my friend owns a 7yr old large breed girl, she's only ever been to vets for boosters and spaying, but about 3 weeks ago she had a limp on her her hind leg, my friend took her to the vets and xrays were taken, the results were double hip dysplasia and secondary arthritis , and will need both hips replaced,which will cost about £8000 cos dog not insured,  my friend is gutted she's seen no sign of any problems she is fed barf diet and goes out twice a day for long hikes with her sister, but what the vet told her to do with her girl is also worrying her , she's to come off barf [ vet don't agree with it ]  she's to have perscription diet with supplements in. two five minute walks aday , no getting on settee , thats where she sleeps, no playing with other dogs, my friend thinks this is very extreme and will stress her dog out after 7 yrs of been a very lively happy girl to having no life at all , i just wondered what your opinions are on this , 

My now 9 year old has severe HD score over 90 and she has lived a full and active life without surgical intervention and very minimal pain medication. She is fed a raw diet and we give her fish oil supplements .

In this instance I would ignore the vet. What is the point of putting a 7 year old large breed through an extensive op like this? Tell her to ask for some painkillers from the vet and let her dog enjoy her life as normal.

Our dog was hip scored at 6 because someone wanted to use him at stud. His score was bad so he was never used but he lived to over 14 taking metacam as and when he needed it and it wasn't until he was 13 that his hips caused him any big issues.Of course taking painkillers for that long took its toll but he had a great life and was often to be found climbing over our 5 foot garden wall when the notion took him!

When a dog gets to 7 with no obvious symptoms the surely its about management not cure!!

change vets....

exercise (not overdone) is useful to maintain muscle... quality of life should be a priority over quantity...

you could try magnet therapy - get a magnet collar and I'd suggest a magnet wand as this can help considerably and also try cortaflex (glucosamine/condroitin)

you should be able to manage this - rather than replacing hips which have a range of outcomes, not all of them good particularly for large dogs.

you may wish to cut the hikes down but I wouldn't stop her sleeping on the sofa or playing with other dogs..

what prescription diet is vet recommending?

get a second opinion is my sugguestion.- and take the x rays with her when she goes..

I would be very reluctent to put a dog through such major surgery without haveing considered other options. Ignoring the money aspect of it - is it fair to the dog?

might be worth looking into swimming for exersise- none weight bearing and should build muscle without extra strain on skeletal structure

As the others have said I would want a second opinion with an orthopaedic vet and would e looking at management of symptoms rather than surgery. 

I'd also get the hips scored to give you an idea of how bad they are and to add to the breed's statistics, it's only an extra £45 as you already have the Xrays (just make sure that his chip/tattoo details and registered name etc are put onto the X-rays) for submission.

I have 2 with HD and I considered surgery but went instead for cartrophen injections. My lad has a monthly injection and my girl has one injection every 3 months. So far its doing it's job and coupled with glucosamine and chondroitin supplements I hope to avoid surgey for both of them. I dont do miles of exercise with them,they do run and play but both of them simply stop when they've had enough and my lad jumps back in the van and wont come out till we're back home lol. I dont allow either of them to carry too much weight but other than that they have the same food as they have always had. Special diets are of no use to a dog with HD.

As yet I haven't had the need to go down the route of Metacam but would prefer to try the Cartrophen injections first.  I give my old girl Glucosamine and Chondrotin and have recently added Devils Claw and Green Lipped Muscle tablets daily and seen an improvement in her and she's almost 11 years old.

There are many things I would try, I don't think I would consider surgery especially as the limping has only just started and no other treatments have been offered.

Think the vet has not just a bee in the bonnet but a whole hive, change the diet, what for, operate with no suggestion of management, nonsense when the limp may well be because she put a foot down a hole.

Most dogs and if it comes to it people have dysplasia to some degree or other and even those with severe problems manage a full and happy life without surgery particularly if they have achieved a good age without problem. If she is a large breed and is now 7 years just how much longer is she likely to live, what is the breed average, if it is say 9 years is the vet suggesting the she spends one of those years in pain recovering, as I said nonsense.

What an idiotic vet!  If she is not only managing but actually happy and able right now, I see no sense whatsoever in reducing the exercise to two 5 minute walks.  For one thing, such a massive change is going to seriously upset the dog; for another, it's going to contribute to a huge loss in muscle tone, which will hinder, not help the problem as the muscle tone helps keeps the hips in place.  And surgery!  Good grief, what is he thinking?  The dog is happy and active - and senior - such a major surgery with a very long recovery time should not be considered without trying management first.  I've seen young dogs go through it and only after a lot of consideration - one in particular I meet a lot was considered carefully and he was almost crippled by his hips, he certainly wasn't able to go hiking!

And why change the diet?  Most vets don't agree with Barf - they're taught not to.  If she's happy and healthy on that, leave her be.

Your friend needs to change vets ASAP and get one with a brain, and complain about the one she's seen - if he's giving out that sort of advice he could be making any number of dogs' lives miserable.

MY dog has elbow displasia, to start with he only had very short walks but that's becasue he was lame as a puppy, now he has been built up to longer walks, making them shorter would actually make him worse - UNLESS he is in pain.

All I can think of is maybe your friends dog is doing too much in one go for the state of her hips and perhaps she'd be better off having that walk split into 2 smallar walks eg. her current distance split in 2. The limp may be just a blip, for which 2 shorter walks will aid joint mobility while taking a little pressure off while she's sore (my dog gets the occasional limp that may/may not require a temporary change in excersie).

It really depends on how bad the dogs limp is, if it is extreme then 2 x 5 min walks per day may be what is needed for now, untill she can be built back up again.

As for diet, it doesn't matter WHAT the dog is fed on as long as it is kept lean. Good suppliments are cod liver oil and glucosamine (go for the HCL not sulphate as it's better acting).

Not playing with other dogs may be a temporary suggestion.

The vets advice does seem OTT but we have not seen how badly effected the dog is.
When my dog has a very bad limp, I don't need the vet to tell me to cut his walks down and stop him from playing with other dogs/climbing on/off furniture. I'd rather make him take it easy for a few days/week than allow him to damage himself so badly thats is game over for him.

I have not have him opperated on and will not do so, but this does mean management has to be tailored to the dog and adjusted according to thier current state - if they are suffering = change what needs to be changed in order to help them, if that means taking things a little easier for a few days then that is what should be done.

None of us have seen the xrays or had any physical examination of the dog and all such cases will vary enormously, so it would really be impossible to judge over the internet but if she is not happy with the vets prognosis and suggestions then I would say she can either:

A. Ignore them and continue simply observing and reconsidering vets advise if she does not improve

B. Try other remedies and reconsider the vets advise if she does not improve or

C.  Seek referral to specialist. 

Of course if she opts for either of the first two she may be running the risk that further damage is being done but again, if she has no intention of major surgery or altering the diet she prefers to feed I think it reasonable to accept this and just ensure the dogs quality of life remains acceptable for how ever long that may be.

At 7 years? they have just had a limp now. I could not imagine that it could be that severe as he is saying. My girl had a 55 hip score, lived until 14 1/2 and lived it very comfortably. I cannot imagine that a large breed dog living to 7 with no signs before could be so severe. I would most definitley want a second opinion but I don' think I would consider putting her through such major surgery at that age for a large breed.

My Golden Dandy had a hip score of 96. No signs at all until he was 6. He lived until 13 and we gave him Glucosamine with Chondroitin. Without the G&C he was so bad he couldn't use his hindlegs at all, with it he had a normal life with just a few exceptions like he couldn't jump into the car once he got to about 12. We certainly never considered surgery.

I would question why the vet would want to change the diet to prescription, all too often they are looking at ways to boost their own income and in particular pushing foods that they sell. Don't forget they get commission for selling these products!! My vet is a great believer in the barf diet, and in fact recommends it for dogs diagnosed with joint problems.

One of my mums GSD's has a bad hipscore (very bad) and became really lame on one of her back legs aged 7 years old.  At this age my mum would not consider a hip replacement but did opt for a muscle cut to loosen the leg as it was held up.  We hoped to get another year out of her....well 3 years later she is just about to turn 10 years old (this week) and is doing great.  She does walk on 3 legs but this is not a problem, she is fed a raw diet and has done for the last 3/4 years and only stopped her normal walks a year or so ago...her choice, she would just try to run home but in general is a happy girl.  I would personally let the dog do what she is capable of and let her enjoy her life and if she wants to play with other dogs there is no reason she can't...just make sure they aren't rough and ready with her so she doesn't get knocked etc.

Hells bells!  Change vets. I immediately react to a vet that wants to ditch barf for a prescription diet! Also, it is rarely necessary to have a double hip replacement. I did have a dog that had both done, but the well known ortho surgeon who did it told me that it is very rarely necessary. One is usually enough to support the other hip. I would not listen to this vet, I would run a mile. I wouldn't even be looking at referral to an ortho surgeon until I had tried some medical management for a period of time. Especially when she has reached 7 with no problems and an active lifestyle.

For the long term, 2 X 5 mins walk a day would be the very worst thing you could do with a dysplastic dog with arthritic changes (which will always accompany HD). Maybe light exercise whilst she recovers from whatever has caused her to limp now. But not as an exercise regime for a dysplastic dog. My current dog with HD is 9 1/2, she has medication plus YuMove (which I find fantastic!). She runs, plays, swims regularly and is very happy. She jumps off of banks into streams and chases balls, and trashes my other GSD LOL. If she wants to get on the sofa, she does. In effect, she does what she wants to do and feels comfortable doing. I do recognise her limitations, and I wouldn't make her chase a ball or frisbee for hours on end! But a good level of activity is necessary for maintaining muscle tone, joint mobility and general well being.

For your friends dog, now may be the time to review the length of the 'hikes' and recognise that age as well as her hip status might call for a slight adjustment. Plus, some medication for arthritis and joint supplements. I think surgery is jumping the gun, and medical management could be all she needs.

Much same as other posters, get 2nd opinion or change vet! I have a girl with HD and CSJ Get Over herbs worked well, as did glucosamine/chondroitin tablets, plus we've used devil's claw route. 6 months ago she started Cartrofen injections - a mere £36 for an initial course of 4 weekly injections, then £16 for a quarterly injection. She has been just amazing with these ... no lameness after a run around at all. I'd look at going that route before surgery. But please, get a 2nd opinion. Vets can be brilliant. But like Doctors, they're not always right!

> Hells bells! Change vets. I immediately react to a vet that wants to ditch barf for a prescription diet!

I think the BritBarf yahoo group has a list of vets who are not opposed to raw feeding, if this is any help? While I have no experience of hip dysplasia, plain common sense tells me that diet would be the last thing to look at - unless the dog was overweight.

worked well, as did glucosamine/chondroitin tablets

A CD member advised me to go this route with my eldest Bearded Collie (she's 13 1/2 years old.)

I am thrilled with the improvement in my old girl.