What is Canine Hip Dysplasia in Dogs?

What is Canine Hip Dysplasia in Dogs?
The hip joint is composed of the ball and the socket. The development of hip dysplasia is determined by an interaction of genetic and environmental factors, though there is a complicated pattern of inheritance for this disorder, with multiple genes involved. Hip dysplasia is the failure of the hip joints to develop normally (known as malformation), gradually deteriorating and leading to loss of function of the hip joints.
It's one of the most common skeletal diseases seen in dogs. Gender does not seem to be a factor, but some breeds are more likely to have the genetic predisposition for hip dysplasia than other breeds. Large and giant breeds are most commonly affected, including:
- Bernese Mountain Dog
- Bloodhound
- Boxer
- Borzoi

- Brittany Spaniel
- Chesapeake Bay Retriever
- Doberman Pinscher
- English Setter
- English Springer Spaniel
- Golden Retriever
- Gordon Setter
- German Shepherd
- Great Dane
- Greyhound
- Irish Wolfhound
- Labrador Retriever
- Old English Sheep Dog
- Siberian Husky
- Standard Poodle
- Rottweiler
- St. Bernard
- Welsh Springer Spaniel
- Welsh Corgi
Rarely, small breed dogs can also be affected, but are less likely to show clinical signs.

What is the signs of Hip Dysplasia?

- Early disease: signs are related to joint looseness or laxity.
- Later disease: signs are related to joint degeneration and osteoarthritis.
- Decreased activity.
- Difficulty rising.
- Reluctance to run, jump, or climb stairs.
- Intermittent or persistent hind-limb lameness, often worse after exercise.
- "Bunny-hopping," or swaying gait.
- Narrow stance in the hind limbs (back legs unnaturally close together).
- Pain in hip joints.
- Joint looseness or laxity – characteristic of early disease; may not be seen in long-term hip dysplasia due to arthritic changes in the hip joint.
- Grating detected with joint movement.
- Decreased range of motion in the hip joints.
- Loss of muscle mass in thigh muscles.
- Enlargement of shoulder muscles due to more weight being exerted on front legs as dog tries to avoid weight on its hips, leading to extra work for the shoulder muscles and subsequent enlargement of these muscles.

How is the disease diagnosed?
Though physical examinations may be helpful, radiography and x-rays are the only means of reaching a definitive diagnosis of Hip Dysplasia.

Surgical treatment options for Hip Dysplasia

Medical treatment and acupuncture can be used to alleviate arthritis pain and promote joint health, but these treatments do not correct the underlying cause of the hip pain which is a malformed joint. Because of this, the primary treatment for hip dysplasia is surgery and it can be very successful.

Removal of the Femor Head and Neck so it doesn't rub against the pelvis.

- Total Hip Replacement
Total hip replacement is used primarily for larger dogs and is very similar to the procedure performed on people.

The entire hip is replaced using high density, medical grade plastic for the socket and a high quality, non-corrisive alloy for the ball.

This is probably the very best solution for many patients and has a high degree of success, pain elimination, and nearly complete resumption of activity. This type of surgery is done by specialists and is quite expensive.

- Triple Pelvic Osteotomy
This special surgery is different in that it must be done BEFORE the joint is damaged and is done on dogs under a year old in order to prevent future dysplastic problems.
We perform this surgery on young dogs with early symptoms or radiographs indicating malformed joints. Some owners with breeds prone to hip dysplasis or with puppies from a line of hip dysplastic dogs will sometimes have x-rays done as early as 6 months old that can detect an obviously malformed hip joint. In these cases, this surgery works well at preventing future pain and problems.

The surgery basically involves cutting the pelvis in 3 places which allows the surgeon to rotate the hip sockets to better fit over the femor heads. The pelvis then heals into this new and better position. This is another surgery done by specialists and is quite expensive.