Anyone have experience with dogs with hip dysplasia?

Tink9721

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 14, 2009
Hi everyone! We just found out today that our 8 month old Golden has hip dysplasia on both sides, and will need surgery :( Our vet is setting up an appointment for us with an orthopedic doctor to go over our options, but I thought I'd try to get some info in the meantime.

Any experience with the different surgery options? Recovery period? Any info or advice would be great!

Thanks in advance! :goodvibes
 
I'm sorry to hear of your dog's diagnosis, especially in a dog so young. You will hear stories from people who do everything from very conservative to very extreme treatments. Please know that you have to do what is best for you and your family. Do not allow emotions and/or guilt to sway you into doing a treatment that may put your finances at risk. It really is dependent on the degree of severity of the dysplasia. I have known people who have started with conservative treatments such as weight loss (if the dog is obese), appropriate strengthening exercises, even physical therapy, as well as medication. Others will go straight to one type of surgery or another. Did you buy the pup from a reputable breeder? If so, there should be something in the contract about health and puppy buyback (while you may not want to relinquish the pup, it would be an option).

Your pup is young, and I would get at least two opinions before making a final decision. Do you happen to have a veterinary college nearby?

It is extremely important to follow recovery protocol to the letter, this will often mean enforced crate rest for a long period of time. At that age, when they tend to be "bouncy", this can be difficult. If your pup isn't already crate trained, I would start NOW, before you have to enforce it.

Terri
 
When I was a kid our Lab was diagnosed with it when she was a puppy. My mom was not a big lover of dogs, so she said there was no way she was paying $1000's for a surgery on the dog. The vet suggested an aspirin regimen. We have her 2 aspirin a day for 6 or so months and once she finished growing to her full size, she had outgrown the problem. She never had any problems after that and lived 15 years.
 
My GSD had terrible dysplasia and was diagnosed when she was under a year old. She was struggling to walk and then one day she developed a bad limp. My vet scheduled a consultation/surgery at Ohio State University and she and I went on a road trip. We were planning a total hip replacement on the worst hip to begin with and if necessary in the future, another surgery on the other hip.

When we got there it didn't take them long to tell me that while she did have terrible dysplasia, she had actually torn her ACL and that's why she was struggling to walk. Oops! A bit of a misdiagnosis there. So they ended up doing a TPLO instead (which was a new surgery at the time, so it ended up being great that we were there instead of doing the typical ACL surgery that they offered where I lived).

She did great and she lived 12.5 years and her hips never became a problem until the very end of her life. And we ended up just managing with pain meds. We kept her weight down, made sure she got lots of exercise and she did fine.

My parents, on the other hand, purchased a pup from a breeder and she had extreme dysplasia. She was in terrible pain. They did the surgery on the worst hip where they take off the top of the joint and it was a difficult recovery. She's still young but I do worry about how she's going to be able to get around when she's older.

The alternative would be a total hip replacement (which is what I had planned on doing for my GSD) but it is extremely expensive and the recovery is very difficult and challenging. Their dog was so incredibly hyper and their surgery had shorter and less terrible recovery so it was the right choice for them.

There are options, but I suggest going to a specialist. If you have a MedVet near you, I have seen miraculous results from their patients.
 


Hi everyone! We just found out today that our 8 month old Golden has hip dysplasia on both sides, and will need surgery :( Our vet is setting up an appointment for us with an orthopedic doctor to go over our options, but I thought I'd try to get some info in the meantime.

Any experience with the different surgery options? Recovery period? Any info or advice would be great!

Thanks in advance! :goodvibes
Im sorry your sweet puppy and you are going through this! Thank goodness we have been lucky. She was overweight for a bit and we talked with vet about portions. I said she seems she is starving! Vet said thats a Golden for ya! I cut her portions and she lost weight, however my son swears im starving her, lol. Now we just have the typical ear infections and allergies... i sure wish the best for you! Im sorry i have no advice.
 
Our first golden was a pet store purchase. We were young and dumb. She was diagnosed with it at 8 months as well. I believe one hip was rated a 2 and the other a 3 on the 4 point scale our vet used.

They talked surgery, however with the cost and her age he wasn't convinced that would be worth it with the recovery time. We started her on glucosamine and fish oil. We switched her to a different food with more vitamins and minerals in it.

When she was still a pup we kept her away from other dogs as much as possible. And we wouldn't let her play too rough or too long because we knew she would pay for it the next day. But as she grew and her muscles developed she learned to do things differently. She ran more like a bunny than a dog.

She would swim and jump off the dock and welcomed a second golden and 3 kids into her house.

She lived to a ripe old 16 years until she just laid down outside, fell asleep, and didn't wake up. Best dog ever.
 
Hi everyone! We just found out today that our 8 month old Golden has hip dysplasia on both sides, and will need surgery :( Our vet is setting up an appointment for us with an orthopedic doctor to go over our options, but I thought I'd try to get some info in the meantime.

Any experience with the different surgery options? Recovery period? Any info or advice would be great!

Thanks in advance! :goodvibes
Knock on wood, never had to experience it. All our dogs' relatives for 5-7 generations back have tested good or excellent in hips/elbows and luckily (again, knock on wood) we have never had a dysplasia sneak through. Although while it would be rare with the extensive history of testing it could happen.

We did go through an ACL tear where our silly puppy jumped off a wall. It was a trying and expensive 6 months but well worth the surgery and his recovery. I would highly recommend that if you have a vet school in the area to check them out. Usually better prices and your dog is supervised by some of the best instructors around. People drive for hours to have major surgeries done by our local vet school because they are so good.

edited to add possessive mark
 
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We didn't know ours had dysplasia until he was older. It explained a lot of things. He did tear his ACL when he was about six and had the surgery with great results. When he started having difficulty getting to his feet when he was older we took him for accupuncture therapy which really helped for quite a while. Close to the end we started him on a course of Rimadyl I believe. He passed from a stroke not long after. He was 11 at the time.
 
Talk to your vet about a medication called Adequan, it actually preserves cartilage.
 
I had a golden that had hip surgery for dysplasia at about 8 months. At the time, our vet was mobile. He did the surgery in an RV. Our dog, Scout, walked from the RV to our walkout basement immediately after the surgery. She did great!

OP, you should make sure the breeder knows about your situation. He/She should stop breeding the dogs that produced your puppy.
 
Agreed about letting the breeder know. While it's common with the breed, I know a lot of breeders work on getting hip certifications with their litters due to the risk of hip dysplasia...i.e. they're making sure the dogs are checked for it and cleared by a vet before being sold.

Beyond that, we've had 4 goldens and been lucky on the hip part (cancer...not so much), but of our friends...the results have been mixed. The younger pups who had the surgery done definitely fared better than the older ones. Considering your dog's age, I'd consider it...but I'd definitely get a second opinion.
 
Agreed about letting the breeder know. While it's common with the breed, I know a lot of breeders work on getting hip certifications with their litters due to the risk of hip dysplasia...i.e. they're making sure the dogs are checked for it and cleared by a vet before being sold.

Beyond that, we've had 4 goldens and been lucky on the hip part (cancer...not so much), but of our friends...the results have been mixed. The younger pups who had the surgery done definitely fared better than the older ones. Considering your dog's age, I'd consider it...but I'd definitely get a second opinion.
A breeder that didn't do the testing in the first place is not going to care that one of their puppies have hip dysplasia. They are only in it for the money and testing cuts into litter profits. A breeder that cares will already ask or even require OFA certifications of all puppies they sell to add into the database. They want to breed the best dog not the most profitable dog.

Making sure you have a reputable breeder is up to the buyer.

As a buyer of a family member that I want around for a very long time, one of my #1 requirements is that the breeder does all the health testing that is recommended. Hips, elbows, cerf, cardiac, DM,and some others results are easily found online. You can search multiple ways such as by breeder (kennel name) or the dog. Since it will also list the results for the relatives and offspring, you can readily determine if hip dysplasia is being passed on through the lines.

Here is a sample of a Golden Retriever's record (just typed in golden retriever in the search bar) Note all the health information you have of the dog, the parents, the siblings, the offspring. You can go as far back as there are records.

https://www.ofa.org/advanced-search?f=sr&appnum=1509128

A little bit of research before you buy a puppy will save one lots of dollars in potential surgery costs. Can hip dysplasia still happen even with a completely clear pedigree - yes. But it would be very, very rare.
 

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