Welcome to our case of the month for August! My computer ate my homework, so it's a little late. Sorry. This month we look at a big dog with a big problem.

 

HIP-HOP IS BAD

 

HISTORY

Sorry, all you hip-hop fans. In this case, bad means bad. Let me go on... Emma was a young (about 6 months old) Newfoundland who was walking funny. To be specific, she was very "bumpy" when she walked - each hip would pop up in the air when she put weight on that side. Even though she was just a puppy and puppies normally are a little uncoordinated, her owners were worried. And since both owners were veterinarians (know who we're talking about yet?), x-rays were taken soon after her strange gait was evident.

 

PHYSICAL FINDINGS

Emma had no unusual findings on a physical exam. She was very active, and would run and jump without obvious problems, although she would act a little stiff a day after a lot of activity.

 

X-RAY RESULTS

On this view, Emma's on her back, so her right hip is to your left, and vice-versa. What you're seeing in these x-rays is hip dysplasia. Even at that young age Emma showed a structural problem that we knew would give her trouble as she got older. Here are close-up views:

Her right hip isn't too bad. The red and blue lines should be close together (they are) and parallel to each other (they are on the edges, not so much in the center). The left hip shows a large gap, and is actually partially out of place (subluxated).

 

TREATMENT

We immediately started treating Emma to help protect her joints. Chondroprotective agents were added to her food, and anti-inflammatory medication was used periodically if she was uncomfortable. We also took x-rays later to monitor her progress.

Here's one year later:
What was surprising is that Emma started to get more severe arthritis in the hip that looked better on the first x-ray. The arrows point to bone spurs forming in the hip area. Also notice how rough the end of her femur is (where the red line was in her first x-ray).
 
We started to use a little bit different dietary supplement with her (adding a few more ingredients) and took another x-ray about a year later:
This time there's just a little bit more new bone that's formed in the right hip, but otherwise her hips haven't gotten much worse. In spite of her arthritis, she stills runs and plays, and rarely has days when she needs anything for pain. She takes her joint supplement daily.

DISCUSSION

Hip dysplasia is a common concern with any large-breed dog. The causes are complicated and not fully understood, but include the following:

A diagnosis of hip dysplasia used to be a death sentence. Affected dogs would eventually develop crippling arthritis and suffer from constant pain. That can still happen, but recent developments allow us to help even a severely affected dog.

Next month we'll look a little closer at hip dysplasia, including some more x-rays, and we'll discuss some of the medical and surgical treatments that are available.

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