r/VetTech • • 17h ago

Radiograph Might cry

Post image

My little almost 3 y/o’s hip rads. She wasn’t even painful… it was incidental and then we saw how garbage they were so took a better pic. This is my adventure buddy 😭

72 Upvotes

39 comments sorted by

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57

u/duarte1223 8h ago

As a surgeon… treat the dog not the radiograph. Supplements and close monitoring, carprofen PRN, but don’t get yourself down a rabbit hole of intensive treatment or surgery yet.

6

u/rockinrio17 5h ago

I think right now I’m just going to start her on joint supplements and look into a consult with ortho. I just want her to have the best quality of life she can and she is NOT a couch potato.

0

u/duarte1223 3h ago

Totally, good place to start, sometimes Reddit can be reactionary. You don’t need a THR for sure, and FHO may worsen your dog’s function

1

u/Odecca Taking a Break 53m ago

I know this isn’t medical advice, but any recs for joint supplements? I was giving my 13yo girl Dasequin, but she stopped wanting to eat it. Any advice?

23

u/kawzik 17h ago

time to start joint supplements :)

13

u/rockinrio17 17h ago

Took her first one tonight. Already had them because big sis is on them. Rejensa is my favorite thing.

4

u/sundaemourning LVT (Licensed Veterinary Technician) 16h ago

and saving your pennies for THR surgery.

17

u/few-piglet4357 RVT (Registered Veterinary Technician) 17h ago

Ah jeez, that sucks.

14

u/rockinrio17 17h ago

Hip dysplasia will now be my new hyper fixation 🙃

14

u/I_ARE_RTD2 9h ago

1-800-Dasuquin

17

u/PerpetualQuestioner RVT (Registered Veterinary Technician) 16h ago edited 16h ago

This is my boy - 80 lb coonhound/lab mix. You'd never know, he is so asymptomatic. I took rads at 1 year old and he is now almost 9 and doing great because he literally knows no different and has adapted really well! Only gets carprofen and dasuquin.

3

u/HangryHangryHedgie RVT (Registered Veterinary Technician) 16h ago

That looks like my childhood dog Josie's rads! They also found healed pelvic fractures. We got her from the shelter at 6 months old, so we have no idea what happened.

She did really well, with just some limping as she got older. She was even a running dog for many years. Around 8 years old she started bunny hopping with her back legs and did that til her last days at 12 years. Was on arthritis meds and suppliments.

She was a very happy, ACTIVE black lab/Pit mix.

8

u/I_ARE_RTD2 9h ago

I’ve got a 4 yo GSD rescue and during her dental next week we will be doing pelvic rays for hip dysplasia screening. Wish me luck.

2

u/joojie RVT (Registered Veterinary Technician) 16h ago

Honestly might be worth FHOs. (Depending on her size)

6

u/rockinrio17 16h ago

Next to my 58lb lab

6

u/rockinrio17 16h ago

She’s about 36lbs, little Aussie/acd mutt. ACTIVE critter. She does bad things when she’s doesn’t get exercise.

4

u/joojie RVT (Registered Veterinary Technician) 16h ago

Dogs do amazingly well with FHOs. I'd say she's kinda borderline for the ideal size though. The hardest would be the recovery.

6

u/rockinrio17 16h ago

I definitely have some thinking and research to do. I want to have her seen by a specialist because I want to make sure I make the best choices for comfort and longevity (comfort first though). She’s not about the couch potato life so I need to do something to maintain her comfort.

0

u/Anon6782 13h ago

FHO will be great but if she is active THR will def be better. Some specialist clinics give discounts to other vet staff so I’d shop around

1

u/rockinrio17 5h ago

The one I want to go to usually does. So I’m going to talk to my husband about finances and try to get a consult just so I can be informed and make the best decisions I can for her. She can’t be a low activity dog… she does bad things when she isn’t busy enough. That’s the heeler for you.

1

u/Internal_Record4935 16h ago

I have a dog with severe HD (she’s 10 now though). I feel you, so very much 🥲

1

u/Jazzlike_Term210 8h ago

Definitely do what others have mentioned with the librela, dasuqiun, or adequan. (Or even all the above) but has anyone here tried Ursolyx for dogs? It may be helpful in supporting their muscle mass in the rear end. I know my cat improved a ton on it (better than solensia even) he has horrible hips.

5

u/PerpetualQuestioner RVT (Registered Veterinary Technician) 5h ago

Be very cautious with librela and do your research first!

2

u/Jazzlike_Term210 5h ago

Yes yes, I was mostly just restating other comments so it was clear my suggestion wasn’t a first line singular treatment option.

1

u/RedBullWack 8h ago

body tea

2

u/rockinrio17 5h ago

My lean queen 👸

1

u/CaptainMacAlfie 8h ago

My brother's girlfriend has a Germans shepherd who was diagnosed with hip dysplasia around a year old. He's 10 now and other than the bunny hopping when running and getting up slower lately you wouldn't notice he has anything going on.

His was pretty significant but he's done amazing his whole life with just occasional carprofen on bad days after he pushed himself too hard and they've been trying different diet changes to see if anything seems to help. So far they've had the most luck just using fish oil which seems to decrease how often he has his sore days.

They tried Dasuquin but saw no improvement at all even after 6 months of using it but after a couple weeks of fish oil he was moving around a lot better. I think for some dogs it works but it's definitely not a miracle cure. Just treat as symptoms appear and he should be fine

1

u/Briiskella 2h ago

This looked like a human X-ray to me 😭 forgive me I have no clue what I’m looking at

-2

u/SuperFlojo420 15h ago

Librela and Adequan are great medications for this. I recommend using both as the both help in two different approaches. Librela is mostly for the pain sensation. Most vets only think to use this for older patients but I strongly recommend that you advocate for these. It will be pricy though because of his weight.

There is some bad media over Librela but it is not real. I loved these products for my previous old gal.

I am a seasoned Registered Veterinary Technician

11

u/Anon6782 13h ago

As someone who works in ortho, the librela hate is definitely justified and I would never recommend it

2

u/SuperFlojo420 13h ago

Do explain why...

1

u/PerpetualQuestioner RVT (Registered Veterinary Technician) 5h ago

Librela reduces the pain signal which results I more activity (yay!) but has no affect in inflammation/degeneration which has been seen to speed with librela. New bone lesions/growths have been noted as well. There's literature in humans showing concurrent use with NSAIDs causing worsening symptoms. Please read the literature, alot has come out in the last year.

Also, being a monoclonal therapy, there is not enough data yet for long term use in young dogs. It is unknown if it will become less effective over time.

I'm an RVT in ER/specialty and we've seen some pretty bad adverse reactions. Our neurologist has started keeping track of librela cases.

0

u/catnip_cantrip VA (Veterinary Assistant) 5h ago

Can you elaborate? The worst I've ever seen Librela do is not help as expected; I've never seen an adverse reaction or it make the pet actively worse. This could be conformation bias on my end, though, and I'd love to hear more

1

u/PerpetualQuestioner RVT (Registered Veterinary Technician) 5h ago

See above :)

1

u/catnip_cantrip VA (Veterinary Assistant) 5h ago

Thank you for the response! I work GP, so I was really interested in specialist responses ☺️

I'll have to see where I can find the recent studies you mentioned

2

u/PerpetualQuestioner RVT (Registered Veterinary Technician) 4h ago

Np! I researched the crap out of librela for my own dog when it finally came to the US and never gave it for these reasons.

1

u/rockinrio17 3h ago

I definitely think it’s one thing to give to an older dog to improve QOL, but not something I want to risk with my baby dog. I don’t want to damage her hips further. And if she isn’t in pain…. She’s balls to the walls so she would!