1yo Greyhound W/hip Dysplasia

[ripley488]

 

I have a 1yo Greyhound - Lincoln, born 3/21/08 - that has been diagnosed with hip dysplasia. He is an Oops puppy from Florida. He & his brother were brought to KY for placment by an all breed rescue & immediately neutered. The rescue realized they were over their head & asked us to take the pups. I got the dogs at just 11 weeks & I adopted Lincoln.

 

About 3mos ago I noticed him limping, but didn't get too upset. He is a lanky puppy & trips a lot. Later he started having difficulty getting up.

 

About a month ago he went in for xrays. The vet called & said he has hip dysplasia. I told her 'Greyhounds don't get that - try again.' She said she knew that, but that is what the xrays show. When I saw them I was shocked. His right hip is indeed out of the socket. She consulted with the local ortho & he said he had never heard of a Greyhound wth this problem, but to consider it possible trauma (ex pulled muscle.) He was on limited activity for a month to see if there was any improvement.

 

Yesterday he got his followup xrays & no improvement. I am taking the xrays to the ortho on Monday for him to look at. My vet feels he is going to want to examine Lincoln since he has never seen this in a Grey.

 

My vet said we have 2 options - Total Hip Replacement or an FHO. The Hip Replacement is no where in my budget. She said for him to have any quality of life something has to be done.

 

I emailed Dr. Couto last night & am awaiting a reply from him. I am curious if he has seen this before.

 

Lincoln already has arthritus in both knees & the vet said his joints are going to be a problem the rest of his life.

 

I have been reading online that perhaps the early neuter could be a contributing factor. Right now I am focusing on what to do to make him comfortable.

 

Lincoln is still a baby & stays active. He is hopping around the yard today because it is so pretty outside. I am anxious to hear what Couto has to say and will hear something from the local orthopedic early next week.

 

Ironically is littermate is going in next week for a limp on his front leg.

 

In my almost 12 years with Greyhounds I have never heard of one with hip dysplasia. Has anyone else?

 

 

 

 

 

[RobinM]

I am very interested to har what Dr. Couto says. Beau has "something" going on in his hips as well. Back in July, my very GH savvy vet said if she did not know better, she would call it a hip dysplasia as well. We did acupunture and it helped.

 

Please update. i am very curious about this. I would also like to see lincoln's blood line.

 

here is Beau's. Any correlation?

 

http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?z=BRUq-Z&a...mp;x=19&y=8

[ripley488]

I am very interested to har what Dr. Couto says. Beau has "something" going on in his hips as well. Back in July, my very GH savvy vet said if she did not know better, she would call it a hip dysplasia as well. We did acupunture and it helped.

 

Please update. i am very curious about this. I would also like to see lincoln's blood line.

 

here is Beau's. Any correlation?

 

http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?z=BRUq-Z&a...mp;x=19&y=8

 

 

Lincoln was an Oops puppy, so I don't know his lineage. I was able to track back to who sent the pups to KY, but he didn't have the name of the parents. I know one of the littermates is in Louisana & 2 were placed in the Florida panhandle.

 

I will report when I hear from Couto.

 

 

[Burpdog]

If he does have HD, I would suspect it's a genetic defect or trauma (perhaps at birth?)

 

I'll be looking for Ohio State's answer too!

[GeorgeofNE]

Early neuter would have nothing to do with this. Sounds like bad genes. I'm so sorry. He's got a tough road ahead if he's arthritic already. You need to get him on glucosamine supplements, and work out a good, steady, regular, gentle exercise routine that won't stress his joints, but you HAVE to keep him moving. You also need to be very mindful of his weight; excess weight is SO bad when you have arthritis! As I do! I have "crappy joints" according to my ortho and my rheumatologist, and they both told me that regular exercise and staying thin will do more than anything they can do--as well as to keeping the pain under control. No need to be a hero. It IS a quality of life issue; suffering is pointless, so please don't be afraid to use medication when the time comes.

 

 

[VinnieAndRexsMom]

Jennifer,

I am so sorry you and Lincoln are dealing with this. He is such a cutie. As actve as he is, I don't thinnk you'll have to worry about him not moving I will be interesting in what the other vets have to say.

 

 

Although he is not a GH, my daughter's friend is going through this with a lab puppy. He is only 10 months and it is really bad. They are faced with weighing his quality of life, ie pain, vs their deep love for him. I don't believe they can afford a hip repalcement, and they are scared that they won't be abe to manage his pain. He waited a long time to find his home. He was the last of the litter to go, and now this.

 

I am hoping for the best possible outcome for both these babies.

Edited April 4, 2009 by VinnieAndRexsMom

[Guest zoolaine]

No advice but sending hugs to poor Lincoln. Hope you can find something to at least deal with the pain. Get better baby.

[Diane4114]

A friend of mine had one of her GH diagnosed with hip dysplasia a few years back.

It was a misdiagnosis, another vet said it was a hock issue.

I would definitely get a second opinion.

[Guest Winterwish]

Might be wrong on this but I seem to remember within this past year Grateful Greyhounds here on LI had a greyhound listed on their adoptables page,and was having difficulties with her hip.

In an updated posting,I think she was listed as special needs due to the diagnosis of hip dysplasia.

Maybe they could share some information with you? Grateful Greyhounds

 

I hope things work out well for Lincoln and his hips and arthritis.

Thank you for helping him! I bet he's very cute!

[Guest KyGrey]

Prayers being sent out to Lincoln.

[RobinM]

Might be wrong on this but I seem to remember within this past year Grateful Greyhounds here on LI had a greyhound listed on their adoptables page,and was having difficulties with her hip.

In an updated posting,I think she was listed as special needs due to the diagnosis of hip dysplasia.

Maybe they could share some information with you? Grateful Greyhounds

 

I hope things work out well for Lincoln and his hips and arthritis.

Thank you for helping him! I bet he's very cute!

 

That's the same vet Beau sees. They were the ones who said to me, if he weren't a GH they'd call it HD. I don't know what they said about that dog, but I do recall seeing that thread as well.

[cowpantslady]

yes gg has a grey that was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. she is doing fabulously

 

her family has her on cosequan, the vet said to keep her weight down

the vet said she could develop arthritis down the line

gg tracked down one of her littermates and he has hip dysplasia also

gg contacted the owner/breeder to let them know

her family says she runs a little funny

hope this helps

if i can be of more help please let me know

 

 

 

 

 

[duncan41]

I have been reading online that perhaps the early neuter could be a contributing factor. Right now I am focusing on what to do to make him comfortable.

 

Any connection with the UC-Davis study? I had a Vet tell me in mid-Feb that UC-Davis was about to declare a connection between osteo and early spay/neuter. When I pointed out that this would virtually eliminate all racing greyhounds from the study, he stopped cold. He didn't know that greyhounds race "whole". I'm not going back to that Vet.

 

I'm not hijacking this thread..........I had to put down the best German Wirehaired Pointer that ever walked on this earth at 11 months due to SEVERE hip dysplasia - diagnosed at MSU by the HD guru, Dr. M. (Of course, that was 150 years ago!) Which begs the question, have Lincoln's xrays been reviewed by MSU or OFA for confirmation?

Edited April 6, 2009 by duncan41

[ripley488]

I will contact Greyful Greys - great idea.

 

I have seen the xrays & I don't feel it is a misdiagnosis. His hip joint is out of socket by at least 1". He is very scrawney & you can feel the femer head if you put your hand on his hip when he walks. That is one of my concerns about the FHO - he does not have very good hip muscles.

 

Lincoln's 2nd xrays have only been seen by my vet at this point. I just met with my vet at 5:30 on Friday, so this is all new. I am dropping of the xrays to the local board certified orthopedic tomorrow for his review. He saw the first set as well. I have also contacted Dr. Couto, but have not gotten a reply. It was late Friday night when I sent the email, so he may not have seen it yet.

 

 

 

 

I will contact Greyful Greys - great idea.

 

I have seen the xrays & I don't feel it is a misdiagnosis. His hip joint is out of socket by at least 1". He is very scrawney & you can feel the femer head if you put your hand on his hip when he walks. That is one of my concerns about the FHO - he does not have very good hip muscles.

 

Lincoln's 2nd xrays have only been seen by my vet at this point. I just met with my vet at 5:30 on Friday, so this is all new. I am dropping of the xrays to the local board certified orthopedic tomorrow for his review. He saw the first set as well. I have also contacted Dr. Couto, but have not gotten a reply. It was late Friday night when I sent the email, so he may not have seen it yet.

[ripley488]

 

 

I heard back from Dr. Couto this morning.

 

He said he has heard of a Greyhound with HD, but has never seen one. He said he would be more than happy to look at his xrays & offer advise.

 

So...I have a call into my vet to get a copy of the xrays to overnight tomorrow.

 

 

[Burpdog]

Good deal. When you look at the xrays, I take it the socket has flattened out?

[ripley488]

Good deal. When you look at the xrays, I take it the socket has flattened out?

 

 

They have not yet. We originally treated it as a trauma - hoping that limited movement would tighten the muscles & repair the laxtation. We gave it 4 weeks, but no change.

 

Both vets say it is early HD - at this stage it is a sub-laxtating hip as the hip pops in & out of socket. You can feel it if you hold your hand over it while he walks. They suspect it will deteriorate with time. At this point it only effects his right hip, but could progress into the left. He already has arthritus in both knees.

 

 

[Guest manymanyhounds]

We had a whippet/greyhound mix with severe hip dysplasia. We opted to do surgery and did the Triple Pelvic Osteotomy. The did one hip and then 6 weeks later did the other. They suggest that this surgery be done before they turn 1 but Chip was 11 months and did really great.

 

TPO explained

 

Not sure if Lincoln would be a candidate but it might be worth asking.

 

Best of luck!

[Burpdog]

Interesting. I've not seen a good socket where it pops out. It usually flattens the socket allowing the hip to come out.

 

 

[Guest Jill]

My Timbuktu was diganosed with hip displasia back in 1993. Xrays confirmed it. Vet said he should not raced as long and hard as he did, it was that bad. My vet suggested Springtime Fresh Factors. We tried them and Tim-Tim did very well on them! He played in the yard, went for long walks, and lived to be 13.5. Do not let him to get to heavy as that hinder him. I give the FF and now the Joint Tabs which came out after Tim-Tim passed to all of my dogs.

 

[Guest Giselle]

Actually, early spay/neuter is intricately connected with a dog's bone structure and orthopedic health. Early spay/neutered dogs tend to grow after their genetically predetermined height and tend to be more "narrow", less filled out, and possess lighter bone structure. Because early spay/neutered dogs continue to grow, it exacerbates whatever genetic predisposition they may have to hip dysplasia.

Another recent study showed that dogs spayed or neutered before 5 1/2 months had a significantly higher incidence of hip dysplasia than those spayed or neutered after 5 1/2 months of age.

There's been a lot of literature on this, and it is generally accepted that ortho-"risky" dogs should be kept intact until physical maturation.

 

However, it's too late for that, so I suggest speaking to ortho-specialists and realize that HD is NOT the end of the world Thousands of dogs have HD, but it can be managed to a significant level. Good luck to you!