| Allergies
DYSPLASIA:
COMING TO GRIPS WITH BAD HIPS
by Steve Marsden,
DVM, ND, MSOM, LAc, Dipl. CH
If you have a large
dog, you’re probably concerned about
canine hip dysplasia (CHD), a common disorder
that strikes many bigger breeds. When
I was a boy, we had a great Dane named
Gerda with a host of problems, one of
which was hip dysplasia.
THE
DAILY GRIND
Dysplasia means “abnormal growth,”
in this case of the “ball-and-socket”
hip joint. The head of the femur fits
into the acetabulum of the hip the same
way a softball fits into a baseball glove.
Imagine trying to catch a basketball with
a baseball glove, and you have a basic
idea of hip dysplasia. The acetabulum
in affected dogs is too small and flat
to get itself around the head of the femur,
which consequently wiggles and slides
around.
The more it wiggles, the more the femur
wears down the cartilage lining the joint
and tugs painfully on the capsule surrounding
it. All that grinding eventually leads
to permanent bony deformities known as
degenerative joint disease, a leading
cause of death in dogs. As the joints
become increasingly painful and damaged,
the dog becomes unable to get up and has
to be euthanized. This is what happened
to Gerda.
Obesity and too much exercise aggravate
the wear and tear of degenerative joint
disease. A lack of exercise can also cause
the disease because it leads to atrophy
of the hind limbs, weakening the muscles
so they can’t stabilize the hip.
If your dog has CHD, the best advice is
to find the maximum level of exercise
he can tolerate without pain, and provide
it several times a week. A diet low in
fat and carbohydrates, meanwhile, can
help with weight control.
The typical treatment for CHD is surgery
for dogs that can withstand it, and painkillers
for those that can’t. In Gerda’s
day, the surgical options and non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs currently available
were non-existent. Hip dysplasia seemed
a problem without a solution — and
still does if the disease is too advanced,
or if you can’t afford the high
cost of the treatment.
We could do very little but watch Gerda
slowly decline until she had to be put
to sleep. Not a week goes by that I don’t
wish I knew then what I know now about
hip dysplasia treatments such as acupuncture,
chiropractic, homeopathy, herbal medicine
and nutrition.
X-RAY RATED
Hip dysplasia is a fact of life for large
breeds such as Labrador retrievers, rottweilers,
great Danes, German shepherds, rough-coated
collies, and even not-so-big cocker spaniels.
These breeds are genetically predisposed
to CHD. Nor do they have to be purebred
to get hip dysplasia.
We have been selectively breeding dogs
for decades to get rid of CHD. So why
hasn’t it happened yet? It’s
because several genes are responsible
for the disease, and can be carried by
both parents. In addition, if the genes
always showed themselves by producing
terrible hips, we would be able to pick
out affected dogs and avoid breeding them.
However, you can’t tell from outward
appearances whether or not a dog has poor
hips, even if he’s carrying a few
CHD genes. If he breeds with another dog
who also carries a few of the troublesome
genes, a puppy with hip dysplasia may
result, leaving us right back where we
started.
To identify as many partially affected
dogs as possible, veterinarians use radiographs
or X-rays taken at two years of age or
older.
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Published in
the February/March 2004 issue of Animal
Wellness
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