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Originally Posted by mimimomo  gemy, what is HD & ED? |
Hip Dysplasia and Elbow Dysplasia. Elbows are rarely done in Yorkies so the prevalence is unknown.
How-ever along with HD Leggs Perthes rears its ugly head. Somewhere around 7-8 months old usually the owner notices altered gait and goes to the vet. Leggs Perthes happens because of lack of blood supply to the femoral head. The head of the femur begins to disintegrate, it is painfull and the only remedy is surgery. It is thought to be a polygenetic condition --- and no genetic tests are available for this disease.
HD is thought to be on the rise A different pathology, but if severe, is as disabling as Leggs Perthes. To understand a bit, cup one of your hands and make a fist with the other, and place the fist into the palm/cup of the other hand. That is the hip joint and should fit snugly into the cup. The cup is called the acetabulum, and the fist is the head of the femur bone/ thigh bone. With HD either the acetabulum is too shallow or too wide, and or the ball or end of the femur is too large or too small, in any case the hip joint does not fit snugly.
Again another condition that is thought to be polygenetic, and there are NO Genetic Tests for it.
With small breeds and particularly with very mild cases of HD or ED, they actually never get diagnosed. But as the dog ages into their senior years apparent *early* arthritis seems to creep in.
With severe cases of HD in ToyBreeds again the only remedy is FHO surgery, which for large breeds is not very successful, with toy breeds they usually enjoy a good success rate with FHO