Hip Dysplasia 8 month old GSD

[gbrandow]

Hello,

My 8 month male German Shepherd, named Rusty, was just diagnosed with hip dysplasia. Our vet prescribed Rimadyl to help with the pain, but did not go over the possible side affects. After researching information on Rimadyl on line, we would like to find out what you would recommend as an alternative to Rimadyl due to what we found out.

Is there any over the counter items we can use instead?

[Todd]

HI there and thanks for the question.

I am a vet and do use Rimadyl regularly in dogs with hip dysplasia. Rimadyl is like a dog version of aspirin (not to say you should use human drugs on animals). It is very good at reducing the pain and inflammation associated with HD.

The side effects of non-steroidal anti-inflamm drugs are mainly focussed on the kidney and gut. In high doses they can cause harm. But in healthy animals at a correct dose rate with a normally hydrated animal these side effects are not very common. This is why they are used worldwide by vets.
There are side effects but all drugs have these.

There are some other natural remedies that can help in this problem. These aren't always brilliantly successful but some people swear by them.

- Chondroitin sulphate
- Glucosamine
- Shark Cartilage
- Essential Fatty Acids
- Hills Science Diet J/D is great and has some of the above as well as a substance that changes the gene expression of cartilage cells
- Green lipped mussel extract

But the best thing you can do for your pet is keep them in a good body condition. Extra weight only increases the load on joints and in so doing causes more harm.

I also like people to swim there dogs more as this is a low impact method of building up muscle which helps support the joints.
Avoid hard exercise.

There are a number of operations that can be used to help but your vet will be able to give you more advice on these.

I hope this helped and you and your dog benefit. Good luck

Kind Regards
Todd Field