Hip Dysplaisa problems...

[speedsk8rHAWAII]

I have a 2.5 year old Border Collie. . however, he was diagnosed with Severe Hip Dysplasia at 3 months. :eek: . he didn't seem to have very many problems until 2 weeks ago.

 

He was running in the backyard after his tennis ball and just collapsed and fell down. He would not put any weight on it and upon touch he would snap at those who were touching him.(apparently because of the pain.) We took him to the vet immediately who said he thought that he dislocated his hip. He stayed at the vets for like 3 or 4 hours that day and they gave him sedation drugs while they took X-Rays and popped his leg back into the socket. then they applied a bandage that has his leg suspended so that he will not put any weight on it for 3 weeks.

 

after about 1.5 weeks, he started licking his bandage like crazy. then it starts to stink and get all gross so we take him back to the vet. and they shave some of his hair away and then put some ointment on it and give us an Elizabethan(sp?) collar. so he is wearing that but we have to take it off for him to eat/go outside etc. and in the little time that we do that he goes back to slurping away(licking). we have put baby powder there...does anyone think that is a good idea? my mom called the vet but they wouldn't give us an answer and said that we would have to come in. (another $25-$30 for just 1 answer to a question). it seems to soothe him and he doesn't whine/cry as much with it like that.

 

anyways i was just wondering if anyone has any suggestions? have a dog that has had this problem? it is a little discouraging because it is his left hip that was dislocated but on the X-Rays it showed that his right hip is even worse so this is probably gonna happen again because his sockets are soooo shallow. so yeah i'm just looking for anyone who could lend some support .

 

-Doggie Lover

 

 

[Shoofly]

You probably ought to keep him on a leash or at least not let him out of sight when you've got the e-collar off of him.

 

You could try a product called "Bitter Apple" (get it at a pet store) - it tastes nasty so you just spray it around the wound (not in it) and it should discourage licking.

[speedsk8rHAWAII]

yes, someone is always home and right next to him when he has the collar off.

 

great idea! i never even thought of the bitter apple, we used to use it when he would gnaw on the furniture! the only problem is that he has a part of the bandage that wraps around his abdomen and is chafing(sp?) his skin. that is the part that he is chewing but he does lick the actual bandage so maybe i'll talk to my parents and we can do that! thanks so much for your advice i really really appreciate it!

[BigD]

Where in Hawaii are you located? I'm from Hawaii too and I do know a few folks that have dogs with HD. I could get you vet references and pass on your info to the owners.

 

Where did you get Skye? Funny, I know almost all the Border Collies in Hawaii (or know someone else who does) and while Skye sounds familiar, I don't think I've seen you guys out at herding day or any training sessions. Where do you guys take Skye for training? Do you go on any walks with Skye? (I know you can't now, but did you in the past?)

 

Anyway, I know some vets that specialize a bit more in the HD field. Let me know where in Hawaii you are and we can go from there.

 

Denise

[speedsk8rHAWAII]

we got skye from a 'breeder'...wouldn't call them breeder though, they got 2 dogs from pet central, simba(red border) and diamond(b/w border)...they breeded and had a litter of 10 sold all but one and kept bullet(b/w border), then simba and diamond bred again, and we got one of those ten pups. apparently they were planning on fixing them after that. these ppl live in kapolei and we found an ad in the paper for it. $500. sry i can't remember the names of them.

 

we live on the windward side, i don't wanna get too specific i mean this is the internet..sry it isn't you i don't trust it is the other psychos out there. .we got introduced to borders through susie...do you know her?

 

we took him to VCA kaneohe for puppy kindergarden. no, we don't go to herding bcuz of his HD. after running in our backyard for about 10 minutes (normally..as in before this dislocation happened) he would lay down and look at us like ''this is enough it is hurting now''. the vets told us to only run him in long straihgt lines bcuz that is better than the sharp turns and cutting that takes place in herding so no, we don't go to those. when we first got him, we wanted to show him and take him out to the herding sessions etc., but after his diagnosis we decided as a family that he would just be a companion dog. we sometimes take him to the pastures in maunawili but haven't been there in a very long time.

 

we take him to Makai Animal Clinic in Kailua and he is under the care of Dr.Zane. we did take him to a vet in kahala that dr. zane recommmended and basically he told us that skye needed doulbe hip replacement. (keep in mind this was at 3 months old :eek: ) totalling $9,000. we cannot afford that at all so we gave him this supplement thing *trying to remember name* until he was about 1 year old...it was about $60 per month.

 

i hope this gives you more info...thanks for helping me out, denise!

 

-Skye's loving owner-

[BigD]

Ok, I know you guys. Yes, I know Sue. Haven't seen her in a long time.

 

I used to take Buddy to Maunawili meadow too, but there is one nasty dog out there that has not been very nice. Even bit Bing pretty bad a while ago. So, I just don't need the headache.

 

I too am on the windward side. I take both my dogs to Makai. Dr. Zane is great. If you can, try to see Dr. Tom once. He's awesome! Doesn't talk so much with big words. Makes things simple and easy to understand. And is willing to answer any questions you may have.

 

I would have probably sent you to the same specialist that Dr. Zane sent you to.

 

If Skye's hips are that bad, you may need to take some drastic measures (like hip replacement).

 

Do you have access to a pool? One that skye could swim in? Or can you take him to Kailua beach once a day or a few times a week? Really make him swim to build up the muscle tone. It's much better than any sort of running for them, especially ball chasing.

 

Ask Dr. Zane first, of course. But I know that when they saw my dog Buddy (who has slightly bad hips) they told us to keep the weight off (Buddy is 22" at the shoulder and is 48-49 lbs) and the muscle tone up. We also supplement with Glucosamine and Chondriton. If Buddy doesn't get those supps, we can tell.

 

I'm sure Sue knows Skye is dysplastic. But if she doesn't, you should tell her and get the names of the "breeders" to her as well. You cam contact me privately with that info too. Sue was compiling a list of dogs, breeder, relations to other dogs, etc.

 

Anyway, good luck. Look into the swimming if you can.

 

Denise

[speedsk8rHAWAII]

hey thanks for the info. thats exactly what dr.z said. skye is about *thinks* 50-55? can't remember...they just weighed him a couple weeks ago but i can't remember i think it is about 55. he said skye needs to lose the weight and get high muscle tone...possibly even start on steriods. :eek: we took him to kailua beach once and it didn't work...maybe we should try it again.

 

yes, sue does know about skye's hips. we did try and contact the ppl that we got him from as soon as we found out about the hips. turns out one of the other pups is completely deaf as well but they just said ''we're sorry that happened but there is nothing we can do for you'' so we just left it at that and haven't contacted them since and that was in 2002.

 

thanks again for all your advice, it has really helped. yes we have seen dr. tom a couple times...on monday in fact, but he didn't think that there was anything wrong with the bandage, today we took him back 'cuz it stunk so bad. they gave him a sedative, cut the old bandage off and put a new one on...shaved some of his fur off too *tear* but oh well. he seems to be a little more content, apparently they put some ointment etc. on to soothe the raw skin. so we go back next week thursday and hopefully it will be healed enough for the whole thing to come off .