Testing for Hip Dysplasia today :(

[tulpe]

After a lovely walk with the vizsla on Friday, we noticed she was limping. As we were passing vets on way home anyway we dropped in to have her checked over. She has spent the weekend on painkillers and bedrest and was still no better this morning so back to vets.

My gorgeous girl actually went for the vet when she manipulated her back legs :( She is usually so passive. She will be sedated and x-rayed today and we will have more info by about 4pm. She is a breed prone to hip dysplasia and the vet says we can't rule it out despite v low hip scores from her parents.

She drives me insane some days, that stoopid dog. And I know this sounds really wet but.....I am really tearful for her. I am hoping it is just a strained ligament or similar. Vizzies are such high energy dogs. I can't even contemplate not having her tearing through fields and woodland chasing imaginary and real rabbits!

I have been through this with my lab who has HD and subsequent arthritis.

My dog was very young when we first noticed something was wrong and he was put on restricted exercise for a year as the vet said they wouldnt do anything unil he had turned 2 as his bones are still developing until then.

He is now 20 months and at his recent visit we were told that there was no need to operate now as the HD is significantly reduced. He can run around alot more than he used to be able to (although obviously we still have to be careful about how much he does) and on a day to day basis he looks like a normal, healthy dog - so there is hope!

If it turns out your dog has HD, the vet said to us that basically they can fix just about anything.

One thing I would say is to make sure that your insurance provides adequate cover.

sb thanks for your reply. That makes me hopeful as all I could find on Internet was doom and gloom.

Glad your boy is doing so well. A really positive story. Thanks again.

Obviously his hips will never be perfect and the arthritis will probably worsen as he approaches old age so his exercise will always have to be monitored and painkillers will be a regular thing but honestly unless he is having an obvious "spell" which he hasnt even had this past 8 months or so, you wouldnt know anything as wrong with him - he is still as lively and bouncy as any other dog.

I also googled and was really upset by what I read but my vet said that they can carry out an operation which basically cuts away some of his hip bone so that the joint fits in and if that doesnt work they could give him a whole new hip.

I havent been on here for a while but if Bella is around she might be able to be a bit more specific about the details.

We gave our dog Joint Aid supplement which although I dont think is medically proven, seemed to help (I suppose this could be coincidence). The limited exercise is also a pita, made our pup quite a handful at times because he wasnt burning off his energy but by being careful we have made sure his HD hasnt got any worse.

The whole thing is a costly business so I would reiterate what I said before and check what insurance cover you have so that there arent any nasty shocks.

Really hope things work out well for you both x