Clicking hips in lab puppy - alternatives to HD?

[MrsL123]

Our eight month old lab was diagnosed with ED/OCD in her left elbow in November. We'd taken her to the vet because she started limping and walking like a robot (not bending her front legs), and we'd heard clicking from her back end. Of course we instantly thought HD, but manipulation of her left elbow showed this to be the problem (she screamed the place down - no reaction from her hips), so she was x-rayed and they were sent to a specialist for consultation. He confirmed the ED, but said nothing could be done until she's had her first season and her bones have stopped growing (we're still waiting for this). He's hoping she'll grow out of it, and in the meantime she's on joint medication and the occasional painkiller if she needs it. He also recommended we move her onto adult food to slow her growth down a bit, which we did. Apart from being a bit stiff when she gets up after a sleep, she's no longer limping regularly, but sometimes she'll do herself a mischief that will set her back. On xmas day she slipped on some ice half way round her walk, and we heard a pop as her elbow came out of the socket. She was yelping and holding her leg away from her body at an odd angle, but the tail kept wagging and she still kept running after our other dog trying to play, which was heartbreaking! DH had to carry her back to the car as she couldn't put any weight on her leg (not an easy feat at 26kg!), but by the time we got her home she was holding her leg normally, and after a painkiller and a snooze in front of the fire she was back to normal. So sometimes we'll go weeks with no problems and you almost forget she's not 100%, but then something like that will happen and it's a wake up call. We're quite lucky as our vet walks her dogs in the same place as us in the morning, so she's always watching the pup to see how she's moving when she's running about to spot any problems. It's very handy, I recommend everyone stalk their vets on walks

Anyway, I digress! When the specialist looked at her hip x-rays, he wasn't overly concerned. Our vet said his exact words were "they're not the best hips I've ever seen, but certainly not the worst", and apparently there was a fair amount of ball in the socket, so he hopes they'll improve further over the next few months. The thing is, the clicking is still there, and if anything is getting worse. She'll get up after lying down and 'click click click' her way across the room, or come in from the garden and 'click click click'. She doesn't seem to be in any discomfort at all, it's as if she doesn't even notice, but it sounds awful. She's been on the Seraquin for her elbows for three months now, so I'd hoped it would help the clicking hips, but it hasn't. Of course I'm paranoid that she has HD in addition to the ED and the vet and consultant have missed it, but I wondered if there's a chance the clicking could be something else? Our vet has been very good in the past, so I want to be in a fully informed position before I demand more x-rays for a problem that neither she nor the consultant seem too concerned about!

I tried looking online but everything just seems to point to HD - apart from one mention about tendons clicking in their back legs which can sound like their hips, but not sure how likely this is. She doesn't have any of the other symptoms of HD, just this blinkin incessant click!

It'd be so much easier if dogs could talk!

I would strongly recommend you talk to your vet about getting her some hydrotherapy if you can. Exercise to build muscles will be beneficial to the hips, but over exercising with full weight on her legs will also damage her hips and elbows at this stage. Hydrotherapy allows exercise with a lot of the body weight taken by the water. If you talk to your vet they should hopefully have some contacts for where you can go for this to be done, or ask your vet to contact the specialist for advice if needs be.

It sounds like you have been given very good advice from your vet and the specialist in my experience though and I would follow this as you are. I wouldn't be worrying too much about the clicking if the dog is not too lame. It is probably because the hips are a bit loose in the sockets - hence hydrotherapy may help tighten up the muscles around and hold them in a bit better.

BG unfortunately she's already tried the hydrotherapy but didn't take to it very well - I think we have the only lab in the world who doesn't like swimming! The place was excellent and they did physio in the pool too, but she just freaked out whenever she was in the water. She doesn't travel too well either, and the centre was about 20 minutes away, so by the time she got there she was stressed to death, and then hated every minute of being in the pool, and then had a 20 minute journey home. It's such a shame because we thought it would really help her, but the vet agreed it was doing more harm than good. It may be worth us trying to take her back with our older dog (who's loves swimming) so she can show her the ropes. But the place only works on vet-referred dogs and has a strict 'one dog in the pool' rule, so we'd have to get the vet to contact them and beg ask them to take them both at once.

Thankfully she's already quite muscular around her back end so hopefully things will improve as she matures a bit. Unfortunately we've noticed she's started to lose some muscle around her left shoulder now, because she's obviously favouring her right leg instead. If you look at her from above, you can see a clear difference, and to watch her it's clear that she's very stiff when she walks (is fine at a flat-out run though!). Luckily she's got an appointment with the vet on Tuesday, so I think I'll ask for an appointment with the specialist direct. It's all being paid through the insurance anyway now, so in for a penny, in for a pound! Poor wee mite never even complains, just clicks and limps her way through life with a waggy tail and a big grin on her face - we humans have a lot to learn, I think!

Have you tried Joint Aid?

I use it for our pup (who as you know has HD). He hasnt had a serious "episode" since we started using it.

Sb I think that's quite similar to the Seraquin she takes (which is glucosamine hydrochloride, chrondroitin and curcumin), but I see it has a few other bits in it too like collagen and glutamene, so it's probably worth a try alongside if the vet thinks it's ok to mix them (or even replace the Serquin completely). And it certainly looks easier to feed - the Serquin tablets are about the size of a pound coin, and although she'll dutifully eat her 4 a day out of my hand, I can tell she doesn't enjoy them (they're supposed to be meaty flavoured but I doubt they taste nice!).

Thanks for that, I'll ask the vet about it on Tuesday.

My dog doesnt complain either, just bunny-hops and limps all the while wagging his tail and having a whale of a time!

Unfortunately, my poor pup's hips are so far out of the socket that we dont hear clicks. I almost broke my heart when I saw his x-rays the first time round.

I really do think the Joint Aid has made a massive difference and according the vet there has been no further deterioration of the cartillage - although because they are going to operate we have been limiting his exercise as well just to try and make sure.

They really do just soldier on through everything, don't they? Always happy, no matter what

I think I'll order some of the Joint Aid anyway, as our older dog currently takes the Vetzyme Flexible Joint tablets every day too (not that we're paranoid or anything now ) and they cost a fortune, so we've been looking for an alternative. I'll probably end up giving it to the pup anyway as I don't think it's possible to OD on glucosamine, but I'll ask the vet just to make sure!

I can't seem to find any info as to how much glucosamine and chondroitin each serving of the Joint Aid contains though, does it say on the packet? Each Seraquin tablet has 500mg and 380mg, so that means she has a total of 2000mg glucosamine and 1520mg chondroitin each day. I wouldn't think that adding a serving of the joint aid would cause any problems as she's already on such a high dose, so a bit more won't matter (or I could cut one of her Seraquin pills to compensate). But I think the collagen and MSM are worth taking.

Don't take both joint aid and serquin together without vets advice.

There are better glucosamine supplements in my opinion but better check with Bella or Beautiful girls first.

I would go for synoquin or cortaflex as this has glucosamine HCL which I don't think the others does but I could easily be wrong!

Don't worry minimu I won't do anything without checking with the vet first. She already takes a multivitamin with her Seraquin which gives her the Vitamin C (so maybe this renders the collagen useless anyway, as the Vitamin C helps them make their own?) but I'm suprised the Serquin doesn't contain MSM as it seems to be the norm (even the Vetzyme ones have it). The Seraquin definitely seems to have the highest amount of Glucosamine HCL and Chrondoitin Sulphate than any of the others I've looked into (500mg / 380mg per 2g tablet). I'm happy to carry on with the Seraquin as it's paid for by the insurance anyway, but I'll get anything that'll help her.

I'll have a look at the ones you've mentioned - our older lab will be 3 in June and she doesn't have any problems (when she was x-rayed following an accident in 2007 the consultant said hers were the best hips he'd ever seen ) but we want to give her something to prevent any future issues. It's a bit of a minefield trying to figure out what everything contains and which ones are best - they all seem to contain different things!

I havent heard of Seraquin. Need to go have a look!

I am paying for the Joint Aid myself - £22 a pack. Hadnt even thought of asking the vet to include it on my insurance claim as I just get it from the pet shop.

sb makes mental note of yet another thing to mention at next appointment

SB, you can get Seraquin online for about £23 for 60 tablets (you'll need the 2g ones). As they're so strong he'll probably only need 1 per day to get the same amount of Glucosamine that is in the Joint Aid (just guessing though, based on the strength of the other ones supplements I've looked at - couldn't find the actual amounts on the Joint Aid site), so a box will last you about 2 months. But if you can get it through the insurance, even better! I had a look at the ones minimu mentioned at the Seraquin is stronger than both, so it's obviously quite good. The only thing is, it only contains those three things, so you might want to give him a supplement for his vitamins as well, depending what the vet says. Ours have Vetzyme Healthy Dog tablets which we chose because they contain a high dosage of B complex vitamins to help with nervousness, which our older dog suffers with. Ours get 10 a day each, mixed in with their dry food in the morning (they're only small and they taste meaty). We were going to get them the one-a-day kind, but they're three times the price and the vitamin B dosage wasn't as high. I get 3000 tablets off Pet Planet for £32, which lasts me about 5 months with our two, so they're really good value.