Hip Dysplasia ,i Don't Know What To Do...help

[bridie]

Hey, Bridie- can we have some photos of your little girl So we know who we are sending healing and active thoughts to ?

Now ... "Breathe" slowly and with a smile..... remember- YOU are going to help her get happy !

Here you are Persy,never done this so hope after spending time in photo bucket this works,she has been out in the sun romping with the others so must be on the mend,although I will spoil her with E/blanket at night until she recovers.They sure are tough.

[poodlefan]

Your vet is right Bridie - she's very fat. Lovely face though!

Edited May 18, 2010 by poodlefan

[persephone]

Thank you She's a pretty girl - and will be even more so when we can see her little body under its insulation

I am guessing she will , in time, look a bit like THIS ONE (click here)

Her sheepskin bed looks so nice!!

[bridie]

First off... Chill. Relax. I started to get stress for you reading your post!!

This is fixable and managable Remember dogs are excellent at picking up moods and energy, so if you are always stress... so is your dog!

My boy has HD and can't be operated on.. so the most important thing for me to look out for is weight. So it's time to put your dog on a diet... like the others suggested, just half the meal everyday. NO treats till the weight is under control.

Exercise is important too. Like some light walking everyday or swimming is best. It builds muscles and put pressure off the joints.

If in doubt, you can ask to see a specialist... but I reckon the first thing they will tell you is to put your pup on a diet.

Yes,I understand,diet starts today on a tablespoon of Hills Sciece....60 little pebbles!I did buy some barf Kangaroo rolls,surely she can have a table spoon now and then.I'm going to ask if I should put Glucodin in her water.Front desk at Vets said,you could really get the weight down fast by giving cabbage cooked in beef cubes,she would starve because there is no way she'd eat that.

[bridie]

Thank you She's a pretty girl - and will be even more so when we can see her little body under its insulation

I am guessing she will , in time, look a bit like THIS ONE (click here)

Her sheepskin bed looks so nice!!

Has he got er Anorexia Thinking of putting them all on a diet and then I would have some money!

[Henrietta]

No, not anorexic. But a healthy looking chi to me.

Good luck with the specialist.

[bridie]

Your vet is right Bridie - she's very fat. Lovely face though!

Watch this space she will be like Whippet before I can say"Abrakadabra"

Does any-one know if there is The Biggest Loser contest for doggies.

[tianakaesha]

How much do you currently feed her?

She is very overweight. She is such a young girl, and the pressure on her bones must be very painful.

I am surprised the vet actually started the operation though!

[W Sibs]

First off... Chill. Relax. I started to get stress for you reading your post!!

This is fixable and managable Remember dogs are excellent at picking up moods and energy, so if you are always stress... so is your dog!

My boy has HD and can't be operated on.. so the most important thing for me to look out for is weight. So it's time to put your dog on a diet... like the others suggested, just half the meal everyday. NO treats till the weight is under control.

Exercise is important too. Like some light walking everyday or swimming is best. It builds muscles and put pressure off the joints.

If in doubt, you can ask to see a specialist... but I reckon the first thing they will tell you is to put your pup on a diet.

Yes,I understand,diet starts today on a tablespoon of Hills Sciece....60 little pebbles!I did buy some barf Kangaroo rolls,surely she can have a table spoon now and then.I'm going to ask if I should put Glucodin in her water.Front desk at Vets said,you could really get the weight down fast by giving cabbage cooked in beef cubes,she would starve because there is no way she'd eat that.

Serious?! They told you to do that?

I've never heard that before! haha

[persephone]

Please don't put glucodin in her water !!! That is fine for dogs who are ill and weak and thin and not eating.

she does NOT need extra sugars - she has enough fat to burn to provide her with energy Dogs do not normally eat sugar .it is not good for them.

kangaroo is indeed lean.. and a teaspoonful every couple of days will add interest - but don't be tempted to give her more!!

[bridie]

If you have or can get copies of the Xrays and contact Veterinary Imaging in Sydney and have them read the xrays and advise you. Most "general" vets wouldn't have a clue how to interpret xrays and it sounds to me as if a mistake may have occurred.

Hard to say if you dog is overweight depending on her actual size and structure - but it certainly would be a good thing to get weight off her if she is overly heavy.

When i went and picked up pain killers,vet was there so I really had one main question,did you not think there coud have been a problem with her weight,said she did have her doubts,but did not expect the amount of "fat" she found until after she cut through & then decided not to go ahead.mmmmPerhaps that is just as well,says this would be like a bruise to her,I'd rather the bruise.I also asked about the report on ex-rays and ex-rays themselves,they are on a disc and still waiting on vet assistant to send to me,yes no specialist read them.

[poodlefan]

Please don't put glucodin in her water !!! That is fine for dogs who are ill and weak and thin and not eating.

she does NOT need extra sugars - she has enough fat to burn to provide her with energy Dogs do not normally eat sugar .it is not good for them.

kangaroo is indeed lean.. and a teaspoonful every couple of days will add interest - but don't be tempted to give her more!!

What you describe as "anorexic" is a lean healthy weight for a Chi. She'll live longer and in better health if she looks like that.

Absolutely no sugar.. that' just dead calories to her.

If you want to give her roo than that has to come out of the tablespoon allowance.

You have to remember that your dog has a TINY stomach. She'll eat more than she needs because thats what dogs do.. they gorge themselves.

Her weight is a significant contributer to her current health issues - loving her will see you get that weight off, not feeling sorry for her and trying to liven up her diet.

Remember NO TREATS.. none, unless they come out of her normal daily allowance. That means no bits of toast or other things we all love to share with our dogs.

She will need very gentle exercise. How much does she get now?

Edited May 18, 2010 by poodlefan

[bridie]

Forum Member

Posts: 62

Joined: 3/1/2010

Member No.: 32,772

State: QLD

Warn: (0%)

My 18 month old Chihuahua had ex-rays last week,I had a look and it is bad,both hips,no grading given,but the C part where the ball joint should sit was an enlongated looking L shape.Vet told me she would be cutting off some bone part and make it a sliding action rather than I suppose it may be called a rotation as per normal.Bindie had surgery yesterday,I was shocked to hear when I called to see how it went and how she was.Vet went in to do surgery & couldn't do it as I was told she couldn't do it as there was too much fat for her to do the job.So here is poor little Bindie with this huge cut,(must have been deep enough to know there was too much fat)all for nothing.I was told because it was a clean cut I would not need pain relief for her! I had some on hand so this am. gave her some & I am going back to Vets to get other asap.Bindie weighs 4 kilo & I was told she has to lose 2 kilo,put on a diet of a tablespoon of food a day,before her hips could be done.I have been given no diet advice,always seem too busy to have the time to talk me through procedures or what-ever. I have quite a few questions which I would like to address,to the Vet but she is not back until Friday! Number one,if she is experienced in this shouldn't she have known that Bindie was too big of a risk & advised me to get the weight off before an attempt at surgery was made????Is this a specialists field or lay-vets?I am thinking of asking for Bindies notes& ex-ray& get another opinion,hind site I should have done this.I have lost confidence in this vet to do this job,how much experience has she had,probably feel I'm questioning her professionalism as a Vet when I ask these questions that I should have asked at the very beginning,I now live with regrets.

It pains me as to whether I should be putting Bindie though all of this,or whether it would be kinder to put her to sleep,her life in my hands,I am responsible for her .Is there some-one out there who can advise & recommend a Vet.Is this operation successful in all cases?

I am still waiting on vets report by email also a copy of ex-ray by email,wheels turn very slowly at this surgery.I don't want Bindie to suffer for nothing as much as I want her to live,that would just be too cruel.I need to know asap as to what I should do for Bindie.

Surely some-one has been though this and come out the other end??

I will post on General Discussion as well as some-one who perhaps can help me may not read Breeders Discussions.

I live at Browns Plains QLD.

Hi there, Yes I agree with the other posts here, you need to take a breath and CALM DOWN.

If it were me the first thing I would do is get a second opinion and also get some weight off of her and then I would re assess after I had done all this. I think it's way too early to be thinking put to sleep yet.

You must do something about her weight as a matter of urgency, instead of panicking about the treatments, surgery etc, the one thing you CAN do something about is start reducing her weight so she has a chance of better mobility and as others have said once she is normal weight she may not even need the surgery. I certainly wouldn't be putting her to sleep before all avenues had been tried.

I had a german shepherd dog who had femur head removal surgery due to hip displaysia and we had another 8 wonderful years with her so it's not all doom and gloom, just calm down and take it one day at a time.

Now I live in your area and I personally know the vet at Greenbank called The Bloomin Vet, he is a very caring experienced vet and might be worth going to for a second opinion. My shepherd was done by my regular vet with no problems but this was years ago now and maybe it is now passed on to specialists. .I am sure you could get good advice there also on her weight issue.

Hope you find the right information and can get the results you hope for.

I don't know how to quote quote each post together perse, so I'm answering them all separately,after all you each took time to talk to me and all got stressed reading my post...........gees you should be here I will as you all say,day at a time first things first.Diet,and second opinion later,I suppose I look too far ahead and want all the answers today.Never heard of Bloomin Vet will look him up.I have been happy with this Vet & the prices,but the whole place seems very very unorganised.

[bridie]

Please don't put glucodin in her water !!! That is fine for dogs who are ill and weak and thin and not eating.

she does NOT need extra sugars - she has enough fat to burn to provide her with energy Dogs do not normally eat sugar .it is not good for them.

kangaroo is indeed lean.. and a teaspoonful every couple of days will add interest - but don't be tempted to give her more!!

What you describe as "anorexic" is a lean healthy weight for a Chi. She'll live longer and in better health if she looks like that.

Absolutely no sugar.. that' just dead calories to her.

If you want to give her roo than that has to come out of the tablespoon allowance.

You have to remember that your dog has a TINY stomach. She'll eat more than she needs because thats what dogs do.. they gorge themselves.

Her weight is a significant contributer to her current health issues - loving her will see you get that weight off, not feeling sorry for her and trying to liven up her diet.

Remember NO TREATS.. none, unless they come out of her normal daily allowance. That means no bits of toast or other things we all love to share with our dogs.

She will need very gentle exercise. How much does she get now?

I was joking re the anorexia.I had though glucidin would give her extra energy not calories,seeing only allowed a tablespoon of this dry stuff.

As much as the vet reiterated this will not get better with-out surgery,having extra weigh on would not help matters and her mobility of course.It is only muscle power keeping her walking,often wondered why she looked so strong in her front quarters,all understood now,the front bearing all the weight.I have not seriously exercised her out-side the house yard,now is probably not the time to start.The only treats "they" get are Liver,Lamb Crumbles,Roo chews & those hide sticks from Crazy Clarkes,probably 3 times a week.Thought it was Patellas until ex-rays.

[megan_]

Very small amounts of food give dogs enough energy. In fact many vets recommend occasionally skipping meals.

As PF said, no treats, and she definintely doesn't need extra sugar for energy.

Be strong and she will improve in no time. Once she is at the right weight, you can see a specialist to determine whether there is still a problem.

[Kirislin]

When a dog is so tiny all those treats add up probably to a whole meal, or maybe even more.

You need to be very structured with what you feed her now, no free grazing if that is how you currently feed. Just a small portion of food for the day and that's it, no treats.

She does need exercise. Swimming would be good for her. I wonder if there's no doggy pool or beach near you, she might even be small enough to paddle in your bath. Just fill it up and hold her in there so the paddles her little legs.

Just to give you an idea of how little I feed, I have 5 dogs, 2 weigh 9 kilos, 1 weighs 11 kilos and the 2 boys weigh 17.5 kilos. I only feed 3 kilos of chicken mince between them all for a week! They get vegies and a small amount of dry food, and bones once a week to keep their teeth clean. They are not skinny.

Edited May 19, 2010 by Kirislin

[WreckitWhippet]

take her swimming

[Monah]

My HD dog goes to Richard Mitchell on the sunny coast. He is incredible and I cannot recommend him highly enough. In fact we are going for a check up tomorrow morning. So 2 half hours there and 2 half hours back for a 30 min app. Worth every bit.

NOrth Coast Vet specialists, 431 Tanawha tourist drive, tanawha, 4566.

phone, 54537555.

orthodaedic, neurosurgery, soft tissue surgery, oncology, cardiology, physio, ultrasonography.

My dog has been 'managed' for nearly 4 years now, and has shocking xrays. He is a vey wonderful, knowlegeable man!

[Monah]

I also keep my dog LEAN, at least 4 to 5 kg under the standard weight. We swim, have joint food, fish oil, massage etc. ester C. there are maany many things to do to manage this problem, My dog gets on really well Previcox is a great pain relief/anti inflammatory if needed occasionally.

[poodlefan]

I was joking re the anorexia.I had though glucidin would give her extra energy not calories,seeing only allowed a tablespoon of this dry stuff.

She will get the energy she needs from the fat reserves she's storing.

The last thing she needs is more calories.