My parents have a 9 year old bull mastiff/rottweiler cross named Augie
who has developed minor arthritis due to mild hip dysplasia his right
hind leg in the last two or three years. Otherwise he is very healthy
for being a large dog that is 9 years old, but Augie's willingness to
play is greater than his physical ability. He is fine going for walks
and normal activity, but strenuous activity like running makes him pay
for it later in the form of a limp that sometimes lasts for several
hours so they try to limit his physical activity. The vet is reluctant
to operate on Augie's hip because of his age and the fact that it
doesn't interfere with his normal movement, and recommended to give
him an aspirin tablet when he starts limping. I was doing some
searches on hip dysplasia online for another reason, when I happened
to come across this page for a hip brace for dogs.

http://www.handicappedpets.com/brace/index.htm

At $80 each they're not cheap, but I was wondering if anyone had any
experience with something like this and opinions on if it might help
Augie? He loves to run and chase balls and play fetch, but it's hard
to see him hobbling around on three legs later.

Arklier said in rec.pets.dogs.health:

My parents have a 9 year old bull mastiff/rottweiler cross
named Augie who has developed minor arthritis due to mild
hip dysplasia his right hind leg in the last two or three
years.

Other than his hip issues, what's Augie like? Is he in good
shape and weight?

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

On Jan 23, 10:07*pm, Rocky wrote:
Arklier said in rec.pets.dogs.health:

My parents have a 9 year old bull mastiff/rottweiler cross
named Augie who has developed minor arthritis due to mild
hipdysplasia his right hind leg in the last two or three
years.

Other than hishipissues, what's Augie like? *Is he in good
shape and weight?

--
--Matt. *Rocky's a Dog.

Other than his hip and an unfortunate tendancy towards soft stools
when my brother goes over there and feeds him crap like chips and
other processed human food, he's healthy as a horse. He weighs around
100 pounds, but that's appropriate for his size. He's just a big dog.

"Arklier" wrote in message
...
The vet is reluctant
to operate on Augie's hip because of his age and the fact that it
doesn't interfere with his normal movement, and recommended to give
him an aspirin tablet when he starts limping.
........There's a lot more that can be done than just aspirin. At the very
least I'd be giving this dog glucosamine, salmon oil with Vit E, MSM and Vit
C. There are other products out there to try. This website has a list and
dicussion: http://www.dogaware.com/arthritis.html Also acupuncture may
help and this article mentions an infrared device and heat packs:
http://handicappedpets.com/wiki/inde...=Hip_Dysplasia

If there's no problems with liver or kidney (and a test should be run FIRST
to check), you can try some of the NSAIDs available from the vet.

http://www.handicappedpets.com/brace/index.htm

At $80 each they're not cheap, but I was wondering if anyone had any
experience with something like this and opinions

..........80 bucks is cheap compared to surgery! And I like their return
policy - at least they have one and if you get no money back the item is
donated. I'd certainly give it a fling for a mere 80 bucks. I checked
their returned and used products section and there's no listing for this
brace, so people must keep them. I'd check out their forum. There's also a
Yahoo Group you can join and see if anyone has used this product:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CanineHD/

buglady
take out the dog before replying

Arklier spoke these words of wisdom in news:39e07e72-
:

My parents have a 9 year old bull mastiff/rottweiler cross named Augie
who has developed minor arthritis due to mild hip dysplasia his right
hind leg in the last two or three years. Otherwise he is very healthy
for being a large dog that is 9 years old, but Augie's willingness to
play is greater than his physical ability. He is fine going for walks
and normal activity, but strenuous activity like running makes him pay
for it later in the form of a limp that sometimes lasts for several
hours so they try to limit his physical activity. The vet is reluctant
to operate on Augie's hip because of his age and the fact that it
doesn't interfere with his normal movement, and recommended to give
him an aspirin tablet when he starts limping. I was doing some
searches on hip dysplasia online for another reason, when I happened
to come across this page for a hip brace for dogs.

http://www.handicappedpets.com/brace/index.htm

At $80 each they're not cheap, but I was wondering if anyone had any
experience with something like this and opinions on if it might help
Augie? He loves to run and chase balls and play fetch, but it's hard
to see him hobbling around on three legs later.


I have a friend who used a brace last year on an elderly dog instead of
doing cruciate ligament surgery. The dog was not a candidate for surgery
because of age. The brace stabilized the joint and allowed it to heal and
the dog is now brace free and doing fine. I know Hips won't heal, but I
thought the brace idea may offer better quality of life. (No experience
with hip braces..sorry)