Sophie's Verdict....

[erdog3]

Okies everyone, you really wanna share this with me, right now I am just so down I don't even want to really talk about it.

The implications are horrendous, I feel like **** and I don't know what to do.

HD HD HD HD...OH!! *#!# IT......

I honestly don't know how this could have happened, she was tested at 15months, prior to breeding...back then it wasn't a requirement for breeding with the club to register, but I got her done anyway, she had a score of 15.

I just can't believe this, how could it have got like this and I didn't even know, she has been great till that walk. I had the right tests done, did all the proper stuff, fed her the right puppy food. I have been reasearching it some, and have found that it can be brought about by weight, exercise and diet.
The only thing I can think is when she became excessively overweight, coming in at 42kg, we dieted her, for a year, we got her down to 31kg.

So now what about her puppies???? Should I contact all the owners, some I don't even know where they are now.

To top it all off, you know what the vet said....6 months, she has 6 months before it gets to the stage of replacements...they charge $4,000.oo aust. for each hip, that is about $5,500.oo American, the only way we could afford that is if we get the house sold.....

So now she is on Metacam and Sasha's Blend.
I will do the best I can for her, hubby just got told off for pushing her backside out the way with his hand. Any jolt of her rear end will push her joint out the vets said. No exercise for her, just a little swim in the dam is fine. No ball games, nothing exertive.

[Lessica Jake]

Oh, poor Sophie. And poor Ellierat.

You say that it can be brought about by exercise as well? That walk was no small thing. especially if she was frightened and running. That very well could have been the thing that caused it, especially if she's this bad already. If it were a gradual thing, I would think you'd have noticed before the walk.

I would probably get ahold of the owners of her puppies, the ones you can still find, and let them know. I'm sure they already know that she was tested previously, and make sure that they know that it could have been started by her being overweight, and horribly aggrivated by her midnight flight, and let them know to keep a closer watch on their dog.

I don't doubt for a second, especially after the way she acted the last storm you told us about, that she was running her heart out the night she escaped. If I ran that far and that hard, my joints would be screwed up too.

[HeartSong]

Oh, poor Sophie! I'm so sorry. I think it would be good for you to contact the puppy owners that you know of. Though I wouldn't necessarily stress in finding the ones that you don't know where they are. Hip dysplasia seems so common for big dogs today and I don't think we fully understand all the causes for it. Just tell them that they need to watch their dogs but that they may not ever have to worry about it.

Give Sophie lots of hugs and start treating like an old granny.

[erdog3]

Lessica that is one thing I don't understand, you see, even now she is walking fine, I only notice when she runs that she sort of sways a bit, but no bunny hopping or anything, she still goes up and down the stairs etc.

The vet today took an xray, but he didn't sedate her or anything, no anaesetic, but when she was tested she had to have an anaesetic.
She was fine before the walk, no signs of soreness at all, Hubby just said that if she had HD and she would be so bad in 6 months that surely she would be bunny hopping and lame most of the time.
When she goes to the dam she full on runs down there, bolts about like crazy chasing rabbits, then comes back up to the house, just normal, no limping or anything.

I wonder if a second opinion might go here, I am just not convinced, really, it just well, I look at her and I have seen HD in dogs and she does not look severe at all.

[Lessica Jake]

We had a friend whose golden retriever had horrid HD. David led a happy, seemingly pain free life for like 6 years. You could tell he had it by the way he moved, and he couldn't jump or run, but he was such a happy dog.

Our goldenx, Sam, had HD, and lived for longer than that with it. Yea, some days were worse than others, but he got around fine for maybe 8+ years. He couldn't jump, and he was too fat to run fast, but he walked just fine.

If she's getting around that well, I'd probably have her re-checked. I can't imagine the vet would get an accurate xray without her being sedated. You have to hold really really still, how can you tell a dog that she can't even move a smidgen until the doctor says it's okay? Even the most well trained dog will still shift its weight.

I hope that if you do get her re-checked, that the result is a whole lot better than it is today. And, honestly, hip displaysia is not a death sentence. Yes, they have to slow down a bit, but plenty of dogs have lived for years and years with HD and not had joint replacements.

[erdog3]

I think I will get another opinion, as I know they should be at least sedated to get a correct reading.
It showed arthritis for sure, so there is actually a reason for her slowing down as such, but HD, I thought once they were tested over a year old that if they were gonna have it, they would really show it there and then, not now when she is nearly 8.
Maybe I should wait for the the pups owners till I get another opinion.

I honestly can't see her deteriating in 6 months to needing a hip replacement, just the vet threw me with his verdict, on the drive home I couldn't even think straight.

I just took these pics of her, I called her she was round the side of the house, so that's her walking to me, coming up the steps, then I called her down the steps.

[Dobified]

Wow Ellierat, I am truely sorry. All I can give you is support and prayers. I pray it is not HD. My cousin had a yellow lab and it had both hips replaced, it cost 3000.00 CDN per hip, he discover it at about a year old, the dog is noiw about 7 years old.


I would wait on the pups till you get a second opinion from a different Vet, it never hurts to see what someone else finds.

[Moo]

Gee Ellie, I don't know what to say.

But I agree with Lessica, Hip Dysplasia doesn't spell death. You're the best judge of how bad it is, Ellierat. If you get a second opinion; A minor case is a minor case, don't stress too much, just make your own observations over time.

Big hugs to Sophie.

[erdog3]

This is just one great big #@!*#*** headache, what am I supposed to do, I can't get my head together.

First up I am gonna retest Wally and Ellie. I just don't trust this, lucky I didn't put her in again just yet, at least I have time to do something with those two, if it is HD, well they are not related to Soph in any way, but if it has happened to Sophie, what's to say that it couldn't happen to either of them.

[Lessica Jake]

It's hard to tell just from photos and not a video, but I'm sure you'd be able to tell the difference in her. Arthritis would be very understandable given her age. That could also have been aggravated to the point of being obvious by her walk. Definitely get a second opinion, and I think I'd wait on the pups owners as well. No use in getting people worried about nothing. HD is something you don't want to mess around with, and if you're not comfortable with the first opinion, by all means, talk to someone else. You know her, you see her every day. The vet may have more medical experience, but you have more Sophie experience. Moms know when there's something wrong and when there isn't. Moms have been known to best a few doctors out there.

Now that you've had a chance to talk it out a bit and maybe settle your nerves some, give her a cuddle from me & Bailey, and tell her we're thinking of her.