Canine Hip Displasia

The treatment options that are available...

We look closely at the many surgical choices that may be available and the possibility of a non-invasive procedure as well.

X-rays are used to diagnose whether a dog has pet hip displasia, however, treatment depends on the dog not just what the x-rays show. A dog with a mild case of hip displasia may not have pain. However, another dog with a more severe case might not have any symptoms.

How Can My Dog Be Helped?

If you already had your dog to the vet to have his hips x-rayed, the vet could be referring you to an orthopedic surgeon.

This surgeon will explain some surgical choices for the dog. You should discuss all these choices with this surgeon.

He will provide all the ins and outs of each choice. There are those who can treat their dogs with some nutritional supplements and not have to put their dogs through surgery.

In the end, this will be up to you what the correct treatment should be for your canine pal.

JPS (Juvenile Pubic Symphysiodesis) - This type of surgery is used on young puppies when they are less than 5 months old, typically when they are spayed or neutered. This is proving to be an effective preventative because it alters the growth of the pelvic.

The recovery period is not that long for this surgery. However, it is typically performed before a diagnosis can be done on the puppy. But, when you have already had a dog with pet hip displasia, this might be worth considering if the puppy is at risk for getting it.

DAR (Dorsal Acetabular Rim) - This surgery takes bone grafts from different areas of the dog's pelvis for increasing the rim of the hip socket. This will give the femoral head more room to fit into the socket. This is fairly new, so jury is still out on how an older dog will do with it, because not many of the age group has had this surgery done on them.

TPO (Triple Pelvic Osteotomy) - This surgery cuts the hip socket's surrounding bone so that the socket can be repositioned which helps the femoral bone fit better into it. Then the bones get plated together for correct alignment and healing. This is dong to the young dogs which are still growing.

THR (Total Hip Replacement) - This surgery involves the hip joint being replaced such as is done with humans. The new cup is typically placed on the hip bone, and then the femoral head is removed so that an implant can be added onto the leg bone in its place.

This option is performed on older dogs that have completed their growth cycle. Because the implants are the size they are, this surgery is performed on the larger canines. All of the artificial components for the hip replacement used to be cemented into place. However, today there are hip replacements being done that do not need cement.

FHO (Femoral Head and Neck Ostectomy) - This surgery involves the removal of the femoral head on the leg bone for the purpose of eliminating the dog's pain with hip displasia. Then the canine's body forms scar tissue to make its own artificial hip joint.

For a long time, this has thought of as only right for the smaller canines or as a repair surgery for a THR that had failed, but now it is being done more on the larger canines.

Non-Evasive Choices for Treatment:

A lot of owners only have surgery done on their canine if nothing else works. There are those who use supplements, chiropractic care, acupuncture, weight management and exercise to control their canine's pet hip displasia.

At times, a puppy has pain dealing with hip displasia, and after he quits growing, he seems to have a remission, only for the signs of hip problems to resurface when the dog is older. Your choices for the treatment of Canine hip displasia are many and varied: make sure you listen carefully to the advice of your pet health professional.

Choices for surgery can still be used if you decide the non-evasive approach has not worked to solve the problem of your canine hip displasia.

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