# Fellow hip dysplasia owners



## RiverRun (Jun 29, 2011)

I need some advice here. My lab girl is almost 6 years old now and her hips are getting awful. I give her liquid glucosamine twice a day, which helps her on normal day-to-day routines, but if we were to play fetch, walk, or do any type of exercise; she is absolutely unable to walk afterwards. Now she can run until she drops, the dog does not know when to stop, but once all is said and done she can't even pull herself up from a sitting position. It is horrible to watch and she will just bunny hop around the house instead of taking normal steps. I am currently in search of a vet so I can get her in and get some bloodwork and possible new x-rays done on her, but I am iffy on getting her pain meds. I know how hard they can be on the liver and kidneys(which she already has issues with sporadic incontinence) so I am a bit worried about taking that next step and getting prescription drugs.
Does anyone else use prescription pain killers for their displastic dogs?


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

A prior dog had bilateral dysplasia; we tried Zubrin with not much success. Rimadyl worked the best. She was 11 when we got her and to be honest, it was more important to stop her pain than worry about her liver. 
I do want to say that i think you should not let her run til she drops. J MO.


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## RiverRun (Jun 29, 2011)

I know from working at a vet that Rimadyl is quite a good drug. I still worry though because she is so young! Maybe I can just use it sporadically when she has serious issues? 
Oh, and I don't let her run until she drops. I was just trying to explain her extreme drive. She would play fetch all day long if I let her. I am waiting for the warm months so I can take her swimming again.


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## flashyfawn (Mar 8, 2012)

I'm dealing with bad elbows, not bad hips, but I have a dog who will turn 11 in March and she started on Previcox daily when she was about 7, and got it as needed before that. Rimadyl did not work for her. We used just Previcox for a couple of years and then had to add in some tramadol every day to keep her comfortable. Her bloodwork is checked yearly and is always fine. She did briefly have some issues with her kidney numbers but it was related to a really bad UTI. I do understand the concern about side effects but the way I looked at it, being in constant pain isn't good for them either. I have no doubt that the drugs have greatly increased my dog's quality of life and if she ends up in kidney or liver failure, well, that's just a risk I will have to take. She also has incontinence issues, BTW, and we tried two drugs for that but she could not tolerate the side effects.


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## katies mum (May 8, 2012)

I have a boxer that had bad displasia of the hips,one alot worse than the other.She was only 2 years old when diagnosed with it and she was showing very similar symptoms to your dog.Pain killers did help her(previcox)also i put her onto cortaflex HA and this also helped but i decided that none of this was the answer and she wasnt able to live a normal life for a boxer.I decided to ask my vet to operate on her.She had femoral head removal.It took her about 6 months to recover but now she can do anything that any of my other dogs do and for as long as they do.She goes hiking in the mountains,swimming in the river,joions me out horse riding and even runs with the bike.She has no problems with this hip at all now and im really pleased that i had it done while she was young as now she can enjoy her life without pain.

I would not use rimadyl.I have known too many dogs become seriously ill after using it and a few actually dying,but thats just my opinion.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

My friends Pug had a hip replacement at 7 months old. And, other than a bunny hop now and then, you'd never know. Runs and plays with the big dogs, nothing has stopped her. I think it was only a couple of months recovery, of course we were protective afterwards for a long time, but my friend is absolutely thrilled with how it turned out. It was about 2K nearly 2 years ago.


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## katies mum (May 8, 2012)

MollyWoppy said:


> My friends Pug had a hip replacement at 7 months old. And, other than a bunny hop now and then, you'd never know. Runs and plays with the big dogs, nothing has stopped her. I think it was only a couple of months recovery, of course we were protective afterwards for a long time, but my friend is absolutely thrilled with how it turned out. It was about 2K nearly 2 years ago.


Thats brilliant,so nice to hear these ops working.The femoral head removal was a better option for my dog as she was so young and being very active she would have worn the joint out very quickly.The operation she had will never wear out.It cost me 700euros one year ago.I was very baffled as to how the operation would work to start with as they take the joint away completely.I just couldnt see how the leg would actually support her weight but,well it does and she is having a fantastic time now.

Riverrun,i would seriously reccommend you look into the possibilty of surgery for your dog.There are several different options available.Hopefully then you wouldnt need to have her on pain killers for the rest of her life.Good luck with her.


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