Key takeaways:
- Hip dysplasia is a common skeletal disorder characterized by a deformity of the hip joint.
- Early signs of the condition include pain and weakness in the hind legs.
- Vets can diagnose hip dysplasia with a physical exam and X-rays.
- Treatment can range from lifestyle modifications to surgery.
- Appropriate nutrition and exercise can help reduce a dog’s risk of hip dysplasia.
- While any dog can develop hip dysplasia, the condition has a strong genetic component and is more prevalent in larger breeds. If you’re bringing a dog home, learn everything you can about their family history.
- Dogs with hip dysplasia can lead long, happy lives, especially when following appropriate diet, exercise, and treatment regimens.
Hip dysplasia is a common skeletal disorder characterized by a deformity of the hip joint. “Dysplasia” means “abnormal growth or development.” Basically, in a dog afflicted with hip dysplasia, the joint grows improperly and becomes loose. Hip dysplasia develops over time, beginning with weakness and pain in the hind legs and progressing to degenerative joint disease (also known as osteoarthritis).
While any dog can develop hip dysplasia, the condition has a strong genetic component and is more prevalent in larger breeds. Treatment options include pain medications, supplements, and surgeries, as well as physical therapy and changes in exercise and diet. With proper management, dogs with hip dysplasia can have a good quality of life.
Here are expert answers to some of the most common questions about the condition.
What causes hip dysplasia?
Genetics have a big influence on vulnerability to hip dysplasia, and some dogs are born with a predisposition to the disease. Essentially, what happens is that the ball and socket of the hip joint do not fit together properly, usually because they fail to develop at the same rate. So instead of working together smoothly, the femur (ball) and pelvis (socket) start to grind and rub against each other. Over time, this results in deterioration of the bone, breakdown of the cartilage, and loss of joint function. If left untreated, hip dysplasia leads to osteoarthritis.
Several factors other than genetics can affect hip dysplasia’s development, including excessive growth rate, too much or too little exercise, obesity, and unbalanced nutrition.
What types of dogs are most susceptible to hip dysplasia?
Dogs of certain breeds are more susceptible to hip dysplasia than others. In general, larger dogs, including mixed-breed dogs, are more likely to suffer from the condition than those who are smaller. Breeds at particular risk of hip dysplasia include English and French bulldogs, Labrador retrievers, old English sheepdogs, German shepherds, golden retrievers, great Danes, and Saint Bernards. When you bring a dog into your home, learn what you can about their family history—whether from a shelter or a breeder. If your dog is large or belongs to one of these breeds, you should watch them more closely for signs of the condition and speak to your vet about things you can do to keep your dog’s joints healthy—but be aware that every dog is an individual, and any dog can be afflicted by hip dysplasia.
What are the signs of hip dysplasia?
The age at which hip dysplasia begins to show varies greatly. In some cases, signs start in puppies as young as four months. In others, the disease only shows itself alongside osteoarthritis as the dog ages. The condition is most commonly diagnosed in dogs who are between one and two years old.
The first clinical signs tend to be weakness and pain in the hind legs. The dog may appear unsteady, stand with their pelvic limbs close together, and be reluctant to get up from a sitting or lying position, and may avoid activities such as climbing stairs. Look out for a decreased range of motion, loss of thigh-muscle mass, and enlargement of shoulder muscles (as they compensate for the weakness in their hind legs by placing more weight on their front legs). These signs will vary depending on the severity of the disease, the amount of inflammation, the looseness in the joints, and how long the dog has been suffering.
“Sometimes, we get an 8-year-old dog coming in with pelvic weakness, we take hip X-rays for the first time in their life, and we identify that they have hip dysplasia and advanced arthritis — and that’s the first time they’re showing any clinical signs,” says Jonathan S. Block, DVM, founder of West Delray Veterinary in Florida. “Other times, a dog can start showing gait abnormalities in their hind limbs as a young puppy. But with dogs who are stoic and manage discomfort well, a typical dog owner who’s not trained to look for abnormalities won’t notice it. It really depends on how severe it is, and how it’s affecting the individual patient.” Given that the condition can evade easy detection, it’s important to keep up with regular veterinary care, and to ask your vet if you notice anything amiss with your dog’s gait or mood.
How do vets diagnose hip dysplasia?
Diagnosis for hip dysplasia has two components—a physical exam and subsequent X-rays. The exam will either be part of the dog’s regular checkup or in response to the animal being brought in with a mobility issue. Often, one of the first things the veterinarian will do is manipulate the dog’s hind legs to test the looseness of the joints. They’ll typically check for grinding, pain, and/or reduced range of motion. The visit may also include blood work.
X-rays are an important tool to help veterinarians diagnose hip dysplasia and determine the best course of treatment. Some pets with significant signs of hip dysplasia or osteoarthritis on X-rays may exhibit few clinical signs, while others with minimal changes may experience severe pain and mobility problems.
“Everything starts with a physical exam—and then, if there’s a suspicion, we’ll take X-rays,” says Dr. Block.
What are the treatment options for hip dysplasia?
There are several different treatment options for hip dysplasia in dogs, ranging from lifestyle modifications to surgery, depending on the severity of the disease and needs of the animal. If progression is not too severe, or if the dog is not a great candidate for surgery, the veterinarian may recommend a nonsurgical approach (also known as medical management). This can include weight loss to reduce stress on the hips; a modified or controlled exercise regimen; physical therapy; joint supplements; anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs, corticosteroids); pain medications; and/or joint-fluid modifiers.
“It really does depend on the age and condition of the dog,” says Dr. Block. “If you have a 10-year-old large-breed dog that may not have a significant amount of lifespan left, then treatment options are going to be mostly medical management, including pain management, physical therapy, acupuncture, laser therapy, nutraceuticals, and joint supplements like fish oils.”
Certain foods and supplements can provide nutritional support for a healthy joint environment. “When the joint cartilage breaks down, the cells are not producing as much joint fluid—and so the whole joint microenvironment becomes degraded and inflamed,” explains Dr. Block. “So by supporting the joints nutritionally with supplements, we can slow down the breakdown of cartilage and help slow down the progression of disease.”
For some dogs who are struggling with pain and poor mobility, surgery may be the best path to an improved quality of life. The two most common surgical techniques for hip dysplasia are total hip replacement and femoral head ostectomy.
The total hip replacement is usually the most effective surgical treatment for hip dysplasia, and involves replacing the entire joint with metal and plastic implants. This is intended to return hip function to a more normal range and eliminate much of the discomfort the dog experiences.
“It’s much the same thing that people get for hip arthritis,” says Dr. Block, who calls it “a good option.” “Not all veterinary surgeons perform these procedures,” he says, “but they’re becoming more and more successful and widely available.”
In femoral head ostectomy (FHO), the surgeon cuts off the femoral head, or ball, of the hip joint, creating a false joint that reduces suffering because the dog’s real bones are no longer grinding against each other. For anatomical reasons, FHO tends to be most effective in smaller dogs and may not be an option for those who are larger. While the procedure does not restore normal hip function, it can improve a dog’s life by alleviating their pain. “It works well, especially in smaller dogs,” says Dr. Block, “although it requires a lot of physical therapy and stretching afterwards to set them up for success.”
A less-common surgical procedure is triple pelvic osteotomy, which is generally performed in puppies less than 10 months old. In this procedure, doctors attempt to improve the function of the joint and prevent arthritis by selectively cutting the pelvic bone.
These surgeries are all invasive procedures that require weeks of crate rest and exercise restrictions. As a result, even a dog who is a good candidate for anesthesia may not be ideally suited to go through the entire process—including recovery time. Talk to your veterinarian about what treatments are right for your dog.
“Although hip dysplasia is still prevalent, we now have better surgical options, more advanced medicine and better preventative options,” says Dr. Block. “Physical rehabilitation is becoming more widespread. Even acupuncture and regenerative medicine, including PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) and stem cell therapy, are on the increase. So our ability to manage these things from a multi-dimensional or multimodal approach is better than it was 10 or 20 years ago, and dogs can live comfortably for longer.”
How do you prevent hip dysplasia?
Because it has a genetic component, it’s difficult to prevent hip dysplasia altogether—but there are steps you can take to reduce your dog’s risk of developing it.
At the top of the list is a well-balanced, healthy diet. Providing a puppy with appropriate nutrition—including the right number of calories—gives them a head start in developing healthy bones and joints, and helps prevent them from growing too quickly.
“A healthy, well-balanced diet is a huge part of it,” says Dr. Block. He goes on to emphasize that, if all dogs ate appropriate portions for their lifestyle, age, and size, “that would be a huge win for the obesity issue, which would in turn improve orthopedic health.”
Fresh food from The Farmer’s Dog is developed by board-certified nutritionists to be complete and balanced, and comes pre-portioned for your dog’s individual needs—making it easy to feed them the right amount of food to fuel healthy growth and to maintain an ideal weight. This is important for any dog, but may be especially beneficial for those who are at higher risk of conditions like hip dysplasia.
An appropriate amount and type of exercise is also key. For dogs predisposed to hip dysplasia, lower-impact regimens can be hugely beneficial.
“You can condition your dog to get used to approaching exercise in an effective, but also conservative, way,” says Dr. Block, “so that you can avoid a lot of high-impact activity that might be detrimental to the structures of the joints. Swimming, for example, is a much lower-impact exercise than running. And a controlled, leashed walk or jog has a much lower impact than throwing a ball and sprinting, or jumping up and down to catch a frisbee.”
Prospective dog owners would also be advised to do some research, particularly with larger breeds for whom hip dysplasia is most prevalent. If you’re adopting a dog, take note of their size and breed—and watch closely for signs of the health issues they’re most likely to face. If you’re going to a breeder, make sure they screen for common health disorders.
Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) health testing can help breeders determine the condition of their dogs’ hips, ensuring that they only breed dogs with hip joints rated “excellent,” “good,” or “fair.”
What’s the outlook for hip dysplasia?
Dogs with hip dysplasia can lead long, happy lives, especially when following appropriate diet, exercise, and treatment regimens. As with most other conditions, if you suspect hip dysplasia, the first step is to talk to your veterinarian and schedule a physical exam for your pet.
