Hi, I’m new to the forum though confess to have followed for many months through the trials and tribulations of puppyhood. I would love to hear from any of you about how much you exercise dogs with hip dysplacia. Monty was diagnosed at 6 ½ months with moderate HD in the left hip, frustrating as both parents had ok hip scores. His elbows click a lot too, so possible future problems there but nothing that showed up on the x-rays at the time. He’s now on monthly cartophen injections, and daily nutriquin supplements, with a view to delaying the onset of arthritis as much as is possible, I have to say we saw an improvement in his movement and energy levels almost immediately. He's now at 11 months and completely full of beans, I wonder how much more we can extend his exercise. We have had differing advice from two different vets at the same practice – one saying we should split an hour and a quarter’s worth of walks over four a day, and the other vet, who we saw soon after his diagnosis, said one half an hour and one 45 min walk a day was fine and we should look to build this up to make his muscles as strong as possible. I tended to go with the latter’s advice, as four walks in a day is very difficult with us both working, and twenty minutes simply does not burn off any energy! We have been assured he is not in any pain at the moment – though he is quite stiff sometimes so I can’t help but think there’ some discomfort, but I’m wondering when we can build up to longer walks of over an hour. His walks are a mix of mostly off lead walking & a bit of running (racing around in circles is a favourite) and on lead pavement / park walks (which we all dislike but that’s another post entirely) Any thoughts appreciated – there’s so much differing advice out there I would love to hear what your experiences are.
Re: exercise and hip dysplacia thanks! Just working out how to post a pic of the little critter himself, I think he's particularly handsome but may be a bit biased ;D
Re: exercise and hip dysplacia Hello! Welcome. I don't have a dog with HD but have spent a huge amount of time devising exercise programmes to rehabilitate my dog after cruciate surgery. I found the advice of a doggy physio absolutely invaluable. My vets were great, but the physio spent ages examining him, working out programmes etc. the overriding principle was to up the exercise ONLY to the extent he wasn't in any pain. We went through a complex process to determine the optimal routine, much helped by physio exercises to build up key muscles at home. And swimming and water treadmill helped greatly too. Best of luck with it.
Re: exercise and hip dysplacia I was wondering about hydrotherapy - his occasional trips to the beach and rivers demonstrate an absolute love of water - but was almost wondering whether to keep this as a back up plan for when he gets worse and can't exercise quite so much in the future. It's that problem of finding a balance between enough exercise to keep him super fit and lean (and it's so very difficult to resist those brown eyes begging for food) and how much exercise might become damaging. I can understand why you recommend an expert as some of the vet advice is a bit confusing.
Re: exercise and hip dysplacia Well, I can only talk about my own experience, which is not of HD. But I don't see swimming as a back up thing - it's a way to strengthen core and key muscles, without the strain of weight bearing, which helps generally (and is fantastic for keeping the weight off). Charlie has a programme of "free swimmimg" in the sea and river, but also a programme of formal hydro, which is much, much, more effective as a fitness a strength exercise programme. The water treadmill is a billion times more effective than any type of swimming though.
Re: exercise and hip dysplacia Hi there. I'm sorry you're going through this, and with such a young dog too! My Penny was diagnosed earlier this year wth what I beleive is moderate to severe hip dysplasia - they never actually called it that, just told me she had 'loose hips' that come 50% out of the socket when she moves, but I've seen the xrays, and I know what it is. Our first port of call was physiotherapy to help strengthen the surrounding muscles to keep the hips more securely in place. Within 4 weeks she had more muscle definition all over though I am wary to say that I saw an improvement in her movement. My vet did not recommend hydrotherapy at present - he wanted to see how well we could manage her condition with physio exercises. She does have pain relief but only when I think she needs it. We were also advised to give her omega 3 for joint health, I give this in addition to a glucose and chondroitin supplement. My ortho vet never gave us any restrictions on exercise, and it was only the physiotherapist who told us the sorts of things we should be avoiding - repetitive forced movements such as retrieving, and unfortunately I don't think she'll ever be an agility dog. I guess the management at this stage is very much different for your pup - Penny was finished growing when she was diagnosed so now we just have to deal with what we have. As a young puppy whose bones and joints are still forming, the excercise regime can be used as part of the treatment to strengthen the surrounding muscles in the same way as our physio program. I guess they don't want him over exerting himself while bones are still developing etc. Do you have regular check ups with your orthopaedic vet? They are probably the best person to advise on upping the exercise and whether something like hydrotherapy is suitable at this stage.
Re: exercise and hip dysplacia Welcome! Lilly our girl has severe bilateral HD but is very well adapted. She started having problems around 6-8 months with recurrent limp and clicking. Our vet originally thought it her elbows but a referral to an orthopaedic specialist vet in our area (we are in Scotland) actually gave us the HD diagnosis. They recommended going from resting Lilly and keeping her on lead and short walks to gradually building up over a few months to 2 x 1hr walks a day. And slowly introducing off-lead stuff again. We weren't recommended cartophen, or anything else really technical, and at this stage we were on a regular NSAID - by diagnosis time we had moved on to Previcox as we had some D&V over Lilly's first Christmas : with some blood in her vomit. The Previcox is a more "stomach friendly" NSAID. Our ortho vet also recommended Omega-3 fishoils - human high strength, twice the adult dose - but didn't think there was any evidence to support chondroitin or any other supplement. She was regarded by him as exceptionally well adapted, and felt that surgery wasn't indicated, but had an open invitation to go back if she was limping more or clearly showing pain. He also recommended regular muscle building exercise, but nothing specified. There are lots of tips on the forum about this - walking up hills, hydrotherapy etc. At this point, Lilly is fine. She is 4 and a half now. She likes her own space and has a tendency to growl a bit if we invade her space. She hasn't limped for over a year but remains on a low dose of her Previcox. She is one of the forum's died-in-the-wool wildlife chasers. Having the HD doesn't seem to limit her in any way we are aware of. We do keep her light - she weighs in at around 24.5kg and might vary .5kg up or down. I though you might be interested in her x-rays I have posted these before on a thread. They show her hips are really not in the sockets at all. They were taken when she was around 10months or maybe 11 months. Lauren has beaten me to the post - I was going to suggest seeking out her posts which have had some good advice from her physio. Most important thing is, its not a disaster. You just need to change the way you approach things a little. Good luck! jac
Re: exercise and hip dysplacia Buster is now nearly 11 months old, he was diagnosed with elbow displaysia in September, he is on glucosomine tablets and prevacox, he was allowed 2 x 10 mins walk a day and to keep him as calm as possible in the home, it was really hard and frustrating for quite a while but we have got used to it, last time we saw the vets a couple if weeks ago he told us that we can build up to 2 x 15 min walks, yesterday was the first time we were upto the the 15 mins we had a really good walk (Buster has been such a handfull the last couple if weeks he was pulling so much it was almost impossible to walk him) all was going good until we saw another lab right near my house all was going fine we only talked for a couple of mins when we walked away i noticed that Buster was limping and he had a muddy patch on his bad leg so i guess the other dog pawed him but as he was stronger it obviouslly done some damage, Buster obviouslly felt it as when we got in he didn't move around too much and slept which he never does when i am home in the afternoon, he didn't want to constantly go in the garden and more importantly to him he didn't want Dave (his nightly humping partner a big ted), he is much better today but you can still see the limp so we are back to the ten min walks for a few days before we try upping them again, it is soo frustrating just when you think you are getting some where then you have another set back. When Buster was first diagnosed i did ask our vets about swimming more for getting rid of energy than anything else, he did say that was a good idea but not yet, he doesn't need an opp yet which is good i just hope that after yesterday he improves and we have no more setbacks.
Re: exercise and hip dysplacia Hi, Many thanks for your replies, it's really interesting to hear, particularly that some of you have seem specialist vets for physio- we are at the vets tomorrow for the next cartrophen injection so I might speak to them about it then. Although he sees them once a month they just give him the injection and ask after his general health and that's it, I should probably pick their brains a bit more about what exercise he should be doing now he's growing up, and as we have the insurance cover see if there's something more we could be doing for him, maybe with a specialist. Lilly's x rays are not that dissimilar to Monty's - though he has one almost perfect hip, and the other barely seems to have a socket - once we got over the shock of it, we have just learned to live with it, and although it's awful to know there are so many dogs out there with these problems, I'm slightly comforted to hear of dogs who are coping well a number of years after their diagnosis with more light-touch treatment. (though I am thinking of asking for a supply of painkillers just in case I do think he's in discomfort occasionally, despite what the vet said to the contrary) If he seems to have done a bit much one day - he loves running around with other dogs if he gets the chance but tends to over do it - I try and do slightly shorter more controlled walks the next. I can't imagine having only 10 minute walks, that must be so difficult to stick to, and certainly with the pulling, I'm no stranger to that at the moment!
Re: exercise and hip dysplacia Isn't cartrophen meant to be a pain killer? Sorry, it's been a few years since I came across a dog who needed it, and that was for severe arthritis due to a cruciate tear or something that was unreparable because he wouldn't survive the anaesthetic due to tracheal paralysis... That dog had a lot of issues Anyway.... Yes it might be a good idea to have some to hand. My vet had no problem letting me have a big bottle of metacam. I didn't want metacam as I've heard it can cause issues when used long term, however she doesn't take it every day, not even once a month, so I'm not too worried at the moment. If she starts needed something regularly I'll probably my ask for something else. Check with your insurance provider as to what they cover - I think our physiotherapy came under 'alternative therapies' so do make sure you have that level of cover. We have Petplan lifetime insurance so we've got pretty much everything but some of the more basic policies may not cover things like that; unfortunately things like physio and hydro are still classed as alternative medicine in some cases, not all, but just something to be aware of.
Re: exercise and hip dysplacia From memory - and it was back in the summer so I can't remember exactly - I'm sure they said that the cartophen would build up the cartilage and the liquid around the joints - and by doing this acted as a anti - inflammatory, a sort of indirect pain killer, and that it's as much a preventative treatment for Monty to stop the onset of arthritis. We couldn't believe how much energy he had the days after the first injection - bearing in mind he'd had a general anesthetic, been castrated and had all his joints moved around. Having done a few searches on the forum it gets very few mentions which I was surprised at, I had assumed it was a standard treatment. As I'm pretty sure that his elbows are also going to be a problem - he has days when he clicks terribly - the cartophen will be helping with those too, not just his bad hip. We have the pet plan lifetime cover too- though the lower vet fees amount - thank goodness, I so nearly went for a straight forward annual cover when I got the quotes back. I think there's cover for up to £1000 of alternative therapies so that would cover a few physio / hydro sessions each year, I imagine. Will see what they say later.
Re: exercise and hip dysplacia Yes I think that's the same level we had. We only have four physio sessions before she said she was happy for us to just do them on our own and book a check up if we need to or are having anymore problems, and they were all covered by insurance. I think they cover you for 10 hydrotherapy sessions, but it probably depends on price!
Re: exercise and hip dysplacia [quote author=leejane link=topic=9173.msg131497#msg131497 date=1419021516] , I think he's particularly handsome but may be a bit biased ;D [/quote] No you aren't at all,I bet he's gorgeous x I can't offer any advice as I haven't had any experience but there are a few members whose dogs suffer from this condition.I see some have popped by already. Anyway,I just wanted to say hi,glad you've found the forum and I know you will get plenty of support as you try to understand Montys condition Best wishes Angela x
Re: exercise and hip dysplacia Hi, Following some of your thoughts I had a good chat with the vet today and clarified a few things: First, the cartrophen injections definitely aren’t a painkiller, they are a naturally occurring substance which helps to prevent further damage, and to a limited extent, repair some of the damage which has already taken place. He also reassured me that they are very safe, no side effects (I had googled a few worrying side effects on the internet, though not read the full research, only individual opinions that they may accelerate the growth of certain cancers if used over the long term.) I guess I have to trust the vet on this one unless I go into the research papers in-depth. The vet agreed with me that if Monty is looking stiff or a bit 'limpy' even if only for a short while, then he might benefit from some NSAID painkillers, however did not agree that they could be used on as and when basis - he said that once started, they should be continued, or stopped when a course is finished. So we have a month’s supply to try out, with the view to continuing permanently if we see a definite improvement in mobility, or stopping in January if nothing changes. He was also happy to make a hydrotherapy referral - but only after we had tested the painkillers for a month to show exactly what was making a difference - so that’s something for us to have a go at in February. So quite positive there - on the downside, when he read out the notes he said it was moderate - severe HD (I only remember the word moderate in the summer) and Monty has put on nearly a kilo in the last month, now just under 28 kilos :-[ As he is still a growing boy at 11 months I hopefully suggested to the nurse this might be muscle not fat, as he has done a bit more running around in the last month rather than on-lead walking. He's fairly tall, and his mom, dad and granddad were all tall, chunky dogs - though not overweight. A few photos here in his earlier days... will try to get a current one posted as would love to hear whether you think he could do with losing a few pounds - unfortunately I've told him all about Christmas and all the lovely treats that are around and he's very excited already https://www.flickr.com/photos/129399147@N05/
