Hi!

Wondering if anyone has any advice. I have a wonderful, wonderful,
wonderful (Did I mention wonderful?) 11 month Lab mix. My previous dog
(shepherd mix) had cushing's which we treated for several years, but
progressed till we had to put her down in October 2005. We then
rescued a 3 mo Lab pup from the SPCA in March 2006. She is my 9 yr old
daughter's dog. Hemi, the lab mix, melded right into our family.

Well, several weeks ago I noticed her favoring her left leg. I thought
maybe she strained something and it would heal itself, because she
wasn't yelping or avoiding excercise - just a little stiff. It didn't
go away. I just returned from the vet and she has Hip Dysplasia. I'm
crushed. I have heard so many horror stories about the pain these dogs
go through.

I asked the vet what degree she thought Hemi was at. She said she
couldn't say it was mild. She said teh joint is partially subluxated
and stable. No arthritis yet. Not in danger of dislocating at this
stage. I spent $75 for Synovi G3 Glucosomine supplements. The vet
advised that the supplements should help to stave off the development
of arthritis.

I am however, getting mixed messages from different people. Will Hemi
develop arthritis for sure at some point? If she is past mild at 11
months will she be disable by 2 years.

We all know the big question in the back of my mind, but I really love
her. I cannot afford surgery if she is even a candidate.

What will her quality of life be?

HELP!
Angelina

Many dogs with mild dysplasia do well for years. I would wonder about
the "mildness" if she is already lame though. My suggestion is to ask
your vet to refer you to an orthopedist. Have him send the xrays (I'm
assuming he took xrays, not just palpated the joint?) Find out from the
specialist what your options are. Chances are, with supplimentation you
can keep her comfortable while you save up for surgery. Keep her lean
and well muscled - swimming is a great low-impact exercise. Acupuncture
can be useful to alieve discomfort. And eat mac and cheese if you need
to or look at options like Care Credit, which may allow you to pay out
the surgery interest free. BroomSandy

wrote in message:

I just returned from the vet and she has Hip Dysplasia.

How did the vet determine that? If it hasn't been done yet, I would
strongly recommend that you have her hips X-Rayed by an orthopedic vet.
That is the best way to determine the extent of the problem.

I am however, getting mixed messages from different people. Will Hemi
develop arthritis for sure at some point? If she is past mild at 11
months will she be disable by 2 years.

Angelina, meet Pan
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y65...Pan_snow3.jpg). She's
my 5 1/2 year old Great Dane, who was diagnosed at age 1 with severe
bilateral CHD and juvenile arthritis. As you can clearly tell, she is not
exactly disabled, and her quality of life is excellent.

What will her quality of life be?

Considering how none of us have crystal balls, that's impossible to tell.
But, CHD does not automatically mean a life of crippling pain. Here is what
you can do to help. Keep her lean. A few pounds underweight is better than
a few pounds overweight. Keep her fit and well muscled, by giving her good,
low impact exercise. Having good supporting tissue to help out the weak
joint is essential. Swimming is wonderful. Walks and hikes (on softer
surfaces than pavements is ideal) are good. Stuff involving lots of stops
and starts and turning on a dime (dog dependent, but stuff like fetch) are
not as good, and jumping up and down or off of heights is not good either.

Give her a good liquid glucosamine supplement (I use K9 Liquid Health 5000),
as it certainly helps with the joints. I also give fish oil and vitamin E,
as that is also known to be helpful to the joint. As others have said, you
may want to start saving up now, in case surgery becomes necessary a few
years down the road. I've known lots of older dogs that have had surgery,
and they've gone on to have excellent quality of life.

Suja

wrote in news:1163616727.140464.217840
@h54g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

Will Hemi
develop arthritis for sure at some point? If she is past mild at 11
months will she be disable by 2 years.


I'm not sure what you mean by "past mild" as that can be anything from
"slightly past mild" to "almost severe".

But, My own boy was diagnosed with severe CHD by the time he was 9 months
old (he already had arthritic joints by that age). I kept him slim (really
slim), exercised him a lot (tons of swimming, long walks and fetch), fed
him a high quality food. We had his X-rays done every couple of years to
assess his damage. He ended up not needing surgery until he was 5 years old
(thankfully, since it didn't go well, but that's a whole 'nother story).

I think his early sucess was, in part due to his amazingly high drive
(which helped him to ignore most of his discomfort) and the
glucosamine/chondroitin supplements we gave him. He was on Rimadyl briefly
before his surgery, and (due to it not going well) for several years after
it.

So, no, it doesn't mean she will be disabled in 2 years, but you'll have to
be very careful with her weight, and be sure to keep her muscles toned
through good exercise. Maybe that will buy you a few more years in which to
save up for an eventual surgery. If you think about it, in 4 years, you
could have saved up enough for surgery by only putting away $15 a week!

Tara

wrote in
oups.com:

Hi!

Wondering if anyone has any advice. I have a wonderful, wonderful,
wonderful (Did I mention wonderful?) 11 month Lab mix.

I asked the vet what degree she thought Hemi was at. She said she
couldn't say it was mild. She said teh joint is partially subluxated
and stable. No arthritis yet. Not in danger of dislocating at this
stage. I spent $75 for Synovi G3 Glucosomine supplements. The vet
advised that the supplements should help to stave off the development
of arthritis.

I am however, getting mixed messages from different people. Will Hemi
develop arthritis for sure at some point? If she is past mild at 11
months will she be disable by 2 years.
I'm so sorry. My now gone Luke the GSD was diagnosed with mild
dyplasia when he was less than a year old. There are many options
in addition to surgery to discuss with your vet.
There are of course the glucosamine supplements you bought and
then there are other medications such as Rimadyl and the Adequan
shots.
Each has it's own set of drawbacks, pluses and minuses.
Labs are supposed to be at a higher risk of liver problems
with the Rimadyl so that will bear checking out thoroughly in
your search when making a decision. Adequan came out too late to
do my Luke much good. We opted not to do surgery on him for
a variety of reasons at the time of diagnosis instead opting
to use Rimadyl which unlike the supplements, is supposed to slow
the progression of the joint deterioration.
One good thing about Hemi though, is that you have some time to dig in and
research a lot of medical information on all of the various options before
you make your decision. Luke was born in Nov. 1995 and lived until Jan. of
this year. At all times during his life we were very careful to keep him
slender and not let him get overweight as it only puts more strain on not
only the afflicted joint, but the unafflicted ones as well that are
compensating. As Luke got older and the joint damage progressed I
noticed his nails and foot on his good sides began to turn outwards
more, proof that the compensation had been going on for quite awhile.
Another thing that happened when he got up around 8-9 years or so
was that is it became more difficult for him to climb up steps so
we put ramps up for him to make ascents a lot easier on him.
Still, this boy traveled cross country over a couple-thousand miles with
us and had a relatively good pain free life up until about a year
before he died so in my case, I'm comfortable with my
decision.
Regarding surgery on Hemi you mentioned the cost and while
it may sound high at first also consider & weigh the monthly costs
of the other non-surgical options.
If it costs say... $50.00/month then that's 600.00/year and
if the dog lives to be 10 years old we're looking at
$6,000.00 and that's not including any other vet or health
issues or visits.

In my case I haven't actually sat down and figured out 10
years of the medicines and supplements for Luke but I'd
expect it to be pretty close, most likely even higher than
the initial surgery estimates I was quoted years ago.

One other thing that's pretty important is to keep Hemi
from jumping _down_ onto things. Not easy I know, especially with
an active young dog but in the long run it may really end up
extending the life of his joints.
What will her quality of life be?
There isn't really an easy answer as there are so many variables
but good luck in making a decision that ends up being the best for the
both of you.