Hi all, I started to noticed about a week ago that my 5-month-old lab was slower to rise from sitting or lying down, decreased endurance during walks, decreased playing throughout day/sleeping more, lazy sitting, and swaying his hips while walking. He is eating/drinking normally, otherwise a very happy pup. After looking up these symptoms, they all seem to come back to hip dysplasia. Obviously concerned, I have scheduled a vet appointment for next week (their earliest time due to COVID-19) for official diagnosis, but do y'all think it could be anything else? We have refrained from walks the past few days just in case it is a sprain or other acute injury. I am so worried about him and didn't think we would see hip dysplasia this early any advice or support is appreciated!
Puppies have very lax joints. They will often sit weirdly (especially if you don't teach them how to sit straight), and look like their legs are loosely connected, sway when walking and so on - that is just a normal period for the majority of large breed pups. Take a look at this x-ray and see how the bones appear not to be connected (they are connected only with cartilage, which doesn't show up so well on x-rays https://dogsolutions.co.za/this-is-an-x-ray-of-a-two-week-old-puppy/ As the puppy grows, that will develop into bone. But of course they're not going to walk like an adult dog... The majority of lab pups I see having more difficulty getting up and decreased endurance on walks, sleeping more etc, are getting very plump and overweight..... it is just more work for them to move. Ensure he is slim and not getting overweight... Pups also lack core strength so they can't control their limbs properly - which is where canine fitness exercises come in, a kind of Pilates for dogs to improve the core. Lastly, pups are growing so fast, they are quite clumsy and unaware of limbs - just like adolescent humans. Even if your pup does have hip dysplasia, there's not much they can do about it whilst he is still growing unless he is in extreme pain. (Which I think you would have noticed.) Otherwise, with less severe hip dysplasia, it will be a case of waiting to see how severe it is when he is older, doing x-rays at that time (whether or not any have been done earlier) and then determining if surgery is necessary or if things can be medically managed or managed conservatively. But there's not going to be any conclusive diagnosis at 5 months old. Your vet is likely to check him over, say he's not really seeing anything and tell you to return in X months for another exam. Or likely to admit for x-rays, which will not tell you anything about his final state on adulthood - and will need to be repeated then anyway... Personally, unless you think he is in pain, I wouldn't be taking him to the vet at the moment....
My 8 month old has the same problem however in his front leg/elbow. I would play ball with him for awhile, then he would limp severely. After a rest, he would be back to normal. The Vet said no exercise for 10 days and gave him Metacam. I thought it was too early as well for any Dysplasia.?????
