Quote: Jens Kruse

I have been feeding lots of raw stuff, including salmon oil pills ... and a liquid form of glucosamine/chondroitin.

Good for you; the fish oil and the liquid glucosamine are great steps. I'd give a gram (1000 mg) of fish oil for every ten pounds of dog weight (daily) plus Vitamin E (used by the dog to process the PUFAs in the fish oil) in the form of natural mixed tocopherols.

JMO.

look into irap. It was originally done with equines but some vets no how to inject small animal joints.

My shepherd had a UAP. He was having problems almost from three months on. We have done the irap and at 8 mnths the growth plates have closed. YIPPEE

My 4 year old GSD was diagnosed with severe HD a few months ago. It was so bad, that the vet basically said my dog shouldn't be allowed to do anything anymore other than go for 4x 15 minute walks a day and avoid concrete/asphalt surfaces (and switch to Hills J/D diet... ugh). At least he also told me to give a product called Doils, which is medical grade Omega 3 with higher EPA and lower DHA, vs. regular salmon oil which is higher DHA and lower EPA. EPA is what the dog supposedly needs for their joints. It also contains Vitamin E, but in low doses so I supplement that myself in gelcap form.

I spent much time looking into the options and having knowledgeable friends give their input and look at the x-rays for me.

I asked my vet, as well as the ortho specialist, about Adequan, Cartrophen Vet, Gold Bead Therapy, and Acupuncture.

Nobody in Belgium has ever heard of Adequan, but it is my understanding that Adequan is basically glucosamine injections, and in Europe the alternative treatment is Cartrophen Vet, which is supposed to be an EXCELLENT product, but has not made it through the FDA yet in the US (but is available in Canada).

My local vet found how to get ahold of Adequan, but the product itself would cost some $600 to get ahold of here, vs. $200 for Cartrophen Vet (which likely came from the UK, and I am still not quite sure if it is approved for use in Belgium, but whether it is or not, they are able to import from the UK for me...)

So I did the once a week x4 week treatment of Cartrophen. I give the Doils + Vit E, and I use the SynFlex liquid Glucosamine product (I believe Leerburg sells this too).

Hydrotherapy/Swimming would also be excellent, but I haven't gotten a chance to do it yet with my dogs $75 a session here... and no natural bodies of water that I can use, my dog is not a big swimmer, so I need something where I can coax him/pressure him to go in a little at first before he'll do it on his own).

To me, the conclusion I reached is that quality of life is more important than anything else. If I were to follow my (specialist) vets advice, then I would be feeding Hills, giving the Doils, and not letting my dog do anything other than walking on a tight leash. I chose to ignore it, I let my dog play in the yard and chase bugs, I let him play with Lyka, I let him just be his happy self and let him limit his abilities himself. He doesn't show many symptoms of HD, I notice he is a little stiff, but that could be the hernia in his spine more so than the HD for all I know.

I figure worst case scenario, he gets hip replacement surgery and he's 100% back to normal. Best case scenario, good nutrition and supplements, annual Cartrophen Vet shots and he will never have any issues.

Good luck with your dog, I know that first diagnosis can be quite the "hit," but once you get used to it and look at it objectively it's not so bad and you deal with it as it comes. Your best decision was to ask here instead of listening to your vet. I am told vet's are often doomsayers when it comes to HD and they like to push crap in a bag (Hills) a lot.

PS: My ortho specialist wasn't keen on the Cartrophen Vet treatment, they said it was "very expensive" and that they have had the same results with the Doils Omega 3 product as they did with the Cartrophen Vet. I got the impression that he was not speaking from experience, and "very expensive" isn't accurate either. Had I gone through them, I am sure there would be a hefty markup on the product, plus $70 consultation fees for each of the 4 injections. But my local vet got me the product for less than $200 and charged me $30 for the series of 4 injections. Then they gave me the rest of the bottle, which is good till 2010, and has enough in it for another 4 week round of shots. Sometimes you just gotta ignore the vet and keep on pushing till someone does what you want them to do. Luckily your vet is recommending Adequan, and I would definitely go that route since it is available to you.

My 6mo old GSD pup was diagnosed with severe bilat. elbow dysplasia almost two years ago, and we went ahead with the surgeries (osteotomy and pinning). It was a horrible time; right when his crucial socialization should have been happening. He had long casts on his front legs, and needed help walking for awhile once he started. It was horrible, and it didn't work. Now he's on Adequan, monthly, and Cosequin. I keep him lean, and he gets 1-2 2+ mile walks/day, plus occassional treadmill work. We try to have him work for his food.

I'd definately look into starting him on a raw diet, or at least more natural, but due to his food aggression issues that's on hold right now. "Better" food is much more guardable!

Incidentally, we were told no more running off leash, no jumping. But we've decided a quality of life is better than rigid leash only walks. We allow him to run some, and occassionally chase balls, and it's usually fine unless we overdue it (then he's sore and limpy.) We also give Metacam if he appears so or we think he's overdone it. We've had to strike a balance: no long hikes, no chuck-it's (except for swimming.) Good luck!

 Quote:

I'd definately look into starting him on a raw diet, or at least more natural, but due to his food aggression issues that's on hold right now. "Better" food is much more guardable!

I'm sorry to derail the thread here, but seriously... what the....????

However, as far as meds go, I always choose metacam over any of the other comparable meds. So if you (the OP) ever get to that point, I would try metacam first.

metacam is in the same class as Derramax and Rymydil. The huge positive is if you get a human script then itis much much cheaper.

 Quote: Michelle Berdusco

metacam is in the same class as Derramax and Rymydil. The huge positive is if you get a human script then itis much much cheaper.

It is, but if you read up on it, metacam has the least amount of side effects and problems of all the nsaids.