Canine Hip Dysplasia (CHD) is a very complex disorder. It can affect not only the hip joints but also the elbows, shoulders and even the joints between the vertebrae. Hip Dysplasia is a horrible genetic disease because of the varying degrees of arthritis (also referred to as degenerative joint disease, arthrosis, osteoarthrosis) it can eventually produce, causing extreme pain and debilitation. Hip Dysplasia is polygenic (involves many different genes) and multifactorial (influenced by many non-genetic factors). Hip dysplasia must be recognized as not just one disease buy many, which together result in degenerative effects on the joints. There are multiple environmental factors such as caloric intake, level of exercise, and weather that can affect the severity of clinical signs and radiographic changes.

Certified free of CHD

X-rays are taken by a veterinarian and submitted to the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) where they are evaluated by three different radiologists. Ratings are given as follows: excellent, good, fair, borderline dysplastic, mild dysplasia, moderate dysplasia, severe dysplasia based on a concensus of the 3 radiologists. The hip grades of excellent, good and fair are within normal limits and are given OFA numbers. If the dog is over 24 months of age when x-rayed and is not found to be dysplastic, you will receive an OFA certification number, which is entered into their database and becomes public knowledge. If the dog is under 24 months, you will receive a preliminary report; no certification number is issued.

Keep in mind that, unfortunately, a vet will often suggest that x-rays of dysplastic or borderline dysplastic dogs not be sent to OFA, consequently the data compiled by OFA is biased toward normal. Also keep in mind that even though both sire and dam may be certified free of CHD is no guarantee that the puppies will be free of the disease.

Statistics

To give you some idea of how few dogs are actually x-rayed, of the 40 million dogs registered by the AKC in the last 20 years, only 1% of those registered have been x-rayed and evaluated by OFA. This number covers all breeds. Scary? You bet it is! Now let's look at the number of Dobermans evaluated by OFA. From January 1974 to December 2000 only 10,007 Dobermans have been evaluated by OFA and from those evaluated 16.7% are excellent and 6.3% are Dysplastic. Now that looks pretty good right? Again, these numbers and percentages cover Dobermans from all over North America not just Canada or BC. Does it still look pretty good? How many Dobermans have been born in this period of time? How many have been used for breeding?  Let's do a comparison with other breeds such as Rottweilers and Golden Retrievers. In the same period of time, 78,306 Rottweilers were evaluated with 7.5% evaluated as excellent and 20.9% as being Dysplastic. In the same time frame 88,126 Goldens were evaluated and 3.2% were found to be excellent and 21.% Dysplastic. These numbers make the Dobermans look pretty good don't they? I don't believe that, because not enough Dobermans have been evaluated to do an honest comparison.

How do we improve these statistics? Breeders need to x-ray their bitches and need to breed only to dogs that have been certified free of CHD. Further to that, breeders need to refuse to breed to dogs that have not been certified free. Buyers, you need to ask breeders to see certification that the breeders have been conscientious in their breeding programs. Buyers, you can also look up the parents of that cute little puppy you are thinking of purchasing to ensure that the breeder is being honest with you. All you need to look up the results or get a certificate number of the parents, is the parents registered names. Any dog that has been issued a certification number is on the OFA data base and it is public knowledge. Buyers, make sure your breeder is in the 1% who does test and not in the 99% who do not test. Educate yourself before you purchase that cute, cuddly little bundle of joy. Canine Hip Dysplasia does not kill our Dobermans, but it certainly can cripple your pet for life and cause it extreme pain and you a lot of heartache and vet. bills to make your pet comfortable and pain free.

Trends in Hip Dysplasia

Dobermans evaluated in or before 1980 compared to those done in 1987-88 and 1994-95.

In or before 1980 there were 2415 Dobermans evaluated with 12.5% that were excellent, 8.2% that were dysplastic. In 1987-88 there were 866 done with 18.2% that were excellent and 5.4% were dysplastic. In 1994-95 there were 644 done with 19.3% excellent and 4.9% dysplastic. This data shows a 54.4% increase in those that were evaluated as excellent and a 40.2% decrease in those that were dysplastic. Now this may sound good but look at the difference in the totals that were evaluated. This is not good as there are seemingly less and less dogs being evaluated.

Testing

I have told you how OFA reaches their ratings decisions. There is another test available through the University of Pennyslvania Hip Improvement Program (PennHIP). This test uses x-rays to identify and quantify hip laxity (looseness) by actual measurements rather than subjective visual impressions. Hips are then given a number rather than a pass/fail. All x-rays, whether obviously dysplastic or not, must be submitted thereby ensuring a more accurate analysis of breed incidence. According to some literature, OFA is valuable but PennHIP gives more accurate information and likely will be "state of the art" until and if, genetic markers are identified and DNA tests are available.

The options are open to all breeders to discover for themselves.  Again, as potential puppy buyers, please, ask the breeder to provide testing results on any puppy you are thinking of acquiring.  Ask for a copy of the test results.

Treatment Options and general guidlines

Keep your dog lean as this will help prevent the dog from becoming overweight, reducing mechanical stresses applied to the hip joints. Ribs should be easily palpated and there should be an indentation in the waist line.

Controlled exercise will help prevent or alleviate the inflammatory process that leads to the pain associated with arthritis which is secondary to CHD. Exercise should start with short leash walks and gradually increase until the dog reaches the desired level of activity without clinical signs such as lameness or obvious pain. Swimming exercises are great because it is a non-weight bearing exercise and is a means of maintaining muscle tone and range of motion without putting undue stress on the joint.

Keep the dog warm. Warmth tends to help control the pain of arthritis from hip dysplasia. The pain tends to be worse in the damp or cold of winter.

Provide a well-padded and warm bed for your dog as this will help relieve some of the pain associated with osteoarthritis.

Drug treatments

The use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) are pain relievers. Some are Buffered aspirin, EtoGesic, and Rimadyl are only a few of these which can be used during acute bouts of lameness. These drugs reduce the inflammatory process and thus reduces pain. These drugs can be given an hour before exercise. Keep in mind that this classification of drugs can cause vomiting, diarrhea and loss of appetite due to the fact that they are very hard on the stomach. They should be given with food to avoid untoward effects.

There are oral disease-modifying osteoarthritis agents known as nutraceuticals on the market. Some of them are Cosequin, SynoviCre, Glycoflex, Arthramine, MaxiFlex Pet. These drugs take about one month to reach therapeutic levels in the blood stream.

There are also injectable disease-modifying osteoarthritis agents such as Adequan. These are injected directly into the joint, vein or muscle and have a more rapid therapeutic effect.

Surgical interventions are also available. You can also find alternative treatment methods through veterinarians who practice alternative medicine. Whatever method of treatment you choose, you should consult with your veterinarian. Do some research and educate yourself to give your dog the best options of care.

I am not a Doctor or Veterinarian but I do have a Nursing and Pharmacy background. My motto is "do for your pet or best friend what you would do for your child".

For more information on canine hip dysplasia see these sites: