tira_mia

Sorry...I have to ask, but why 'without taking the surgery option'? Friends found that their Lab (byb pupp) was a totally different dog after having surgery. One hip was worse than the other but he is 8 yrs old and has had both hips done now. He loves his walks too and copes really well...and is no longer in pain. Rimadyl and Cartophren are both really helpful for joint problems but HD is a structural deformity of the joint. So why muck about with 'alternative' treatments when surgery can solve the problem? As Cosmolo has said, the vet has described it to us as a salvage operation. As i understand it, the femoral head op cuts (or has the potential to...not sure which) the range of movement in any hip it's done to by half - that is, if we were to go ahead with this op, his range of movement would be limited to about 90 degrees (as opposed to the full movement he has now). I've also been told that once the growing of a pup is complete, surgery is definintely an option further down the list, as anything surgery can help with wont fix the problem entirely. By all means I'm not ruling out surgery, but with a BC who (a) loves to run and chase other dogs and (b) is only 4 years old, i would like to delay surgery for as long as possible, especially if it's not really a cure but a temporary fix. Sam_Lab - thank you! Will have to research it. I wonder if 4 years old is too late to intro him to the concept of swimming Nekhbet - interesting to see your approach..because i'm finding my boy's overcompensating whenever we walk him now. I'm not sure if it's the rimadyl talking or the fact his "3 rough-n-tumbles with other dogs a day" got cut down to 3 walks + a rough and tumble only a few times a week....but he's doing laps by himself around our backyard and whenever we get out of the house. He's finished his course of rimadyl so I'll be starting him on Glyde supps to see how he goes with that, but if anyone knows how to tell a border collie to slow down i'd love to know poppop and sheree_e4 - definately keeping the cartrophen in mind too!

thanks everyone =) all the suggestions are great, and i'll be putting most of them to use! a bit of a silly question...but would using a product like glyde (which can help in pain relief) encourage him to overexercise himself more, which may in turn cause more damage...? As he's still young i'm hoping to minimise further damage but being a border collie....well, they're a pretty hyperactive bunch . A walk in the park isn't complete for him without a chase with his friends, which i'm really worried will hurt him more

Thanks guys for the tips Does anyone know where near Baulkham Hills there are swimming areas for dogs? The few lakes i've seen around here tend to be rather polluted or lacking in water...not any good for swimming. CavsRcute - names would be super! Mainly for the acupuncture and trigger point therapy. I know of some places who do it around here but would rather go by recs. is there a general guide as to how much glucosamine/kg we should be giving? Boy's on the lean side so he's fine with that, but he hates wearing jackets, so keeping him warm will be my main headache this winter!

Hi all My (almost) 4 yr old BC has just been diagnosed with "moderate to severe" HD and arthritis in both hips. He's never shown any symptoms prior to this winter so I'm reassuring myself by saying he hasn't been in pain before this, but the sudden onset has taken me by complete surprise . I've done a search on the forum but must be doing something wrong as I can't find any info on what people do for alternative treatments - however I know there are threads that exist (somewhere in the vast space of the dol forums ). He's been placed on an initial 10 day course of Rimadyl with the option of Cartrophen injections later on and possibly, a year down the track, femoral head reduction surgery. If possible, I would like to do as much as I can for him without taking the surgery option - as non invasive as possible would be my preferred approach. So i guess i want to hear everyones stories with dogs who have HD Did you adopt any dietary changes that you felt helped? (Boy won't continually eat raw for more than 3/4 days (and i've tried everything under the sun!), so complete BARF diets are out of the question). What kibbles do you feed that have helped (there are so many that claim to help joints!)? And, what alternative therapies such as acupuncture etc have you tried that you believe are useful? I'm located in Baulkham Hills in north west Sydney, but I'm willing to travel if it will help him. And do you feed any nutritional supplements? thanking you in advance for any help

was browsing myer for one today and they're between $79-$100 for entry level models is myer just really expensive or is that about the price?

thanks guys. it hasn't gotten worse since last night so fingers crossed it's just an insect bite google's terrible for overanxious dog owners like me

thanks puggy puggy - doing the warm compress now, hopefully it'll go away!! my vet already thinks i'm a hypochondriac because i rush over to him anytime i find something wrong with foxie

Bugger ...was brushing my BC tonight and noticed two small little raised bits near his eye. Does anyone have any idea what they could be? Our normal vet's on holidays at the moment so if it's nothing major i'd rather wait til he comes back...but if it's major we'll be off to the vets tomorrow...

i dunno..the article said "Studies of dead dogs are also being carried out to identify the cause, with one brand of meat suspected of causing symptoms." - sounded more like raw pet meat to me, which i don't feed anyway but i know lots of people do

i would also appreciate being PMed if anyone knows anything. How do we force a recall? It's terrible that they aren't letting the public know if there's something linked to the product - once it comes out, i'd be inclined to never purchase ANY of their products because of the level of deceit!!! ETA: it sounds like it's meat as opposed to meat products in food? or could it potentially be either?

that picture just completely freaked me out owning a dog hasn't really made me any less squirmy about dead animals

i always wondered about that...my boy loves kibble so we use it sometimes in training as treats, but he might also get a raw bone as dessert that night. is there any evidence that feeding both at the same time is really bad? and would it be better to say, if you feed kibble don't feed raw for 24 hours..? or is it just don't feed the two together at all?

i just noticed this thread and gave myself a stress attack going through our cupboard of treats (yes cupboard :rolleyes: i think my shopaholic tendancies apply to dog food too ) i've chucked out all non-australian products because of the whole radiation thing as well as worries about chinese products...what is safe anymore? i'm thinking maybe it's worth just making my own treats from now on - how do you dry liver treats for dogs?

my boy didn't love barf patties as much as i hoped he would either so i now just feed him a mix of RMBs, meat, offal, sardines or salmon, yoghurt and veges maybe once or twice a week. he seems to be flourishing on it (fingers crossed!) i'll admit it's hard work at first and there are moments where i wonder whyyyyy i'm analysing poo (eg white is too many bones, corn goes thru them whole, too many carrots makes it erm..hard to pick up... sorry will stop there) but 2 months in and i've gotten the hang of what works for him in what portions i still throw in a barf patty every now and then as a vege supp (because i have half a box of htem left ) and he'll gladly eat one maybe once a week, but if i just have the barf patties as his meal he wont touch it at all no idea why, but good luck with daisy !

Thanks for the replies Sorry to sound stupid but how can you tell if they're rolling their hips when they walk compared to a wiggly bum? eta: i think wiggly bums are cute too .