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When do hip dysplacia symptoms show up?
My dog just turned 4. At only 5 months, the vet diagnosed her wtih hip dysplacia (not an "official" hip xray, only when she was down for her spay as she was walking a bit odd at around 4/5 months). She's been on Glucosamine supplements since then, excercised well (as a vet recommended to keep her active while she could be active since it was good for her muscles and her mind), kept on a lean diet to keep weight off her hips, etc. She runs with me (not super long distances), jumps like a deer, plays hard, etc. She hasn't shown any signs of pain, but I know every day that someday, it's going to show up. I expected her hips to be more of an issue by now, so now I just worry that we're living on borrowed time.
The post below regarding a 1.5 year old dog with HD makes me wonder-when did/do HD symptoms start appearing in dogs? I know it can vary, but I'm just curious opinions on here.
TIA.
Re: When do hip dysplacia symptoms show up?
Ringo was 3 or 4ish. There were no signs expect one day he couldn't stand, at all. He crawled into the living room. An hour later he was walking, a few hours later he was jumping around- as I took him to the vet. We had only had him for a month.
Kobe was 4. I had already known the signs, and knew something was wrong when I watched him walk. He started refusing walks. I had lots of talks with the ortho vet who said that bulldogs generally don't have problems with hips, but its their knees that go out. He suggested a MRI to look for spine problems, and while he was out for that he took hip x rays too. He called me, apologized and we scheduled surgery.
So...it could be soon then.
until then, I'll appreciate my happy healthy pup.
I'm glad to here your pups are doing OK though!
"Ok" is relative. Currently there are no walking problems though. Could be, may not be. If both dogs were treated properly (ie not gotten from a puppy store, and not tied up and a stray) then they probably wouldn't have needed surgery. Meds and rehab probably would have stopped the need for surgery. But I get the most broken dogs, so of course they were too far gone for that.
I guess I meant *OK * in a relative sense, too. I know you've gone through so much with them and of course, it's to be expected that they might not be 100%. They are sure lucky to have you, though.
Really our only "major" problem is Kobe's re-occuring for the last 2 years skin infection. Every time I think we have it handled he gets new freakin scabs on his stomach. He's awesome about it though. I guess after two years of fighting me he's gotten used to it. Some lady stopped me earlier this week. She said she had seen me a lot and asked if I really walked the dogs twice a day. I said yes, we moved from a bigger house with a yard to this small place with no real yard, and they need exercise. She told me they were luck to have me. I just laughed and said you don't know the half of it.
My dog showed signs around the time that he became full grown. The Dr. said that he had severe dysplacia, and made the same recomendations for activity and weight. For a year he was on Rimadyl because the pain was really bad.
So we dropped about 10 pounds off him, keep him very active, and he hasn't had to be on any pain meds full time anymore. If we have to kennel him for a few days we do usually give them a couple of pills to give to him because he plays so hard with the other dogs, but he doesn't always need them.
He's almost 8 now, and still going strong. I think I have the most active, in shape english bulldog known to man. So much for my idea of getting a lazy couch potato dog.