HD getting worse, need advice

[Birdie'sMom]

Birdie was diagnosed with mild HD when she was 9 months old. The doctor put her on Cosequin and told us to keep her thin and excercise her a lot. We take her swimming when the weather is nice and take her on walks. She turned 2 in January. Lately I have noticed that she cries a lot more. When she has been lying down for awhile and gets up, she cries. She has been slipping on hardwood floors more often and her whole back end falls down. I am so worried. She will be going to the vet in 2 weeks for her annual check up and I am going to have them take more x rays. In the mean time, can anyone tell me what the success rates are for surgery to correct HD? I'm not worried about the cost. If it will take her pain away I am willing to do it. I just don't want to put her through surgery only to have it not work. It's so sad. I hate seeing her in pain like this. Even walking up the stairs has become hard for her.

[Miabella]

I believe the success rate is over 95% for total hip replacement. I know that when we had it done on Mia, it was an amazing success.

Two pieces of advice.

1) Get a board certified surgeon with a long track record doing the surgery
2) Be fastidious about her aftercare and restriction of activity. This is where most of the problems occur, and it is absolutely crucial that activity is severly limited (on-leash even in the house) and she is crated when you can't supervise directly. And if you have slippery floors, you need to get rubber backed throw rugs. And absolutely no stairs for many months.

Best wishes for Birdie!

[Birdie'sMom]

Thanks, Laurie. I am going to talk to my vet about our options at her next appointment. I will let you know what the outcome is.

[Brooke&Ryan]

(((Hugs))) to you & Birdie. Just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking about you guys.

Brooke

[Tank's Grandma]

I don't have experience with THR in dogs personally, but on the ortho board, and the HD board, many people have reported great successes for their dogs. I know what Tank's TPO surgery did for him. I would second Laurie's advice to make sure of the qualifications of the surgeon, and the importance of the care afterwards. I know with my own THR, what I did in recovery was just as important if not more so than what the surgeon did.
Where are you located?
Cindy

[mmgy]

Our only HD experiences have been with old dogs, so I know very little about the surgery. Let us know how your research progresses!

[JoJo]

I can't answer your question about the success of HD surgery, but I did notice that you said that she has a hardtime going up and down stairs. I would recommand that you invest in a ramp. My Reba has severe arthritis in all her joints (back is free so far) and we bought her a ramp. What a difference for her. Life is good when you see them go up and down with ease. By the way, I have Reba on Deramaxx and it has done wonders for the pain.

JoJo

[Jbartu]

My cousin had a total hip replacement on her mix breed a few years ago. He was a 160lb dog and he did wonderfully. Best wishes to you both, I am sure everything will work out just fine.

[Bucky's Mom]

Poor Birdie - can the Vet see her any sooner than 2 weeks from now? - Or can he prescribe a short term pain med for the 2 weeks before she can be seen?? - I hate to think of 14 days more of pain severe enough to make her cry :(

[Tank's Grandma]

What about some Ascriptin (the coated aspirin) every now and then, in the meantime...it really helped Tank before his surgery....almost too much!
We also give him fish oil and ester-C in addition to his 4 Cosequin a day....

[Birdie'sMom]

We are located in Bucks County, PA. We used to live in Newtown and we are moving to Richboro at the end of May.

Yes, we do give her ascriptin for the pain. Thank you all so much for the info.

[Bruce Lanthier]

Since you said it was mild I would try adequan shots and then supplementing with glucosamine. She is young and this kind of treatment may help her so that she would not need the surgery. You could start her on the glucosamine right away and then when you get to the vet talk to him about adequan and glucosamine. There are also a number of threads here about those two things. I supplement with glucosamine now anyway just as a general preventative as it has been proven to help. If you do choose to use glucosamine make sure you get a brand that will be absorbed by a dog (good bio-availability). I use glucosamine made for dogs.

[poohbearsmom]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lanthier

Since you said it was mild I would try adequan shots and then supplementing with glucosamine. She is young and this kind of treatment may help her so that she would not need the surgery. You could start her on the glucosamine right away and then when you get to the vet talk to him about adequan and glucosamine. There are also a number of threads here about those two things. I supplement with glucosamine now anyway just as a general preventative as it has been proven to help. If you do choose to use glucosamine make sure you get a brand that will be absorbed by a dog (good bio-availability). I use glucosamine made for dogs.

I would look into adequan therapy as well. I personally try to deal with my dogs in the least invasive manner possible.. and major surgery is very invasive...in addition to the crate rest, walking on lead... and all the cabin fever one has to deal with associated with a long recovery.
Attila was diagnosed mild/L moderate/R at 7mos or so. I will have him OFA'd once he turns 2. We use the Glucosomine/Chondroiten/MSM in combination with Vitamin C.
With my boy, he was lame A LOT during his rapid growth period. In the past few months, it's been much better, but after any vigorous exercise, he's gimping on the R. (So, he won't do an AD when he grows up....LOL) One thing I've noticed a lot, is that the muscles on his R are atrophying along the inner thigh.... this is common, I hear.
When he gets a little gimpy, I give him an ascriptin (coated aspirin), so that he has some relief from the discomfort.
He has a pretty high pain threshold, so, when he's gimping, I know he's hurtin'. A little relief for this is a nice thing to do, IMHO.
If his bouts of stiffness/lameness continue, we will go with the adequan.

Good luck... it's never fun to see them hurting.

[Birdie'sMom]

Thanks Bruce and Elisabeth. I will talk to my vet about this option, as well. I really hope she can be helped without surgery. I will do whatever is best for Birdie.

[Judy Chrusch]

I can't offer anymore advice but just wanted to send you and Birdie my best and know she'll be in my prayers. Let us know what the vet says. Take care and give her a big hug from auntie Judy .

Off subject but how is Abby doing?

Judy