Dublin Hip Update

[Kitch]

I just spoke with the receptionist at the vet's office and they said Dublin is awake and currently charming the staff. (I have one of the few dogs that seems to *love* going to the vet).

 

I can pick him up anytime after 5pm and the vet will discuss the x-rays with me but he had the receptionist tell me that Dublin's hips look fine. I'll get more details when I talk to him but I am a bit confused. What else could cause his symptoms? I've done some research on HD and he seems to fit the profile - I would be happy if he doesn't have it, but on the other hand I don't want to miss something...

 

So far I have had a chiro vet say he has hip issues - but he didn't x-ray as it was a housecall - he just manipulated the back legs.

 

And I have had a regular vet say that there doesn't appear to be any issues, with an x-ray.

 

Argh. I really wish Dublin could just talk and tell me what is going on.

[sandra s.]

Can't it be some soft part of a hip joint or muscle that got hurt somehow? He'd try not to use the hip in question too much if it was something like that, which would also affect the way he runs... :confused:

Keeping my fingers crossed!

[Bukka Red]

When we took Wren in for Xrays our vet said the same thing. We felt good about it. But we kept seeing a problem. Our vet got us an appointment with an orthopedic specialist. He siad her x rays looked ok, but when their hips are Xrayed they are put in a position that can be misleading. He wanted to articulate her hips and feel the joints. Wren resisted, so he had to sedate her to do it. When he did that he could feel laxity (i think that's the right word) in the joints. That was last December.

 

The link below will take you to a thread were I explained in more detail what we did.

 

Our vet couldn't find anything, but he knows us pretty well so he suggested the specialist.

 

We were feeling just like you. We wanted her to come to us and say "my hips hurts..." or "my leg hurts..."

 

Dont give up checking.

http://www.bordercollie.org/cgi-bin/ultima...1515;p=1#000018

[Kitch]

I saw the vet on Wednesday afternoon and the z-rays looked fine - the hip was firmly in the socket and the knees looked good as well. The muscles were pretty even, too. There *may* have been some slight flattening in the hip ball joint but I could just be paranoid.

 

In general, I like my vet. He is reasonably priced and obviously loves animals. (I hate it when you go to the vet and it is obvious they would rather be doing anything else). So he is fine for basic stuff, but he is a one man show so I don't think he has a lot of spare time to keep up with new advances, etc. He mostly just gets pet dogs/cats in for routine vaccinations and s/n. He isn't used to dealing with any "sport" dogs or potential "sport injuries".

 

So after he shows me the x-ray and says it looks fine, I ask him what else it could be since something is obviously wrong with him...the vet just gave me a blank stare and said "I don't know". He recommended I give Dublin aspirin when he is hurting. I told him that was great but that only dealt with the symptoms; I wanted to find the cause if possible.

 

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I told the breeder I got Dublin from about the x-rays and she was very relieved (she had been freaking out when I said he had hip issues as she had never had any of her dogs come back less than "good" and usually "excellent". To give her credit, she contacted all the other owners of Dublin's littermates to encourage them to have the hips checked when I first said he may have hip issues.) She recommended that I see a specialist in my area and show him the x-rays as he might see something that my regular vet had missed.

 

In talking to some other people (my trainer, trainer's assistant and my breeder) they mentioned it might also be soft tissue damage that gets aggravated whenever Dublin runs, etc.

 

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I hope I can find out what is wrong and help Dublin feel better. He was so sore on Wednesday night (I assume because they had to manipulate his hips for the x-rays). He had trouble getting up the stairs - it was heart-breaking. If he is like this now at almost 2, what will he be like in 10 years?

[MaggieDog]

In the course of the exam did the vet do range of motion exams on Dublin's hips and knees? My current vet practice has a doctor that makes these range of motion exams a standard part of the annual exams and he's been able to tell me a lot about Maggie's (and my parents' dogs') status just through those manipulations.

 

This vet is the same one that diagnosed my parents' 11 yo dog as having arthritis given the crepitus (bone on bone grinding) and limited range of motion (decreased 30% of normal) - all without xrays. He has been very impressed with Maggie's carpal (wrist) condition - it's 100% at 6 yo even with lots of jumping in agility and such. Maggie loves this vet, even if he does crazy things w/ her legs lol.

 

The vet did recommend supplementation with glucosamin and chondroitin for dogs w/ limited motion and those involved in high impact work - have you investigated that for Dublin?

[Kitch]

The chiro vet manipulated Dublin's legs and based on that said he had hip issues - his actual words were, "he has hip problems; the left side is worse than the right, but they are both spongy". I took spongy to mean there was some play in the socket, but have since been told that it meant there was some swelling/inflammation/edema (sp?) in the hip area. He mentioned using glucosomine and MSM.

 

My regular vet never mentioned using anything but aspirin. I had to bring up glucosomine on my own and he said that would be fine to use as well.

 

I called and made an appt with the specialist for April 28th.