Canine Hip Dysplasia Treatment
Canine Hip Dysplasia Treatment and Prevention
Perhaps the most challenging task facing dog veterinarians is how to best deal with canine hip dysplasia. Numerous methods of treatment are available, but here we’ll discuss just the most widely accepted and practiced approaches.
1. Maintenance: This is simple monitoring and management of the disorder without surgery. It entails rest and limited exercise, pain killers, and anti inflammatory medicine. It is the best option is particularly mild cases or in canines who might be in excessive danger if they undergo surgery.
2. Reconstruction of the Hip Joint: This is serious bone surgery, the final goal being tje returning pf the hip joint to a regular anatomical position. It is fairly hard to execute and sometimes needs to be done by an orthopedic surgeon. This kind of surgical procedure to fix hip dysplasia is best for young dogs before arthritis has become an issue. Some of the various techniques are pelvic osteotomy, acetabuloplasty, and varus osteotomy.
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3. Replacement of the Joint: Older dogs might benefit the most from this type of surgery. The ball of the joint can be replaced with an artificial ball or taken out completely. Artificial replacements haven’t been so successful until this point. Taking away the femoral head ends its bone contact with the pelvis and thus takes away the pain.
How to Prevention Canine Hip Dysplasia
Any disorder with a hereditary element is at least partially controllable through selective breeding. Studies so far have been rather informative. A nonprofit organization, the Orthopedic Foundation For Animals (O.F.A.), has been studying orthopedic diseases ever since 1966.
Their plan for controlling dysplasia centers around an x-ray evaluation of the hips. Three independent veterinary radiologists investigate every x-ray received by the foundation. If the joints seem fine, an O.F.A. Certification number is provided. If some degree of dysplasia is discovered, the dog and his vet are informed. Dogs exhibiting any amount of dysplasia shouldn’t be used for breeding purposes.
Owners of larger breeds should definitely get a radiographic evaluation of the hip joints of all dogs that will be used for breeding, both male and female. Anybody who has experienced raising a growing pup that has this debilitating disorder can understand the sigificance of this kind of intervention program. Wwe should point out that O.F.A. certified parents might occasionally give birth to dysplastic puppies, but the rate of occurrence is much lower.
Because treating hip dysplasia is only a partial solution in many cases, restrictive breeding is still our most powerful weapon for eliminating the disease.
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