1st May 2006

Moses is a 20-month-old Airedale with hip dysplasia. What the best thing is I can do for him, to help strengthen his hips?

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Question:

Moses is a 20-month-old Airedale with hip dysplasia. He had the muscles in his back legs cut when he was a young pup and this helped. What the best thing is I can do for him, to help strengthen his hips? I feed him Science Plan low-calorie, to help keep his weight down, and give him various Denes herbal tablets as well as Athrotabs. Is there anything else I could be doing?

Answer:

Unfortunately, there are no specific treatments for this condition - it is certainly a question of making Moses cope with the condition as best he can. It is very important that he is not over-exercised; he should do little and often. Instead of a half-hour walk he should have six five-minute walks. At the very least, carefully supervise his exercising so that he does not do too much. It is also important to make sure that he doesn't get too heavy, as being overweight will force the hip joints to do too much work. If his hips are so bad that there is very little chance of them settling down with time, he may be a candidate for a total hip replacement operation. You should perhaps discuss this with your vet - but be warned that it is an extremely expensive operation that can only be carried out at a few specialist referral centres around the country.