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Originally Posted by nydia  My 17 month old baby Charlie had to see the vet yesterday because I noticed he was limping a little and would not jump like he usually does when he see's me come home from work. Charlie and Blaine are my little acrobats they are great with agility courses and I was planning on entering Charlie in his first agility competition but now it may look like those plans will have to be made for Blaine instead. My vet did an xray on Charlies back legs and hips and he told me it looked like Charlie had a hip injury that healed on it's own and that it looks arthritic. I asked him how this was possible as this was the very first time ever Charlie did not jump for me at the door and I saw him limping, I cannot recall him being injured or seeing him limping, he has tons of energy except for yesterday and I'm a paranoid mom, my babies go to the vet the minute I think something is wrong, trust me had I seen Charlie limping earlier he would of been at the vet, the vet told me that it could be possible his injury wasn't an injury where I would notice something was wrong right away, he said it's like having a bad back and eventually after years of lifting and doing things you shouldn't it gives out on you. He said that may be the case here, where he's been had the injury but it didn't cause him pain until the arthritis set it, he said it can be fixed with Surgery or Charlie will live with pain. The thing is Charlie does not wine or cry or show any signs of pain except for yesterday with his favoring his left leg. Even when the vet started moving his legs around and checking him he didn't make not one sound. Now my thing is my baby still plays, the doctor gave him a pain medication can't think of the name right now and the minute I got him home he was off running he didn't jump but he did play with my other babies. I don't want to do any unnecessary surgeries if this arthritis thing can be controlled with meds as far as if he does feel pain. I'm confused and don't know what to do, I want him to be at his best but I'm scared to put him through something like that. The doctor explained to me that what they do is removed the hips ball joint or whatever that was and allow scar tissue to grow in it's place giving the hip more movement. If anybody has any type of experience with hip surgery please let me know.   |
I would get a second opinion and think long and hard before having that kind of surgery. I have a Bichon who was diagnosed with hip dysplasia at the age of six. She is 11 now and gets along fine with daily glucosamine. I give her a liquid and just put it on her breakfast. I expect she may develop arthritis and need more medication as she gets older, but she has done well for five years and is doing well now. I would not even consider having the hip ball joint removed. There is a treatment for arthritis and hip dysplasia that implants gold beads around the hip ball and allows it to rotate without pain. I would consider that before the hip ball joint removal.