Molly update - CHD

[Gwen]

Just got home from the vet. She does have CHD in both hips. It's quite severe - there is only about 1/4 of her femur head in the acetabulum and both easily subluxate when the joint moves. The vet said TPO wasn't an option for her because her pelvis is too shallow and it wouldn't cover the femur heads. We're going to treat with glucosamine/chondroitin for the time being and re-evealute her when she's 18 months (June). He said that might help tighten up the joints some. She's not showing symptoms (aside from bunny hopping upstairs) - no pain or inflammation. If/when she does, we'll start on NSAIDs. Surgery (FHO or total replacement) is likely down the road, but not until she starts hurting. Don't want to put her through major surgery and pose risks unless we absolutely have to.

 

Keep Molly in your thoughts. She's a little disappointed we won't be able to do flyball now, but consoled when I told her we'd get to go swimming a lot more.

[juliepoudrier]

Tell Molly that she won't miss flyball in the least when she's out swimming to her heart's content. Remember to keep her as fit and well-muscled as possible--good muscling goes a long way to keeping everything in place. Long walks are good too--anything low impact. Good luck to you both.

 

J.

[honey]

Gwen,

I am so sorry Molly has CHD. (we had a chow bc mix named Molly). Our Bc, Bailey has HD, six years old and is on glucosmine/chrotidine, rimadyl, stricter diet (he has three more pounds to go to be at his normal weight), and exercise. We do not have access to pool, but walking is starting to help. I am sure she will love the swimming. It is hard, we have to be careful to not throw the tennis ball into kitchen area, floor is too slick. We may also have to look forward to FHO, but vet said No to hip replacement, because he is small for bc.

But I will keep Molly in our thoughts, I do hope she gets much better and healthier in time.

Sheila, Bailey and Haley

[Olivia]

Gwen,

 

I am sorry to hear about your dog. My 4.5 year old has been diagnosed for about 2 years now. We are too looking forward to hip replacement or FHO. My Carlie loves swimming and we still work her on sheep, do agility and SAR. Her HD is not as severe as Molly's but it is still painful, more so at certain times. Keeping her in good shape has done wonders, wish I were in half as good a shape!

 

Shelia,

 

How much does Bailey weigh? Carlie is 28-29 lbs and quite small. My vet told me it would be possible for a hip replacement in the future.

 

If you are looking for the best go to Ohio State vet school for the surgery. They are the premier school to do it. My vet even took her dog up there (from TN) to get his hips done. He is doing incredably well!

 

Olivia

[honey]

Olivia,

Bailey is at 48.26 pounds, he is six years old. Now I am confused, because our vet said no to hip replacement because he is small (bonewise) for a border. He is smaller then most border collies we see. But if he does require any surgery looking into other places. We live in small town so nearest place would be in Memphis or possibly St. Louis. But thank you on the info on Ohio State, that is an option also. His Hd is in the middle stages on both hips.

Sheila, Bailey and Haley

[Gwen]

Thanks for the well wishes. You wouldn't even know that anything is wrong with her at this point. I hope it stays that way for a long time.

 

Molly is 49.4 @ 9 mos - I thought this was on the very large side of BC. I thought typical avg size was about 35-40.

[MrSnappy]

I think I may have mentioned this before, but my oldest dog, who is almost 8, has fairly severe CHD. Its so obvious that other "dog" people would point it out when he was as young as 2 years old.

 

I opted not to do surgery, but to manage him. I feed no grains, and lots of dairy products the theory being that this is better for joints and keeps inflammation down.

 

I no longer supplement with Glucosamine/Chondritin as I found it did no good. I do keep him on MSM and I have him on something called Green Lipped Mussel which seems to help.

 

Red Dog is still as active as he ever was. He still competes in agility, albeit as a veteran, and took 3 out of 4 Qs in the trial last weekend. he does lie down a little more frequently when we are playing ball, but he is just as active and fast as his younger competitors, Tweed and Piper.

 

I keep him very lean - he is a largish dog with big feet and a deep chest, stands 21.5" at the shoulder and weighs just under 50lbs. In the good weather he swims every morning. In the winter, we go for off leash runs in the morning, and we play ball for an hour in the evening. He's managing very well, although we will need to move to a place with less stairs in the next couple of years.

 

I am trying to keep him off of the medications for as long as possible, and so far he is doing great. May your dog be as lucky.

 

RDM

[emmetteabrakai]

Sorry to hear about Molly,

There are so many options to think about, some of which you have already read about. I see so many dogs with CHD here every day. Every day I field calls to Surgery for Total, hips, Tpos and FHO. Don't hear about many BCs mostly labs, but they do crop up along with a Shih Tzu today! Alternative treatments can help and be beneficial. I worked for an Orthopedic Surgeon for years and the remarkable break through in surgery and treatment have come so far since then. So by far you have more options than ever before for Molly. Consider the supplements even if your surgeon poor poohs the idea. Prelim studies show that Coseqin etc does have good outcome but how much etc has not been determined.

Andrea D.

[urge to herd]

Gwen,

 

As much as Sammi loves her ball, she absolutely, totally is insane for 'water herding.' I'm going to try and find her a place other than our cold, cold ocean to go swimming!

 

Sorry for the hard news, I hope Molly has many happy and comfortable years ahead of her.

 

Ruth n the Border Trio