Canine Hip Dysplasia
Canine Hip Dysplasia in Sporting and Working DogsHip dysplasia is a condition in dogs in which the hip joint does not fit
tightly.
The hip joint is a ball and socket joint. The socket is the pelvis and the ball
is on the top of the femur, or upper leg bone. The socket and ball should
fit together very tightly. In dogs with hip dysplasia the bones don't fit
tightly. This allows this ball to move around more than it is supposed to,
causing undue wearing of the cartilage in the joint, leading to arthritis in
hip dysplasia patients.
Hip dysplasia can occur in any breed of dog, but it's most common in the
large to very large fast growing breeds. German Shepherds, Rottwielers
and Labrador Retrievers seem to be genetically predisposed to hip
dysplasia. Being a genetic disease, hip dysplasia is passed down
through the bloodlines in affected canine families.
Hip dysplasia may not show signs of occurring until 5 to 6 years of age,
but in severe cases it can show up in 2 year old pups. Your vet will use
a radiography to verify the disease. Early signs are wobbly gait and pain
in the hind legs. Radiographs (X rays) will show early stages of hip
dysplasia as young as 5 months.
Managing Hip Dysplasia
Conservative treatment of hip dysplasia in young dogs includes weight
reduction and restricting the pup from heavy exercise, like free running,
and prescribing mild drugs to help manage the pain. One problem with
giving pain killing drugs is that the pup then feels so good, he starts
running again, leading to more joint aggravation. Therefore it's important to
restrict the hip dysplasia patients exercise if treating with pain killing
drugs.
Hip dysplasia in older dogs
One option in severe cases is surgical replacement of the femoral head
and or neck, and even total hip replacement.
For dogs under about 60 pounds removing the ball part of the femur can
have the dog back to almost normal in 2 to 6 months. While it may partially
cripple the dog, it eliminates the pain.
Older dogs that don't respond to conservative treatment can have a total
hip replacement. The hip is replaced with a plastic socket and a stainless
steel ball is cemented to the femur to replace the old one. While it is rather
radical, and costs a lot, 90% to 95% of dogs make a 100% recovery
within one month. The balance can get complications such as infection
where the ball is joined to the femur and loosening of the cemented join. In
the case of infection, removal of the artificial joint may be necessary to
eliminate the infection.
Preventing Hip Dysplasia
Responsible breeders of the large breeds now test their stud dogs and
broods for signs of hip dysplasia before breeding. They should be able to
produce veterinary papers and radiographys (X rays) to verifying this.
Don't buy a pup from any large breed breeders without verifying that
there is no apparent hip dysplasia in the puppies parents at the time of
breeding. However it's still no guarantee your pup won't get hip
dysplasia.
Feeding an optimal diet
It is important that you feed an optimal diet while your puppy is growing,
to help prevent hip dysplasia, and indeed other bone and joint problems
like OCD as well.
One of the primary causes of bone irregularities in young dogs is
overfeeding during the rapid growth stage in their life. This is between
the ages of about 6 weeks and 10 months. Feeding an unbalanced diet
with excessive amounts of calcium and other mineral supplements while
on high carbohydrate diets is a certain recipe for bone problems in young
dogs of large breeds. It is far better to restrict the diet and let the pup
grow at a steady rate, allowing his bones, joints and tendons to mature
and harden correctly. A fully grown pup fed slowly will end up the same
size as a fully grown pup fed ad hoc, but the pup fed ad hoc will have a
far greater chance of diseases like hip dysplasia and OCD.
Hip dysplasia and OCD in racing dogs
My experience is with the breeding and rearing of racing greyhounds.
This is a breed that's virtually free of genetic bone disorders, primarily
because unsound animals don't win races, and so they seldom enter the
gene pool. This is not the case with the show greyhounds, which are
developing into a niche breed within the greyhound breed. It is my opinion
that the show breed of greyhounds will begin to display signs of hip
dysplasia in time, due to them not selecting breeding pairs based on
racetrack soundness.
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