Dog Hip Dysplasia Symptoms and Treatments

Dog Hip dysplasia is a developmental defect of the hip joints and is especially common in larger dog breeds such as German shepherd, Labrador and Retriever. A hereditary disease, hip dysplasia in dog in its more severe form, can eventually cause one or both hips to be malformed, crippling, lameness and painful arthritis of the joints.

As one of the most studied veterinary conditions in dogs, dogs with hip dysplasia might exhibit signs of stiffness or soreness after rising from rest, reluctance to exercise, bunny-hopping or other abnormal gait (legs move more together when running rather than swinging alternately), lameness, pain, reluctance to stand on rear legs, jump up, or climb stairs, subluxation or dislocation of the hip joint, or wasting away of the muscle mass in the hip area.

Dogs Radiographs (X-rays) often confirm the presence of hip dysplasia in dog, but radiographic features may not be present until two years of age in some dogs. Moreover, many affected dogs do not show clinical signs, but some dogs manifest the problem before seven months of age, while others do not show it until well into adulthood.

These conditions are caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors and may be evident at a few months of age, or later in life. It can be aggravated by a poor diet and possibly by over exercising a puppy.

In truth, this is because the underlying canine hip dysplasia problem may be mild or severe, may be worsening or stable, and the body may be more or less able to keep the joint in repair well enough to cope. Also, different dogs have different pain tolerances and different weights, and use their bodies differently, For example, a light dog who only walks, will have a different joint use than a more heavy or very active dog. Some dogs will have a problem earlier on while others may never have a real problem at all.

Each dog with hip dysplasia must be treated on its own merits, and a range of treatment options exist. If the problem is relatively mild, then sometimes all that is needed to bring the symptoms under control are suitable medications to help the body deal better with inflammation, pain and joint wear. In many cases this is all that is needed for a long time.

If the problem cannot be controlled with medications, then often surgery is considered. There are traditionally two types of surgery - those that reshape the joint to reduce pain or help movement, and hip replacement for animals which completely replaces the damaged hip with an artificial joint, similar to human hip replacements.

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