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Puppy hip question


CSW
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My BC pup is now 5 months old, weighs 31 pounds and is muscular and lean. She was 10 pounds at 81/2 weeks. Five times, since I brought her home at at 8 weeks, her left hip has apparently come out of joint and then gone back in. The most recent time today. The last time was over a month ago. Each time she was playing on the grass in our large fenced yard. She is a very active pup. I am not doing any jumping with her. Right after it happens she goes back to playing. We go on daily walks for about 15 minutes in the morning and 25 minutes in evening. When I am home she plays outside in the fenced yard and sometimes in the kitchen. She stays inside in the kitchen during the day (I am a teacher) and at night is kenneled next to my bed. I may be over sensitive as my last BC had hip surgery at about one year for a sudden dislocated hip. He was not in my care at that time. Is this growing pains or am I a nervous mom? Her shire has certified hips, the dam did not, but was out of working parents. I watched both parents run and be active on 3 different days. Both are ABCA registered, though I guess that means nothing health wise. Currently the pup is in puppy obedience and I was hoping to try her in agility when she was older. She has a 1 year health guarantee, but I cannot imagine ever trading her for another pup.

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Hello CSW,

 

My suggestion is to take her to your veterinarian for an exam and x-rays to try to determine the cause of her hip problem. It is definitely not normal for a pup's hip to periodically "come out of joint".

 

Best wishes to you both,

nancy

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Not normal, and some types of surgery to try to alleviate the signs of HD must be done on pup to be effective. See an ortho vet. What country do you live in? PennHIP is the best way to evaluate hips in a dog of her age.

 

Last year I had a 5 month old pup that was cracking and clicking while walking and playing. I could also pop her hip on exam (please don't try at home, I am a vet). I did standard hip extended rads, which looked fine. However, I knew something was really wrong. I found an ortho vet certified in PennHIP. My pup's score came back quite bad. Upwards of 80% of pups with HD will have normal looking hips on standard rads, so PennHIP is the more sensitive test.

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I live in Fargo, North Dakota. Anyone know of an Ortho vet in this area? I could start with my regular vet this week, but if there was an Ortho vet, I think I would just go straight there. The pup (Star) is just running and playing as normal now, not a care in the world.

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You might need to see your regular vet first - some specialists will only accept referrals, so you'll need to check that out if you find one within a reasonable distance.

 

While our regular vets diagnosed Celt's orthopedic issues, it took a specialist the first time to accurately assess the damage, and we went to a specialist (orthopedic surgeon) for the actual surgery, and then a therapist for rehab after.

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Thanks. I used the url provided above and found an PennHip vet about 30 miles from here in a larger practice. I will call on Monday as they are closed now. Other symptoms are not obvious, except maybe hips sway when walking on leash sometimes. I don't have any stairs in my house, but at puppy class they had a couple out one night and she did not seem to have trouble. When she runs during free play in the yard it seems to be a normal gait. She jumps on her own or prances on hind feet when playing by herself with her toys outside. I discourage any jumping up. She is stubborn about sitting on command sometimes though, but sits normally. She can be a handful (still attacks pant legs sometimes), but I love her. Hoping for the best. I do appreciate the guidance and info. I have contacted the breeder (who is about 200 miles from here), but not yet heard back to see if any problems have been reported with the other pups. Interesting tibit, the vet I took her to when I first got her said she had a kink at the end of her tail. I never noticed it until it was pointed out, but of course after that it was obvious to me. It turns down at the end. Breeder claimed no knowledge of it.

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She will suddenly stop and not put ANY weight on the leg. She may hop a few steps, leg up the whole time. It always happens during free play time and she does play hard. I have her lay down with the bad side up and very gently stroke the hip until she extends it. Then she gets up. Once it "came back" before I even got to her, but she still came to me for reassurance. All but 2 of the times it came right back, those two times I laid her back down again, lightly stroked her hip and she extended it and then got up when I encouraged her. The last 2 times it seemed to hurt her more. She seemed to lightly whimper and this time and limped a little before taking off to play again. I am only thinking it is "out of joint." I really am no expert at all. I have checked her toes and not seen a problem.

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What you are describing could be a number of things, none of them "normal". From what you describe it could be OCD, dysplasia, luxating patella, panosteitis or some problem with the ACL. Or it could be cramps or some sort of benign muscle irregularity - but it sounds very much like you need a vet as some of those things need partial rest, some need full rest and some need specific sorts of exercise. It would be really good to know which.

 

I do hope it's something easy.

 

Good luck.

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I understand.

 

Totally.

 

My five month old displayed nearly identical behaviour and it was a rocky road to find out what was wrong. Which is why I sound a little alarmist :/ Sorry for that.

 

It's very hard when a puppy comes up lame or unwell. They're so full of life and happy to be alive that it's difficult to see them in pain or worry that something is wrong with them. Not to worry - the world is full of very good vets and very often what seems serious is not so serious at the end of the day.

 

I am sure you will get to the bottom of it and right whatever is wrong. This place is a great resource for such matters - it is full of very smart people who know a lot about dogs and who are willing to share.

 

Again, good luck - my fingers are crossed for you.

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I have been able to find a PennHip ortho vet not too far from here. He will see Star this Thursday for a physical exam and we have a PennHip appointment scheduled for the following week if the initial exam supports the need for it. In the meantime, she seems happy and active as normal and I plan on taking her to puppy class tonight.

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We had the initial visit with the Ortho Vet today. This exam was while Star is awake. Next Friday is the PennHIP and she will be sedated. He was able to get one click on one hip. He was not able to get the knees to show a problem, but will look at them more closely when she is sedated. Star's size and weight were perfect and he said he would not want her any thinner. I have been cutting back on her food some worrying that she was too big. He did say her hamstrings were very tight. I brought in video on my iPad of her at play standing, walking, trotting, and running. He said the video was very helpful and he saw some problems including bunny hopping that i had already mentioned to him. The tech pointed something else out, "there" but I don't know what it was. He wrote a lot of notes. He did say a couple of times he wish he would have seen her at a younger age. She is 22 weeks old now. He said to continue with everything we are doing now, but to avoid sharp turns. Star refused to cross the doorway into the exam room. She laid down on her belly and no coaxing with a treat could get her up and moving. Finally, I picked her up and carried her in. She left with her tail wagging. Also I never watch TV after the free tv reception faded out. They had a good size mounted flat screen in the waiting room and she really watched it trying to figure it out I guess (it was a medical show). It really was cute as none of the other dogs could care less. This was a big facility(compared to our regular vet) with different wings and waiting areas.

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We had the appointment today. The ortho vet does both OFA and PennHIP. He did 5 xrays on Star. He said her hips are fair and there is some laxity in the right hip joint. He figured the PennHip reading to be at .42 in one hip and .46 in the other (.1 is excellent and .9 is very bad) though as you know you have to send the xrays in for official readings. He knows I do not plan to breed her, so he did not see a reason to send them in. He wants her on a joint supplement. He also had a rehab vet look at her while she was sedated and at the xrays. The other vet did not find anything significant either. Her knees are fine. Her growth plates looked good and there are no signs of panosteitis. The Ortho vet wants to see her in 3 months when she has grown more. I am very glad her hips are not really bad, but we still don't know why she has occasional lameness that clears up within minutes. The other day it happened when she pivoted on the right rear leg. The Vet said Star's hamstrings were not so tight today and pretty normal for her breed. She did have a temp of 103, so he wants to check her for lyme disease once winter comes. When I said she is on Revolution and I have never found a tick on her, he was still firm on wanting the Lyme test. He also said the temp could be from a hot car ride or the fact she was so anxious at the vet. It is in the low 80s here today and we had a walk before going to the vet. She recovered from the sedation and exam well and is back to running around as normal. I did take away a soccer size ball she would push with her nose at full speed after the first visit as the vet was concerned with sudden turns and stops.

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I agree with the Lyme test. A rather inexpensive test (compared to what you have already done) which is worth its weight in gold if, in fact, it does detect a TBD. The deer tick is very small, and I doubt that you would have seen it on your dog. Heck, a lot of people don't see it on them, and humans (usually) have much less hair than a dog.

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as you know you have to send the xrays in for official readings. He knows I do not plan to breed her, so he did not see a reason to send them in.

 

Personally I think all hip x-rays should be sent to whichever place you're using.

 

I had a bitch who ended up having really bad hips. Her breeding was excellent and she was a fantastic working dog who I would have bred if her hips had been good. I sent the rads to OFA (this was pre-PennHIP) anyway, even though I knew she wouldn't pass.

 

Why? Because I think if we withhold the poor x-rays it skews the statistical numbers.

 

She came back OFA poor, the worst reading possible (though I've seen worse hip x-rays from other dogs. Yikes!). I scheduled her spay the day the letter arrived. But I will always believe I did the right thing in sending them in, even though the vet -- and even I -- could see that her hips were lousy.

 

JMO, of course . . .

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