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Hydrotherapy In Michigan


Guest badderh

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Guest badderh

I know this isn't Greyhound related but its health and medical related so I'm hoping its ok.

 

My sister in law has what the vets have told her is a German Shepard Lab mix. He's a really short and muscular guy and they were recently told that he has some of the worst hips that the vet has seen in the past 30 years.

 

The vet recommended that he have a surgery to replace both of his hips, but the surgery is ridiculously expensive, $6,000 per hip, so a total of $12,000 for the surgery. Unfortunately she really can't afford the surgery.

 

Along with that they vet said that if they can't afford to do the surgery that the best they can do is have him on supplements and pain meds for the rest of his life, which the vet is estimating to only be for 4 more years, without the surgery.

 

Of course my sister in law is devastated by this. He doesn't show any signs of being in pain and will maybe limp every once in a while, but the most part seems to act and play normally. It was recommended that she not let him jump, climb stairs or extend his hips too much in general so she's been taking a lot of precautions with this.

 

He's already on a lot of supplements and pain killers that have been given to them by the vet.

 

She is pretty much willing to do anything that might help him keep up the muscle strength in his hips as long as she can afford it and one of the things that I was able to think of was hydrotherapy.

 

Does anyone know of veterinarians in the Grand Rapids, Lansing, or West Michigan area that do hydrotherapy?

Any other suggestions that you think might help him would be appreciated as well!

Edited by badderh
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I would get a second opinion...no advice just hugs!

 

I would, too.

 

If he really does have hips that bad, but only limps a little now and then and the pain can be controlled with meds, why is the vet suggesting total replacement at this stage? I think in a dog as young as this I'd want to explore other options - like the stem cell culture and transplant which has been getting such great results in the dogs I've heard of. It's still expensive, but probably not AS expensive as the type of major surgery her vet is proposing, and of course with a recovery time of practically nil.

 

Can she get a referral?

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How much does this dog weigh?? Might be a canidate for a FHO.

 

:nod Ditto to this, as well as the suggestions to get a second opinion, preferably an orthopedic specialist. FHO is a much less expensive alternative surgery, and while smaller dogs tend to do better with it, it's still an option for big dogs. Definitely something worth trying especially when euthanasia is the only other alternative.

 

He doesn't show any signs of being in pain and will maybe limp every once in a while, but the most part seems to act and play normally.

 

I'm a bit puzzled...if he doesn't show signs of being in pain and only limps occasionally, why is his vet recommending total hip replacement? Surgery usually isn't recommend for dogs with hip dysplasia unless they are having problems. Dogs can have hip x-rays that look horrible, but treatment recommendations are based primarily on clinical signs, not what the x-rays look like.

 

He's already on a lot of supplements and pain killers that have been given to them by the vet.

 

Why were the pain killers prescribed if he's not in pain? Or was he painful before, but is no longer showing signs of pain now because he's on all the meds?

 

Here's a good article about hip dysplasia.

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Guest badderh
He's already on a lot of supplements and pain killers that have been given to them by the vet.

 

Why were the pain killers prescribed if he's not in pain? Or was he painful before, but is no longer showing signs of pain now because he's on all the meds?

 

Here's a good article about hip dysplasia.

 

He's a pretty big guy, probably 100 lbs. He's never shown any signs of major pain, only once in a while will he limp. The vet's reasoning for the pain meds was that "we can't tell when he's in pain so he needs these" So when they went back for another appointment today she told the vet that she wasn't going to give them to him unless she felt it was necessary since she felt he wasn't in pain and the vet basically thought she was crazy for not wanting to give them to him.The way it sounds I believe that he did base his diagnosis upon the x-rays, he also sent the x-rays off to Michigan State University for a "second opinion" and apparently they said the same thing, that he needed complete hip replacement based on the x-rays.

 

But thankfully we found a specialist in the area that is going give him a physical exam and take new x-rays to give her a 2nd opinion on it, they have already told her that total hip replacement isn't the only option that she has like the other vet is telling her. I believe the specialist actually said something about a FHO being one of the possibilities, but that they would be able to give her more information once she actually brought him in.

Edited by badderh
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