I have been giving grizzly salmon oil along with glyco-flex II to Daisy since I posted a question a couple months ago about when should I take x-rays for HD. I have noticed a big difference in Daisy's coat since starting the fish oil. No more dandruff! But I am confused on whether I should also be giving her vitamin e. I thought I read somewhere that it has vitamin e added, but I can't find where I saw that. Does anyone know? Or if it does have vitamin e, is that enough? I currently give her 3 squirts of the fish oil and she is about 33 lbs and 11 months old.

Lastly, I am still waiting on the x-rays in hopes that the popping/cracking is from the fall she had. I thought the popping had decreased in frequency, but last week she was playing with another dog and accidently rolled over off the sofa and pancaked onto the floor again. She did not come up limping nor has she limped in the days after. I struggle with what "bunny hoping" looks like. When Daisy is somewhere between a trot and a run, she will often have one back foot slightly in front of the other for a few strides and then switches the opposite foot to the front for a few strides and continues with this pattern. When she is in a full out run, it is hard for me to tell if both legs are together. I have noticed that her back legs do extend out behind her and up in the air when she is running (which I think would be good because it must not hurt her to extend her legs). This is hard for me to explain. I will see if I can get a video of her doing all of this.

Over the last month I have noticed that she seems more coordinated with her footing. I tried her out on walking up steps briefly and she does not "bunny hop". I have also pretty much broken her of chasing the cats. But jumping on and off the bed and sofa have been harder to stop.

I am thinking of adding ester-c and going from there. Any suggestions on a brand? I don't know. Maybe it is just time to bite the bullet and do x-rays since she is still popping.

If you can take her to a vet orthopedist, that would be the best thing. S/He will watch her move - walking, running, trotting, etc - and depending on that, can say whether or not x rays are needed. If you do get x rays, then the orthopedist will be able to read them more accurately.

Going to the specialist is a bit pricy, but it buys you so much more information and is a much quicker route to getting to know what's going on with your dog. I've taken dogs to both dermatologists and orthopedists, and am very glad I did.

Ruth

Jax has the same issue. He clicks and pops when he walks and "bunny hops" at a slow run. We took him to the vet to get the clicking checked out and the vet had him run towards him. He said it was HD for sure. Xrays determined that it was very mild and that the balls on his hips didn’t form a perfect circle thus rubbing a little creating the sound. we put him on fish oil and a joint supplement. the clicking is still there on occasion but other then that he lives a normal life. Exercise is key per the vet. we still play a lot of ball and Frisbee however limit his jumping!

I use grizzly salmon oil. I only put 1.5 pumps on each of my dogs food. 3 pumps seems high per the recommended amounts on the bottle (if I am remembering correctly). However, I am not sure if it really matters? Other than a probiotic/digestive enzyme, I do not give my dogs anything else.

I am going to start giving my dogs the glyco-flex II once it arrives. Neither of my dogs have any joint issues but I have heard that it is good to give working dogs.

Actually - I spent a lot less taking my dog to a vet orthopedist for an evaluation than I did taking my dog to the regular vet. Two visits to the regular vet + bloodwork (for sedating) + a half-day hospitalization + sedated X-rays + another $150 to send the X-rays to an outside radiologist for a second opinion resulted in a diagnosis of "inconclusive" when he was limping on his front end. Not very satisfying for a total bill (for all of this) of close to $1000. (The sedated X-rays plus outside radiologist alone were $750). I then made an appointment to have him seen by a very well-known ortho vet with a state-of-the-art facility. Walked in and started sweating, looking at the place, worrying about what the bill would be. Turned out $150 for the consult and another $150 for unsedated X-rays. This time we got a definitive diagnosis.

So - here's a second vote in favor of a specialist, if you have a good one within striking distance.

If you do get a diagnosis of CHD, there's a lot you can do - it's not the end of the world, and you may well find that your dog doesn't have to abandon any of the things in life that are special to it (though I might think twice about starting it on agility). As fergmatt says, exercise is key (though keeping the dog at the optimum weight, and providing various sorts of supplements, can also help A LOT).

To answer your question about vitamin e, you do need to add some. There is a trace amount of vit e in the salmon oil, but it is there as a preservative for the oil and so not a high enough amount to be therapeutic.

^^What Laura said. I give fish oil capsules now, but used to use Grizzly Oil. Either way, I supplement with vitamin E.

Thanks for all the help everyone. I really appreciate it.



I think I will go ahead and go the specialist route and take her to UC Davis. I think that would be better than going to her regular vet....



I think the dosage is based on the bottle size...I purchased the 8 oz bottle to start to make sure it agreed with Daisy.




Is human grade vitamin e and ester-c ok? What is the dosage size you use for the vitamin e? If I remember correctly, your guys are on the smallish size like Daisy.

I do use human grade supplements, including the fish oil and vitamin E. I don't give C anymore, but used human grade for that when I did. I seem to vaguely recall that I read somewhere that the vitamin C wasn't really something to give every day, so I stopped. I think the Glycoflex and fish oil are enough for my guys. Anywho, I'm no expert, but I give mine 200 IU of the vitamin E daily.

Hope all turns out to be fine with Daisy! The supplements can't hurt, but if you continue to be concerned, I'd opt for x-rays eventually.

ETA: Most of mine are on the small size. The "little kids" are 31-32 lbs, Lilly is about 35 lbs and my big guy is around 50 lbs. I give them all the same dosage, though.

I definitely agree with finding a specialist. I have a similar story:
After a little bit of off again-on again limping (for a period of less than a week) and a negative TBD test (to rule out joint issues due to tick disease), my regular vet took X-rays of both rear and front. Based on his diagnosis, Torque had OCD in BOTH the right rear hip and left front shoulder joints. His "treatment" suggestion was for two surgeries with each surgery followed by a 4-6 month rehab period. The total cost was going to be in the neighborhood of $3500-$4000. The cost was hurtful, but what really bothered me was the time required for rehab - up to a year !!

I thought arthroscopic surgery should be less invasive and called around to find a specialist who could perform arthroscopic surgery. An over-the-phone initial consultation with his vet tech indicated that they could perform both surgeries the same day and that the rehab shouldn't be much longer than 3-4 months. Way to go !! But the story gets better.

When I brought Torque in for a hands-on consultation with the specialist vet, he watched his gait, manipulated his joints and took his own set of Xrays (gotta love those digital X-rays). His diagnosis - a strained ileopsoas (groin) muscle that only required a specific set of exercises once a day for a couple of months and no crazy calisthenics (jumping, toy-catching, agility training, etc.) for a few months. Total cost: $400 plus one day of my time (8 hour round trip).

Jovi

I had a somewhat similar experience to you, Jovi. My vet diagnosed and ACL tear and felt Celt needed surgery. He sent us to an orthopedic specialist who examined Celt, went over the xrays, and felt it was not a tear. She put him on Rimadyl for two weeks and crate rest for three, and he healed beautifully.

So, a specialist can be a benefit for more than one reason.