Last week my 4 yr old male GSD was diagnosed "bilateral CHD with mild DJD" (hips) and "bilateral elbow dysplasia with midl DJD".

The vet who took the OFA x-rays told me that I still could do ANY kind of excercise with this dog (jumping, hiking up the hills, running on pavement etc.), it would not make a difference to his condition.

I got very suspicious of this vet, so I went to a specialist (got advice from this forum) for a 2nd opinion.
This specialist confirmed the diagonosis, but strongly adviced me NOT to hike the dog up and down steep hills and to avoid jumping and running on pavement. Otherwise I would totally screw up his dysplastic joints. Now that makes a lot more sense.

He also prescribed the following treatment plan. I would like to get some advice with this plan, since I have learned to be suspicious of vets.

Here it goes:

1. Adequan 2.1ml IM twice a week for 3 weeks, then weekly for 3 weeks, then monthly for life.

2. Dasuquin <60# BID for 6 weeks, then SID for life

3. Diet change to dry food brand "Hill's J/D" (made by Science Diet) which is very expensive at over $60 for a 30lb bag.

He further recommended to try stem cell therapy which he was doing successfully on horses, but with dogs it is still in the testing phase. Could cost $2500 and seems too expensive for me.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, since I do not want to make a wrong choice. If there are any other products I can take without having to do the weekly injections, that would be great. I do not like when they make you a lifetime "customer".

Thanks, Jens Kruse

From the Hills/SD website on this food: http://www.hillspet.com/hillspet/products/productDetails.hjsp?PRODUCT<>prd_id=845524441776675

"Ground Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Flaxseed, Soybean Mill Run, Brewers Rice, Soybean Meal, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Chicken Liver Flavor,......"

I'm sorry. Thats a total, complete, utter, shameful RIP OFF! I know how much these foods costs and it sickens me. The benefits listed are from Omega fatty acids (3s, from fish oil) and glucosamine and chondroitin. There are plenty of much better kibbles and feeding a better kibble with salmon oil(+vit E) and a joint supplement would not only be better for the dog but better for your wallet as well.

I know nothing of medications etc so I will leave that to someone else but I figured I would share the fantastic ingredients list of that food.

You might as well put the dog down before feeding THAT crap. Yuck. I would feed him raw or something grain-free; keep him lean.

I agree w/the Adequan. Good call. Get the equine form and do the injections yourself-saves a ton of money.

Dogs NEED exercise; the best thing for dysplastic joints is strong supporting muscles. Running on pavement is not the best idea, nor is overly strenuous, but regular, regimented exercise is essential. Use it or lose it. Try swimming him; swimming is THE BEST for dysplastic dogs. Also wading in chest deep water is great, if you can find somewhere to do that.

Adequan is fantastic stuff so please don't write it off, yet. Yes, you need to do a loading dose of twice-weekly injections for a month. Then you do it as needed, which in my dog's case is once a month. It has made such a difference in my dog's bi-lateral HD.

I get the Adequan and syringes from my vet and give the IM injections at home. A vet tech can teach you how to do this.

The food is BS. This is from the same company that markets a kibble that supposedly "improves" cognitive function. Right :smirk: There are much better kibbles available and a raw diet is best, IMO, for keeping a dog healthy and lean.

Stem therapy is very new and very promising. It's something I would definitely try when/if things deteriorate with my dog.

Here's a link to the company for more info:
http://www.vet-stem.com/

It's good to keep in mind, a total hip replacement is at least $6,000/hip. :wink:

 Quote: jennifer marshal

From the Hills/SD website on this food: http://www.hillspet.com/hillspet/products/productDetails.hjsp?PRODUCT<>prd_id=845524441776675

"Ground Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Flaxseed, Soybean Mill Run, Brewers Rice, Soybean Meal, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Chicken Liver Flavor,......"

I'm sorry. Thats a total, complete, utter, shameful RIP OFF! I know how much these foods costs and it sickens me. The benefits listed are from Omega fatty acids (3s, from fish oil) and glucosamine and chondroitin. There are plenty of much better kibbles and feeding a better kibble with salmon oil(+vit E) and a joint supplement would not only be better for the dog but better for your wallet as well.

Thanks, I thought the same thing, total rip off. I have been feeding lots of raw stuff, including salmon oil pills, avokados and a liquid form of glucosamine/chondroitin.

 Quote: Jenni Williams

You might as well put the dog down before feeding THAT crap. Yuck. I would feed him raw or something grain-free; keep him lean.

I agree w/the Adequan. Good call. Get the equine form and do the injections yourself-saves a ton of money.

Dogs NEED exercise; the best thing for dysplastic joints is strong supporting muscles. Running on pavement is not the best idea, nor is overly strenuous, but regular, regimented exercise is essential. Use it or lose it. Try swimming him; swimming is THE BEST for dysplastic dogs. Also wading in chest deep water is great, if you can find somewhere to do that.

Thanks so much, I will go with the Adequan and inject myself. I am slowly trotting him now 1-2 a day next to my bicycle on a dirt road, for about 30 min. at a time. He is doing it without being overly exhausted and without limping. Swimming was recommended by that 2nd vet as well, so I've got to do it more often and the dog loves retrieving toys from water.

 Quote: sarah morris

Adequan is fantastic stuff so please don't write it off, yet. Yes, you need to do a loading dose of twice-weekly injections for a month. Then you do it as needed, which in my dog's case is once a month. It has made such a difference in my dog's bi-lateral HD.

I get the Adequan and syringes from my vet and give the IM injections at home. A vet tech can teach you how to do this.

The food is BS. This is from the same company that markets a kibble that supposedly "improves" cognitive function. Right :smirk: There are much better kibbles available and a raw diet is best, IMO, for keeping a dog healthy and lean.

Stem therapy is very new and very promising. It's something I would definitely try when/if things deteriorate with my dog.

Here's a link to the company for more info:
http://www.vet-stem.com/

It's good to keep in mind, a total hip replacement is at least $6,000/hip. :wink:

Thanks a lot for this great advice !

Jens, avocados are generally not recommended to feed to dogs. There is some disagreement as to the level of toxicity/source of toxin to the dog from avocados but as a precaution I don't give them to any of my dogs in any part. Definitely not the pit, and not the skin or fruit of the avocado either.

This lists some good information:
http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pro_apcc_dyk#2

and here:
http://onibasu.com/archives/kn/126359.html


P.S. Joint supplements are always great. I take care of an older dysplastic rotti and having her lose weight (she was obese her whole life 111# when I got here she is a healthy and trim 69# now) maintaining slow and steady levels of exercise every day and giving her powdered Yucca along with 100% pure MSM powder and glucosamine hydrochloride powder, a better diet and salmon oil and vit E have really worked wonders for her. She will always have limited mobility but is not the miserable pitiful creature she was when I came here.

Edited by Jennifer Marshal (06/13/2008 07:42 PM)
Edit reason: add P.S.

 Quote: Jennifer Marshal

Jens, avocados are generally not recommended to feed to dogs. There is some disagreement as to the level of toxicity/source of toxin to the dog from avocados but as a precaution I don't give them to any of my dogs in any part. Definitely not the pit, and not the skin or fruit of the avocado either.

This lists some good information:
http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pro_apcc_dyk#2

and here:
http://onibasu.com/archives/kn/126359.html

A few years ago I was adviced the same, but then did a lot of research and there IS a controversy reg. this. I have seen dogs on avokado plantations who eat lots when they are in season, with no problems. Our dogs have been getting them regularly (without the pit) for over 3 years now and never had any issues, so I feel confident in feeding them.

 Quote: Jens Kruse

A few years ago I was adviced the same, but then did a lot of research and there IS a controversy reg. this. I have seen dogs on avokado plantations who eat lots when they are in season, with no problems. Our dogs have been getting them regularly (without the pit) for over 3 years now and never had any issues, so I feel confident in feeding them.

I want to be clear to other forum readers that dogs who are affected by avocado plants, foliage, fruit, and pits vary widely in the amounts that they have ingested, in the sizes of the dogs, and in the breeds of the dogs. In addition, the idea that it's only one of the most common types of avocados that causes the problem has turned out to be incorrect, although it's true that the most toxic is the common Guatemalan variety.

It may be that the O.P. is feeding a variety with less Persin content.

However, again, avocados, like grapes (and raisins, of course), affect some dogs in quite small quantities, and others not (even in substantial amounts).

I would not recommend giving avocados to dogs because of this lack of knowledge (to date) about which dogs are affected and why.