# Popping noises in hip



## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

I have no idea about dogs, but sometimes horses can make popping noises when they walk. The vet I talked to said it's just nitrogen being pushed out the joint (usually fetlocks) and it wasn't anything to be concerned about...but again, that's horses. Hopefully it's something minor like that with Flora.


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## Enzos_Mom (Apr 8, 2010)

Ranger said:


> I have no idea about dogs, but sometimes horses can make popping noises when they walk. The vet I talked to said it's just nitrogen being pushed out the joint (usually fetlocks) and it wasn't anything to be concerned about...but again, that's horses. Hopefully it's something minor like that with Flora.



It actually happens with humans, too, so I imagine it happens with dogs. My hips pop like CRAZY and my doc said it was nothing to be worried about because it's just what Ranger described above.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Ranger said:


> I have no idea about dogs, but sometimes horses can make popping noises when they walk. The vet I talked to said it's just nitrogen being pushed out the joint (usually fetlocks) and it wasn't anything to be concerned about...but again, that's horses. Hopefully it's something minor like that with Flora.


Oh, I do wish it was something like that but there are too many other things that point to HD (not to mention her vet told me @11 months that her hips looked iffy). My hips pop all the time because I have some issues with the iliotibial band in my legs but... well, for dogs I think it's mostly HD.

Thanks for the well wishes though.  At this point in time I don't think Flora has any idea there's something wrong with her, so hopefully that continues for a long time!


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## LifeOfRiley (Nov 2, 2007)

kdmarsh said:


> Oh, I do wish it was something like that but there are too many other things that point to HD (not to mention her vet told me @11 months that her hips looked iffy). My hips pop all the time because I have some issues with the iliotibial band in my legs but... well, for dogs I think it's mostly HD.
> 
> Thanks for the well wishes though.  *At this point in time I don't think Flora has any idea there's something wrong with her, so hopefully that continues for a long time!*


Yes, hopefully it will!
I don't think there's any way to tell, for sure, without having the x-rays done.
Riley's right hip makes noise, too. His is more of a 'click' than a 'pop', though. Our vet thinks it probably is HD, but like Flora, Riley doesn't seem to have any clue that something isn't quite right in there. It certainly doesn't slow him down, or limit his activity and he doesn't seem to experience any pain. (And he's such a big baby, I have to believe that if he were experiencing any pain, we'd know about it.) So, considering that, our vet pretty much agreed with me in wanting to take a conservative wait-and-see approach. 
I'll probably break down this spring and go ahead and have him neutered, so I'm going to see if the vet wants to take some pictures then, since he'll already be "knocked out" anyway.
Do you have her on a joint supplement?


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

LifeOfRiley said:


> Yes, hopefully it will!
> I don't think there's any way to tell, for sure, without having the x-rays done.
> Riley's right hip makes noise, too. His is more of a 'click' than a 'pop', though. Our vet thinks it probably is HD, but like Flora, Riley doesn't seem to have any clue that something isn't quite right in there. It certainly doesn't slow him down, or limit his activity and he doesn't seem to experience any pain. (And he's such a big baby, I have to believe that if he were experiencing any pain, we'd know about it.) So, considering that, our vet pretty much agreed with me in wanting to take a conservative wait-and-see approach.
> I'll probably break down this spring and go ahead and have him neutered, so I'm going to see if the vet wants to take some pictures then, since he'll already be "knocked out" anyway.
> Do you have her on a joint supplement?


Hah, I'm glad you mentioned how Riley is a baby because Flora's a pretty big weenie herself. She took her spay HARD (which I totally understand, but I expected her to be jumping around in no time like everyone else's spayed female) so I'm also thinking that if she were in pain she'd let me know - she does refuse to go very far on walks sometimes, however, which I often wonder about.

I have her on 1200 mg of fish oil as well as Dasuquin 2x a day.

I really hope there's nothing wrong with Riley just as much as I hope nothing is wrong with my Flora. And if there is, hopefully they can get through it without ever needing an invasive procedure done. 

Still curious though if, in the case of hip dysplasia, the popping noise is something like the hip popping out of the socket or if it's something else.


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## LifeOfRiley (Nov 2, 2007)

kdmarsh said:


> Hah, I'm glad you mentioned how Riley is a baby because Flora's a pretty big weenie herself. She took her spay HARD (which I totally understand, but I expected her to be jumping around in no time like everyone else's spayed female) so I'm also thinking that if she were in pain she'd let me know - she does refuse to go very far on walks sometimes, however, which I often wonder about.
> 
> I have her on 1200 mg of fish oil as well as Dasuquin 2x a day.
> 
> ...


I sure hope so too, for both of us. (And for Flora and Riley, of course!) I've heard of many, many dogs who have had mild HD and gone their whole lives without ever needing surgical intervention. That's certainly what I'm hoping for!
For now, that's pretty much what we're doing, too. Fish oil and Cosequin. And we walk religiously to keep the muscles strong around that joint. This spring, I'd like to find a place where we could take him to swim, too.
I'd probably be a little concerned if she's refusing to walk very far on a fairly regular basis. If it's a once in a while thing and she seems to be active and acting "normal" the rest of the time, I wouldn't push the panic button. I'd keep an eye on it, though. Knowing me, I'd probably start keeping a journal, so you can really keep track of just how often she doesn't want to walk, how far you actually go and could see whether it becomes more frequent.

I'm not entirely sure about what, exactly, goes on in there, to be honest. I don't think it's the hip actually popping out of the socket, though. I think it's just that the "ball" of the leg bone doesn't fit as tightly as it should in the hip socket and moves around a little more than it's supposed to. But like I said, I'm really not entirely sure.


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

Oh Flora, don't give your mommy grey hair yet. She's too young for that!


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

I'm not sure but I think the vet said its the hip popping back in.. Meaning it probably snuck out silently before that..

Summer has nasty bilateral HD, but she looks like a bendy bus when walking.. I worry for her spine as much as her hips given how much she sways! She too gets around fine, but surgery is always on the back of our minds.. 

Good luck!


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