Hi all looking for some general opinions on this xray

[IMG]http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae273/John-2009_photos/DSC_0005.jpg[/IMG]

Do you mean regarding the positioning?

I don't think the positioning is all that good ...........

you might find the following article interesting;  http://leerburg.com/pdf/hipplacementforxrays.pdf

The positioning is awful. If the xray has been taken in order to have the hips scored then it needs to be taken again. The sockets look a bit shallow but the exposure is terrible so not really able to say much more.

Can any of you see signs of hip dysplasia from the xray?

Thanks

As I have already said the sockets do appear a bit shallow but other than that the over exposure and awful positioning makes it very hard to determine much more. You need to have your vet take them again with the correct position and exposure.

Thanks for the reply roscoebabe,

That xray is from my 16 month old female Malamute that the vet confirmed has very mild Hip Dysplasia
She has the wiggly bum, bunny hop while running and slight stiffness on the affected right hip

2 video clips of her, the off the lead run about is from about a month ago and the clip with her walking in front of me is from last week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43oGlY9u204&feature=youtube_gdata_player

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFmUD-hdV14&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Looking at that xray she may well be borderline HD. To get an accurate diagnosis you really do need to get them done again correctly and submitted for scoring. In the meantime you need to get her muscle tone built up so that there is less movement in the joint. Free running (little and often) preferably on grass and a slight incline plus swimming or water treadmill will help plus some good supplements will all be of benefit.

She looks lovely but a bit on the porky side lol. You need to get her weight down a bit as being over weight is not good for her joints.

She's abit porky alright at 36kgs, the vet recommended I get her down to 30kg and get the muscle built up around her backside,

She's on a 2 month supply of AllerG-3 supplements and to go back again in 3 months time for a reassessment

Heres 2 photos of her strange looking toes

[IMG]http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae273/John-2009_photos/DSC_0056.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae273/John-2009_photos/DSC_0055.jpg[/IMG]

Her nails are almost fully turned inwards and touching each other

They don't look terrible but to be truthful I would want another x-ray doing and her being positioned much better.  I am not sure if this wuold be acceptable as I really don't know what the BVA return and if they ever do?

If you are worried about your Mals movement I would ask your vet for a referral to an orthopaedic vet for a second opinion and hopefully a decent x-ray. If it is the results of hip scoring then I would also go to a specialist and get a decent one taken.

EDIT to add - have looked at your photos and videos and can't see anything to cause too much to worry about, OK her movement is not good but I have seen a good deal worse and it may be her general conformation and not just her hips so take her to an expert.

The bones don't look too bad but the positioning is awful, and would certainly be returned by the BVA. The dog needs to be lying flat on her back, and the femurs (thigh bones) have to be parallel. Also the stifles need to be in the shot; I can't see whether they are or not because of the framing of the photo.

I don't know about your breed but in mine bunny hopping is not a sign of HD, I actually have to say that dogs who do bunny hop, usually have frogs legs when lying down normally have very good hipscores in my breed!!

Could not see the angles in the photos or the video but if it is very little could be the knees rather than hips that would cause bunny hops but we just can't see enough to have a stab and we are not in a position to make a diagnoses anyway. If the dog is lame it needs to see a specialist. Did think it was moving close behind but it is very difficult to see unless the shots are from the correct angle and the dog is being moved in the right way.

One side is better than the other, I would say mean to high average reading in our breed, however you would need to get the BVA to look to get a true reading, most dogs have HD to some extent very few are perfect.

One side is better than the other,

TBH that may well be the lopsided way the image has been taken, I could not say if that there was a problem or not. You are right a dog with a 0/0 result is rare and dogs with a score up to the mid teens are unlikely to suffer ill effects unless handled badly when young. HD in its self could be said to be normal it is the degree that matters.

However if this dog is lame then it needs to see an expert in orthopaedic problems.

I'd rephrase that, most dogs have some deviation from perfection (0/0 scores are pretty rare), the degree of deviation to bring it into a class of clinical dysplasia would be around 25 total or more, as based on the comparison with our scoring and the OFA and other grading systems http://www.offa.org/hipgrade.html

God if you think the positioning is bad here you should see my youngests plates! Have her slimmer and try hydro. I.assume your sending them to.the bva for an expert opinion

I'd want better x-rays than that before sending them into BVA as you only get one crack at scoring them, and they may even reject them for poor quality.

The X-rays done by the OP's vet can't be submitted for scoring unless the KC reg has been supplied so possibly these werent done for scoring, but bad positioning and quality anyway. If the dog is taken to a specialist they'll probably do their own X-rays for diagnosis.

ideally you want them scored though too, it is only extra £50, once you have had x-rays done anyway, you get a definitive score and more importantly data for the breed..

Thanks for the replies and opinions

I was all over the place after getting the xray results so probably didn't mention enough info

Basically I put up a video on another site where a member mentioned that Nushka had a funny run and seemed to be carrying some stiffness on her rear, a few more members agreed and said to get her looked at,

These xrays weren't being done for a hip score or BVA result but to find out the cause to her strange run and stiffness

We went to the vet Monday morning and from a visual observation the vet could see the problem being on Nushkas right rear, once in the consultation room she did a physical test on her and everything check out other than the right leg wouldn't extend fully back when she tried to stretch it back, Nushka kinda flinched and showed some resistance

She said that the xrays will show more detail plus having Nushka anaesthesized would give them more room to move the leg and hip area around more,

After a few hours I got the call to say she was finished and ready to be collected so once I got there the vet called me in and showed me the results and my first question before she started was "is it Hip Dysplasia", the vet said yes it is but it's very mild

She showed me the xrays on a pc monitor and from all my looking at CHD xray images over the weekend I said to myself god they look fine, nice tight fitting no obvious sign of HD

So I asked where's the HD and she pointed out a spot on the top left side of her right leg ball joint that had a flat spot from wear and another flat spot on the bottom edge of the socket

Now I'm no expert far from it but to me comparing both sides those 2 flat spots were definitely there over the good left side that had slight little bumps were as the right was flat

Does that constitute HD i'm not sure but she went on to say when they had her on her back they felt that the right hip was luxating slightly and I think she said that it was making a clicking sound and that the lack of built muscle was letting the joint move around,

At the time it was hard to take so much in, I was happy to a degree that it wasn't as serious as the vet said but sad that it was HD, my heart was racing and I tried to ask as much as possible

The vet recommended that I get Nushka as lean as possible, she weighed 36kg and I was told that to get her to around 30kg, increase her exercise to include more longer walks and to include some uphill sprints to build up her muscles around the hips,

She put Nushka on a supplement called AllerG-3 and to bring her back in 3 months for a reassessment,

Just want to point out that the image I posted of the xray was taking with my phone so it probably is a little off,

I always had plans to get Nushka fully health tested after 2 years old in March 2013, I wanted to know anyway early in her life if she was fit and healthy boned etc, plus I thought about giving her 1 litter as I would have been keeping a male for myself

I hope I explained it abit more clearly to ye and I appreciate all of the replies

Thank you

I'd say without proper positioning not vet can diagnose mild HD, only a dog with virtually no ball in a socket.

If a dog is to be X-rayed for HD then surely the x-rays should done properly so that they are score-able, with ID so that only means £50 extra for proper scoring.  It takes an expert to diagnose minor abnormality and your average GP can be very wrong in both directions,.

As this is a Young animal an injury, it's weight, even panosteitis could account for lameness, as could cruciate or patella issues.

I would not be happy/confident with this vets diagnosis if they can't even do the x-rays properly.

Definitely get better X-Rays

Our boy was bunny hopping and his movement was not brilliant at around 9 mths so we had X-Rays done to see what was going on - the X-Ray was not brilliant and bi-lateral hip dysplasia was diagnosed, confirmed by the referral vets who said he would require his hips to be replaced at some point in the not too distant future.

We decided that hydro-therapy and dietary supplements were a better way to go at his age together with general exercise and keeping his weight down if we could. The X-Rays that were done for the BVA came back as 17/3 so I would guess the 'bi-lateral' bit was a bit wrong! This does however show the importance of getting good X-Rays.

Having said all that his hips are deteriorating (he is coming up 4 now) and has now been on a course of Cartrophen which has made him more comfortable as he had started expressing pain and we suspect that because we had not managed to get to his regular hydrotherapy sessions for a few months that had exacerbated the problem as his muscles would have been relaxing a bit more than was good for him without it.

Good luck with your girl