months. If you are concerned and she seems to be off in some way, I'd have her hips checked now.


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## bioteach (Nov 13, 2010)

Brewer had one "sort of normal" hip and one very bad one. We had the X-ray done when he was being neutered when he was "out" anyway. We really never saw any clinical signs when he was young. 

The vet told us that as long as he had good muscle the better hip would compensate and he was right. Brewer swam almost every day (even in winter) and we really didn't notice limping and reluctance to jump into the pool before age 11. (He did use the pool stairs).

The last two years of Brewer's life he did become stiff and sore and supplements helped him.


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## Summer's Mom (Oct 20, 2010)

Summer has bilateral HD, diagnosed at 8 months. She too, was the perfect pup. To this day, I still don't know if she was just low energy or in pain..

Her obvious signs were:
-lots and lots of swaying when walking slowly
-normal trotting gait
-bunny hopping when running fast
-pushing herself up using front end first
-reluctance to get up in the morning
-just before diagnosis, she would lay down while playing and not want to get up

We had x-rays done at 4 months (OFA view) and the vet told us it was normal and to run her more. Finally at 8 months we had PennHip x-rays done that showed pretty bad laxity and subluxation on both sides.

We have managed her with limited exercise, supplements, a course of injections. At a year and a month old now she is doing pretty ok I would say. She still does not run like a "normal" dog, but she enjoys short walks and can run and play a bit. We are putting off surgery since she seems to have ok quality of life. She still waddles when walking and gets sore if she runs around too much.

I would encourage you to get x-rays done if you think anything is not right. It does not cost THAT much I believe. Not sure exactly..

Good luck with your pup!


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