Bad Hips?

[ashp]

Hi,

My 5 month old boxer Holly sometimes seems to have problems with her back legs. It's only really if she's been sleeping for a while. I'll go to take her out, and we have to go down three steps, and earlier she stumbled down them and limped for 20 seconds or so. I've seen her do similar stuff a few times in the past, mostly when she was younger, that I've always just put down to her being sleepy.

She doesn't seem to be in pain, loves running as much as she can (in fact about an hour before I woke her up we were outside tearing up the garden with a ball). What other signs are there that her hips could be troubling her? I'm not sure when and how early they can detect this at a vets with tests.

 

[gmacleod]

If dysplasia is present, it would be detected with a hip xray. The only thing an xray can't do, in the case of an immature dog, is tell you that dysplasia won't develop in the future (hence the 24 month recommended date for screening for breeding purposes). Does that make sense? If it's already present, it can be identified. But if not already present, you can't get a guarantee that it won't later develop. But since you're looking for the answer to an existing issue - there's no reason not to have her examined and xrayed if there's any laxity in the joints.

 

[ashp]

Is there any way to tell by feeling if there's likely any laxity? I mean, to determine if we need to go schedule her in, can I tell by looking/feeling? I'm always paranoid about her health so I don't want to waste the vets time.

 

[ehayes21]

I think seeing the things you describe with regard to her hips would warrant a vet trip for me. JMO, of course.

 

[gmacleod]

Not unless you've got the sort of medical training and experience to know what you're looking for, no. A vet may be able to tell, especially if it's severe - but it's far from certain. The only real way to know if there is malformation of the hip joint is via xray.

Besides which, even if she does not have dysplastic hips - she has some problem that is affecting her movement. It is not wasting a doctor's time to find out the cause