scat35

Thanks malleerr,will have to work it out today yes found out correct dosage for glucosaime off the vet (is 750mg)which is 1 capsule per day.

Have got x-rays now,How do i shrink them to fit?

Had read somewhere(cant think of now)that glucosamine was good for dogs with hd,and asked vet also if it was ok(he said it was) but didnt ask vet more than that.

Have gotten pups stitches out yesterday(is finally healing from de-sexing)and spoke to the vet about getting x-rays.Vet said he would photo them and email them to me so will post them soon hopefully. Also need some more advice please,have bought some glucosamine sulphate complex 1000 capsules today to start giving to the dog,the recommened human dosage on the bottle is 2 capsules per day,How many should i give my dog per day.His weight is 35kg and i figure maybe 1 per day? does that sound right? Thanks again

Hey malleerr,was only told about 1 specialist so far and on asking me i told them and cant cover that kinda cost right now so as far as getting any further x-rays ect at this stage im currently finacially crippled right now.What id like to do and what i can afford to do are two different things right now unfortunatly but thanks for your advice cause when im more financal i will certainly look further into the x-ray situation...

Bugga,Had a error when i posted and repeated my reply twice!!!

Ok Thanks Pat for your advice ,this certainly makes me realise that what the vet has said is not the be all and end all of things. Trisha38. I havent gotten a responce out of the breeder unfortunatly.

Ok Thanks Pat for your advice ,this certainly makes me realise that what the vet has said is not the be all and end all of things. Trisha38. I havent gotten a responce out of the breeder unfortunatly.

Thank you showdog and everyone else for your help and support.This thread has helped us alot.

Yes,This is a registered breeder that told my wife when she purchased the puppy that she had bred out hd and other common problems verbally(at the time i was working away).My wife is telling me as i type this that the breeder was elderley and had bred dogs for many years and my wife assumed that this breeder knew what they where on about. We are more dissapointed with the breeder more than anything because we love this dog so much and was bought purely to be a family pet nothing more. Now we are learning all kinds of things about dog health in a hurry! Also our pup at the moment is not too bad with his walking and only limps when he has run around mad(generally with a visit to see my parents great dane). Can we still let him play ball and stuff around the backyard?.Also as far as swimming and exercise to keep his legs strong i dont think his back legs are weak at the moment plus we live within 5 mins from the ocean and already swims regulary :D Its great to hear so many postive storys with people with dogs that have hd Thank You...

Have contacted the breeder via email but they dont seem to be in a rush to respond as they assured my wife when she went to buy the pup that they had bred out hd and have done all kinds of med checks.

You guys have given me plenty to think on,as for your question Miranda er im not sure,i do know they said they put plates into his hips?Like i said before this is all new to me and we only found out 24hrs ago. Would like to know more about treatments people are using like sashas stuff and any other kind of medication i can buy over the counter,also with acupuncture how do you go about that and where would you go also the cost of this stuff. Once again thanks for your help as the infomation you are providing is proving invaluable

Ok,Thanks again guys as you may have guessed by now all this stuff about hd is new to me and am trying to take a crash course in it :D For your question Miranda,yes we did suspect something was wrong with his leg and so we got the vet to check it out while he was getting desexed,as for the hip scoring test i dont believe we got a score or anything like that but the vet showed us the x-ray of his hips yesterday when we went to pick him up and made it quite clear to us that this was a severe case.We noticed earlier that when we walked he had a wobble and a flick to one of his legs and we thought at the time maybe something was wrong with his knee.Ok malleerr am glad to hear that im not alone as my wife cried when she found out yesterday,the vet explained to us that we can have specialist surgery done but it needs to be done within 4-6 weeks before he gets too old and unfortunatly even as much as we love him i cannot raise that kind of money in that time frame but will be able to manage it with medication and stuff and look at my options further down the track,the main thing that is scaring us is that we will lose our boy before his time and he will suffer greatly but with all you guys helping things dont seem quite as devastating as it was yesterday Thank You :D

Do You guys know if these dogs with hp still can lead long lifes or will they be old before their time?

Thanks for your help rusky,what breed is your dog and how old is she?Also i went to a vet who i have had many good dealings with over the years with both cats and dogs in Rockingham.As far as major surgery goes money wise right now i just cant do it as the figure for fixing the hip would cost between $2000-$3000 and have to be done by a specialist in murdoch,but the vet said that later they can cut off the top part of the bone to stop it rubbing on the hip joint and eliminate alot of potential arthritis pain later in his life and it would cost under $1000 for this,but will also look into getting him arthritis injections in the near future or as soon as he needs them.