Canine hip arthritis / hip replacement

[TMB]

Anyone dealt with progressive arthritis in their 4 legged friends?

Treatments that worked / didn't work?

Did any of you go to the extent of hip replacement, and if so what was the recovery and post replacement period like?

[j44ke]

After college, I worked in a vet's who did hip replacement (years ago - the procedures have likely changed since.) Just like humans, pain management and physical therapy were nearly 100% of the battle. If there was pain, the dog would find ways not to use the hip. If the owner felt sorry for the dog, there was the tendency not to push the dog to participate in therapy. And there were dogs that just plain refused to do anything after the surgery. We had one golden retriever patient that absolutely refused to do any physical therapy and had an owner with a guilt complex about having done the surgery, and so the dog learned how to walk on its front legs only. The rear legs atrophied and there were repeated issues with dragging toes raw. On the other hand, we had a chocolate lab who started walking before it was supposed to, pulled out stitches etc. and was like a completely new dog in a family that ran, swam, etc. The dog had to do a lot just to keep up with the family. Most dogs recovered varying levels of their original mobility, had some issues with recurring pain or stiffness, but were generally better off after surgery and physical therapy. I remember the doc saying that most candidates for hip replacement have been relatively inactive leading up to the surgery, often have gained weight as a result and are out of shape, so the recuperative period is doubly challenging for the dog. And the owner. Takes a chunk of time to be your dog's physical therapist. There were a number of owners who started running as part of working with their dogs to help them recover from surgery, and then continued with it afterwards. So at least for them, the owner got healthier too.

Hard to say no to a dog, especially when they are unhappy.

[rphetteplace]

Not hip replacement but old beloved old boy suffered from pretty bad arthritis the last few years of his life. His regime was daily glucosomine/omega 3 supplements. He also took a daily pain pill called Meloxicam.

His last year we tried accupuncture with limited success. We did chiropractic which really seemed to help significantly. He also had monthly injections of adequine that worked very well.

Probably the best thing I did with him was swimming 2x weekly at a indoor dog swimming pool. It is a resistance pool that he would go swim in for an hour and really helped with keeping things loose.

Ryan

[jjmstang]

Our German Shepherd Dog has dysplasia in both rear hips. We thought about the hip replacement but when we went to a specialty place ( South Paws ) in VA, they put her on a regiment of physical therapy that added an 1" of muscle mass around her left hip which was the worst and she has now stopped being treated there but we are continuing the exercises at home. She won't need a hip replacement after all, that should be the very last option.
Physical therapy works !!!!!!!!!

[rphetteplace]

and an overweight dog is so much harder on joints than a slightly underweight dog. Our 5 year old is getting a middle aged paunch and I've noticed that he really isn't as quick getting off the ground as when he was probably 8 lbs lighter.

[Eric Estlund]

Our lab is 9- he put on some weight when the hips started acting up, and as mentioned, loosing that made a HUGE difference in his daily pain. We've limited his exertion levels/ play dates/ exercise to what seems like a good balance between his interest/ energy level/ pain threshold, and really let him tell us when he's done. Also on a daily glucosomine supplement (we were skeptical, but it seems to be working, and he's not really influenced by placebos) with an anti-inflammatory as needed.

Seems to be working so far.

[maunahaole]

Our old guy was getting gimpy and we put him on a daily pill as well as shots of adequan every two weeks. Shot is sub q and is easy to give. Vet trained me how in a couple minutes. Makes a big difference in his movement and activity level. Ask if this is something to consider.

[Mabouya]

I've been giving my 21 yr old cat shots of canine Adequan for about 2 years. As mentioned above, it's quite easy to do, even for a cat. I do it when he's lying on my lap, and he barely notices. I assume a dog would be even easier. It's worth trying.

I'm not sure if it has helped my guy, but at least I feel like we're doing something. He's been getting worse with time, but I figure at 21 every additional day he gets that isn't that bad is a bonus.

[GonaSovereign]

As noted elsewhere in this thread, the right meds and solid physiotherapy can do wonders. I won’t comment on joint replacement other than to say, as much as I adore the beautiful shepherd who is snoozing next to me here, there’s no way I’d put her through that. I’m speaking as someone who managed degenerative myelopathy in another, aging shepherd for a long time until it was time to call it. Good luck.

Oh, I'll note that my old, now departed shep regained a lot of her lifestyle when we set her up with some wheels. She loved it!

[TMB]

Thank you everyone for the responses. I think I over react sometimes when I see the little guy struggling a bit.

He had a back knee (ACL) done a little over a year ago and the vets say his recovery from that is remarkable, no question though that he does have some arthritis in the hip and if he has been lying down for a while he's pretty shaky when he gets up. He shakes it off though and carries on.

We do need to get the muscle building going on back there. Bad time of year to be trying to make appointments and what not, can't get into PT until January now.

What sort of exercises were you all doing with your dogs as PT? Maybe I can find him some little ankle weights!