Hip Injury

CDuensing · 01-08-2007, 09:00 PM

I have a mixed breed mutt shelter dog who has injured her hip. She is about 50 pounds and shows no real signs of pain except for limping a bit after running in the back yard (which she still does) wrestling with her sister dog or in the morning after laying down. I have been giving her glucosimine and asprin, is there anything else that I can do for her? I do realize that the vet is the next route, but is there anything else. It is not hip dyplasia either. I have researched that.

Dogged · 01-08-2007, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDuensing

It is not hip dyplasia either. I have researched that.

I think you need an X-ray to rule that out. I don't know what research you could do that would tell you definitely that it isn't HD.

What size dog and how much Glucosamine and Aspirin are you giving?

Ideally an x-ray would be the next step to really know what is happening in there.

CDuensing · 01-09-2007, 06:00 AM

She is about 50 plus a little pounds. I am giving her 5mg/10mg asprin every 12 hours...one asprin in the morning (250 mg) and one at night. I give in 2 tsp of glcousine in the am and 2 tsp at night. I am following all the directions. She has no trouble running the yard and "scrapping" with her sister. In fact she did a full out run this am. Hip dyplasia from what I have read keeps the dog from wanting to do activitiy..is that right? I think it is an injury from her and my son playing a bit too hard than I like...do you think I could give it time to heal myself or is a vet visit in order. I teach school and have a 3 year old so you can understand why I want to keep away from the big bill of tests etc....if I can help her myself. What do you think? Thanks for any input that you can give me. It seems as if you know alot about this ..thanks.

Dogged · 01-09-2007, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDuensing

She is about 50 plus a little pounds. I am giving her 5mg/10mg asprin every 12 hours...one asprin in the morning (250 mg) and one at night. I give in 2 tsp of glcousine in the am and 2 tsp at night. I am following all the directions.

I don't understand the aspirin dosage you state here. You give 3 different sizes. If it is 250 mg, you could probably go up to a whole 325 mg tablet twice daily as long as she is on no other medication and the aspirin is buffered or enteric coated. What is the mg dose on the Glucosamine? How long has she been limping? How old is she? What breed?

The first signs of hip dysplasia can start out as just being painful and limping.

CDuensing · 01-09-2007, 06:30 PM

With the glucosime the mg are 1500, and directions on the bottle states 50-100 pounds 4tsp and that with larger dogs it is better to split up the doseage. For this I am following the directions that are on the bottle.
The asprin is one tablet in the am and one tablet in the pm and it is buffered. I made an error earlier with the doseage I told you I was giving her. She is approximately 3 years old, since she came from the shelter there is no exact date only approximation. She is a mixed breed ( as stated before)..we do believe that she has a little lab and springer/english type of spaniel in her, there is another breed there but we and shelter and other people are not quite sure. These ideas come from her build, shape of head, and her coloring. She is improving with the asprin and the glucosime. I do know that it takes 6 to 8 weeks for it to really take effect. (This knowledge comes from my parents who had a dog with arthitis.) The question is...is there anything else that I can do for her before I decide to take her to the vet.

Dogged · 01-09-2007, 09:55 PM

The aspirin would work right away if it was going to. The Glucosamine can take a month or more to work. How long has she been limping?

If you don't think the Aspirin is working, I would stop it.

cshellenberger · 01-09-2007, 10:00 PM

Mild HD would not deter her from playing. Get her to the vet and have her examined. Tell them what you've told us. It could be an injury or something congenital.

Raggs · 01-09-2007, 10:15 PM

The only way to rule out Hip Dysplasia is with an X-ray. Also are you sure it's her hip? It could be a muscle or her knee or her ankle or a tendon. There are a lot of things it could be. If any dog is in pain it should be taken to the vet asap, not given home remedies and waiting to see if it gets better. Also the only aspirin a dog can have is 1 baby aspirin a day. Glucosamine won't do anything if she injured it. That helps joints become strong so that they don't get injured easily. It doesn't heal anything. Take your dog to the vet please and have a vet diagnose it. Labs and Springers and Shepherds, and Akita's and most large dogs are prone to hip dysplasia. Some like Labs are prone to Luxating Patellas. You don't know what it is until a vet does some tests and gives you an answer. You can't diagnose a problem by doing research.

For example... A dog is urinating frequently and drinking an excess of water. So far that's all the signs, do research, it will come up as diabetes. Vet does blood work, not diabetes but kidney failure and there is no treatment except to get the kidney's flushed once a month. That costs a lot of money and the dog will most likely die within a couple months. But all the research you did said that it was diabetes so the vet must be wrong.

I know a lot of people that think they can diagnose their own dogs problems. Some are right or close to it. My boyfriends dog was having problems with one of his back legs. He would cry all the time and it was extremely hard for him to walk. So he took his dog to the vet, the vet told him it was a pulled muscle and there was nothing to worry about. Well my boyfriend didn't like that answer so he got a second opinion (which everyone should always do). Found out his dog had a Luxating Patella. The dog had surgery and is now better.

Dogged · 01-10-2007, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raggs

Also the only aspirin a dog can have is 1 baby aspirin a day.

Actually this is wrong. A large dog can easily have 1 regular strength buffered aspirin twice daily if it is on no other conflicting medications or have conflicting medical issues. It goes by weight. There can be side effects to it, but in general it is fairly safe. Some vets recommend it all the time, some vets never do. I have two dogs on it.

The best thing for your dog is to see the vet. You also could be looking at a torn cruciate ligament which is a common problem and the surgery is somewhat time sensitive.

How long has she been limping?

CDuensing · 01-10-2007, 06:24 AM

She has been limping, only at times, remember it is not a constant limp for a couple weeks. She is improving on the asprin, but I think that I will call the vet today and see what they can do. Thanks.

DogAdvocat · 01-10-2007, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raggs

For example... A dog is urinating frequently and drinking an excess of water. So far that's all the signs, do research, it will come up as diabetes. Vet does blood work, not diabetes but kidney failure and there is no treatment except to get the kidney's flushed once a month. That costs a lot of money and the dog will most likely die within a couple months. But all the research you did said that it was diabetes so the vet must be wrong.

Hmmm, then explain why I've had 3 dogs with kidney failure that survived well over a year. And once a month??? OMG, will you PLEASE stop giving medical misinformation?

CDuensing · 01-11-2007, 05:51 AM

So...beside the vet, there is nothing that I can do to help her out. I am really in the belief that it is a muscle but anyways...how can I make sure that the vet doesn't misdiagnose her with something that it is not? Any suggestions ?

Dogged · 01-11-2007, 09:09 PM

I can't think of anything else you can do at home. I have never been the type to race a limping dog into the vet, I usually give it a few days and see if it works itself out unless they are in terrible pain, won't bear any weight, or a bone is sticking out. But certainly if this has been going on for this long, and what you have tried hasn't worked, it is your responsibility to get proper care for the dog. She is limping due to pain, if it didn't hurt, she wouldn't be limping.

If there is some easy way to make sure a doctor doesn't misdiagnose, I would like to know about it too. Each vet does their best or what they think is their best and you take your chances. If what they tell you doesn't sound right, then you can always get a 2nd opinion, but the first step is getting the first one.