Canine Hip Dysplasia

Canine Hip Dysplasia – Q&A

Hip Dysplasia Dogs – Facts

Hip Dysplasia does not only occur at the hip joint. It ight also effect the knee, shoulder and spinal joints.
The gradual loss of cartilage, joint inflammation, bone spurs and pain can be a result of osteoarthritis or hip dysplasia.
Eventhough hip dysplasia is a genetical inherited deseas we may sometimes see that the dog’s parents did not ever develop hip dysplasia yet the son or daugther did.
Hip dysplasia can result from genetic mutations or simply from masked of hidden genes that can skip generations.
Labs, Golden Retreivers, Bloodhounds, St. Bernards, Boxers and Rottweilers are the breeds that are the more common candidates for hip displasia but not every large breed dog is likely to get hip dysplasia. Siberian Huskies and Dobermans tend to be at a lower risk for CHD.
Hip dysplasia’s clinical signs include decreased ability to endure exercise, lameness in the hind limbs, reluctance to climb stairs, and pain coincident with hip movement.
Growth rate, extent of exercise, nutrition, and hereditary factors influence the incidence of the disease.
Medical and surgical treatments have been used with variable success. The treatments are not curative, but they may greatly relieve the dog’s discomfort and slow progression of the disease.

(CHD) or Canine Hip Dysplasia is often very frustrating for dog owners as it is quite difficult to treat as well as to prevent. This is a disease of the bones where the head of the thigh bone is not fit right in the hip socket. This causes the cartilage and joint to become damaged resulting in pain and swelling. This disease itself is not hip arthritis but it is the most common cause of hip arthritis.

How do dogs get Canine Hip Dysplasia?

Canine Hip Dysplasia is inherited from the parents of the dog. So the only way to get rid of canine hip dysplasia is to find parents that do not suffer from CHD. As you can imagine this is no easy task as all blogs that have Hip Dysplasia cannot show it outwardly. In fact, dogs that show no sign of it can still carry the gene for CHD passing It on to their offspring.

How do you tell if your dog has Canine Hip Dysplasia?

Dogs with CHD usually show less energy and decreased movement of hip joints. They have a hard time getting up after sitting down and their back legs might seem lame causing them to look almost like a rabbit when running and making them reluctant to climb upstairs. Typically these symptoms don’t show up until the dog is middle-aged. Some dogs to show this disease when they are puppies however.

Are there tests for Hip Dysplasia?

Unfortunately, there is no type of testing you can do to tell if a dog is a carrier of canine hip dysplasia. Diagnosis of CHD is done through x-rays and physical exams. An x-ray can help tell how bad the condition is and monitoring it through x-rays you can tell how well the treatment is working. There are two techniques for x-raying dogs with canine hip dysplasia.

They are:

1. Hip-extended ventrodorsal view x-ray – this provides a frontal view of the pelvic area and hip joints. It can give you an idea of how severe the arthritis is.

2. PennHIP radiography technique – this technique can tell how loose the hips are and can be done on dogs as young as four months of age.

What are the treatment are there for Canine Hip Dysplasia?

While there is no cure for CHD can there are some non-surgical methods which can help relieve the symptoms. Drugs such as Ectogesic, Rimadyl and Deramaxx can help relieve the pain and inflammation and help your dog live a normal life. Physical therapy, exercise and keeping a dog at a good weight are also effective treatments.

If these treatments don’t work there is always surgery which corrects the malformed joint and can be very effective. There are two different types of surgery with hip dysplasia – therapeutic surgery which treats hips that are already arthritic and prophylactic surgery which is used to prevent the progression of arthritis.

The most common prevent div procedure is called triple pelvic osteotomy and involves cutting the pelvis and then rotating the hip sockets. This procedure works well as long as it is done before the joint becomes damaged and arthritis sets in. Another type of surgery called pubic symphysiodesis is still being studied and involves changing the way the pelvis grows to get the hips to be tighter. This procedure is for very young dogs.

In larger dogs with canine hip dysplasia, a total hip replacement might be done using plastic to replace the socket and a noncorrosive ally for the ball. This procedure enjoys a high success rate and in most cases eliminates all the pain and enabling the dog to live a normal life with normal activity levels.

Another procedure called femoral head ostectomy involves removing the top of the femur to stop the painful grinding that happens at the hip joint. The femur then floats freely which makes scar tissue form and this scar tissue acts as a joint. This procedure works best on smaller dogs who are well muscled and is not recommended for dogs with only a mild case of arthritis.

How can you prevent Canine Hip Dysplasia?

Since canine hip dysplasia is inheritable, the best way to prevent it is too careful breeding. Making sure that puppies do not place undue stress on the hips and denied again too much weight can help delay the onset of this disease in dogs with a genetic predisposition to CHD.

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