Hello
As I explained, we took Rosie to the vet today and she has had her x-ray, the vet said it was the worse case of hd she had ever seen.

She said the only option is to have the operation on both hips. £5000, in total. Our insurance won't cover as we had discussions with the vet about possible HD before we had the insurance. The vet has given us a name of a specialist in Devises, Wiltshire, where I live. She said he may do the op and let us pay some upfront and then little and often (we really cant afford £5,000). If he won't do this the vet said she'd have to be PTS.

My questions are this:
The vet said that she was in severe pain, if this is the case why does she run, try to jump for her sisters ball, and generally look and act like a very happy 11 month old puppy!!!
I don't doubt that her hips do hurt her as she won't let us brush around that area, but since she has been on Synoquin she has seemed so much better.

The vet said she wouldn't eat tonight after having anthestic, and she'd be really sleepy, well she is happily walking around, wanting attention and wanting us to throw the ball for her! (we don't do this obviously)

Is putting her to sleep really the only option if the specialist won't let us pay some little and often??, surely if she was in that much pain, she wouldn't eat and she wouldn't want to go for walks or do anything???????

Are we being cruel to her if we don't have her pts????

I have so many things going around in my head, my whole family are devestated, we cant have her pts, she has the rest of her life ahead of her.

Please help someone

Thanks

Jo
x

Really sorry to hear this Jo, I am sorry I can't help but hopefully someone will be along shortly with something positive to say.

Take care.

Pam

Hi Jo, in a word NO. If it was my dog I`d look for the best bone specialist around & get a second opinion from a vet used to dealing with hips. I would then do some serious online research into alternative/holistic/homeopthic remedies/supplements. Going by your description of Rosie the least she deserves is a minimum second opinion from a hip specialist. If you`d like some links let me know & I`ll see what I can dig out :)

Christine, Spain.

the best specialist is in guildford surrey a nole frizst patrick {not spell right } i went to his semiar last week he vg, he go,s to the states given talk out there.too.

i too would get a second opinion.just think that your vet is like a gp,but you would go to specialist if you got a problem

Hi Briedog,

Nole operated on my dog's leg when she pushed out and broke her growth plate at five months old after rolling of the sofa and landing wrong.  I thought he was absolutely fantastic too, really knows his stuff.

Stacey

get a 2nd opinion !!!! & a 3rd & 4th if it puts your mind at rest.

sorry to keep going on about swimming,but have you looked into hydrotherpy?its helped flynn so much. there was a dog at my pool that was advised to be put down as a puppy,as again had had "the wosre hips ever seen", but now lives a happy normal life!
jo please email me if you want some support,flynns wasnt really bad,but i do have a little bit of experince of it & have done abit of research to!

ive heard of so many dogs that have "the worse hips ever"!!!! , please dont give up JO!

I have a 12 year old BC with a score of 34:34=68, he has never been lame, limped or in pain(i would know the last as he is the biggest whimp out)

He has no hip sockets at all & the ball joint is deformed & has had no operations either. He has fish oil in his food & is never allowed to go overweight.

He is sound as a bell & a better mover than my dog with good hips. He has down limited agility & still zooms after toys like a two year old.

GP vets are not experts on HD no matter how good they are, unless they have made it a speciality. My first male BC was diagnosed with HD when I took him to my Vets with a hind leg limp(without X ray), I had him X rayed by Jill Read(an x ray expert) & guess what 3:3=6 I showed the X rays to my GP vet without tellinmg him the score-diagnosed yep worse hips he'd ever seen-he had a very red face when I showed him the score.

Swimming is excellent for building up muscle to support the hips & I swam my boy a lot when he was young.

It's worth reasrching homoeopathic & natural help for your girl before surgery

Hi Michelle
Thanks for your post, I did speak to a specialist today and the vet has sent her x-rays over today. He said that an operation may not suit Rosie as not all hip implants fit in small collies. He basically said that what the vet advised about PTS was a load of c....!! (not in so many words!! :)

I'm so much more positive now than yesterday, she looks so happy and content, bless her.

Do you think their are other options apart from surgery??, do you think we are being cruel, she must be in pain??

x

Although I have fortunately never owned a dog with a hip problem I have known many with varying degrees of HD.  The severity of the condition does not necessarily reflect severity of pain.  I have known dogs with very high scores who exhibited no ill effects whatsoever; conversely I have known dogs with apparently "minor" HD who have been in chronic pain.  X-rays cannot identify the absence or presence of pain for the individual dog.  If your dog is apparently quite happy then I personally would leave well enough alone; surely a happy pain free life of whatever length is preferable to one filled with pain?

That is just my personal view.

If it is any help I have heard alot of good about the referral vet in divises, alot of dogs from the Island have been sent there for cruiate and Hd, and the results have been good ( heard about it alot at the hydrotherapy where I take my dog).  Swimming can help a huge amount.  Personal opinion I would think about changing my vet though!! 

Has the vet suggested swimming at all? I work at a hydrotherpy pool we have several dogs that come that have very bad h/d one a gsd first came when he was about 5 months old he could hardly walk when he first came he has been comming for about a year now you wouldnt know looking at him he had it now.

Hi,

Just a suggestion here please get in touch with CAMVET (Cambridge Univirsity Vetinary Hospital)  they performed the fisrt triple pelvic osteotomy on my Newfoundland 15yrs ago he was impossible to hipscore because his hips were so bad.
They may well be able to help with costs on a flexible  repayment.They have a specialist othopaedic suite and are the leaders in Europe along with cancer tretments (currently have a dog there being treated with radiotherapy at CAMVET)

Good Luck,

Briony:-)

Thank you all so much for your advise, we are just waiting for the specialist to see the x-rays. She has been trying to jump up tonight and looks so happy, she's actually smiling :)

xxxx

Warm water swimming would definately be a good idea.  The pool where I take my dogs - just for fun - have made a big difference to quite a few dogs with severe HD.
Sally

Thats good news then, :) Might you be looking for a new vet now??? ;)

Christine, Spain.

Hiya
So glad to read news isn't as bad as was first thought....
Firstly, my friend's 2 dogs have both been operated on by the specialist in Devizes, and said he is wonderful!  (I live in Wilts, too.)
But secondly, as you are in Wilts, have you considered asking for a referral to Chris Day, the holistic vet in Faringdon? (Not far from you.)

He's been treating my cavalier, who was 14 yesterday, and he gives acupuncture/chiropractic alignment etc.
I have said that if any of mine need anything at all in future, HE will be my first port of call!!
Good Luck
sam

Hi Jo,

Years ago I took my 5 month old GSD puppy to a vet.  He told me she had horrible HD and should be put to sleep.   I never saw the vet again.  When she was about four years old I had one hip done, a basic operation at that time, which was to remove the ball joint and then support the leg again with muscle.  The specialist vet that did the surgery said it was the worst HD he had ever seen.  I eventually had her PTS - but she was nearly 13 years old, a good long life for a GSD! 

Stacey

Thanks Stcaey, thats a lovely story and yes 13 is a very good age :)

I too have had a GSD with HD, and she had both hips replaced by Gary Clayton Jones (who is also the chief scrutineer of the BVA scheme).
The main thing he told me (and the important thing to remember) is that the CLINICAL signs (whether dog can move OK, evidence of pain, unable to rise, severe lameness) were far more indicative than x-rays. A terrible x-ray can belong to a dog that doesn't have any significant clinical problems, where quite a good x-ray can often result in a dog with severe pain needing remedial surgery. Hip replacement surgery is also rarely done on both hips. In 95% of cases, having one hip done is sufficient to give a really good quality of life. If I were you, I would see the specialist and take their advice. If you can (and the dog is OK) build the muscles around the hips by swimming, and keep the hip replacement in reserve (and save up for it in the meantime), who knows - it may never be needed! I do hope so....
Kat

I have a friend who has a GSD with a hip problem - she has been taking him to a hydrotherapy pool for a while now and absolutely swears by it!
Sarah

Thanks everyone, I am going to take Rosie to Hydrotherapy, do you think it will be ok though, as she doesn't really like anyone messing around with her back legs, does the harness go around her whole body???, do they use something to lower them in the water??

Thanks

Jo

Hi jo
At the pool where i work the dogs wear a life jacket we put a lead on them there is a ramp that goes into the pool we try to get the dogs to go in on there own with toys, most do if not we give them a helping hand in. We try to make it fun for them the pool is a circle shape with an island in the middle so the dogs swim round.
The life jackets fit on there back with clips underneath.

Same at the one I go to.  I would make sure you find one that is like a swimming pool with qualified staff as opposed to the ones that are like a big bath and they are put in a sling and swim against a current.  I don't think the dogs generally enjoy that too much.
Sally

Hi sally
Yes your very right we have several dogs that come to us who have been to the tank pools they have been very frightened by the whole thing. Some of our dogs have been comming for years they started off as thearpy swims now the dogs just come for fun as they enjoy it so much!