Elbow (ED) or hip dysplasia (HD)

Rapid growth, weight gain, accidents and inherited factors can play a role in both elbow and hip dysplasia. Both diseases affect young animals and can impair the development of joint cartilage and proper joint positioning.

Possible Signs of Canine Hip Dysplasia

• Difficulty getting up from a lying or sitting position
• Moving both rear legs together while walking
• A painful reaction to extension of the rear legs
• Dropping of pelvis after pushing on rump
• An aversion to touch
• A stilted gait or pelvic swing while walking
• Stance-hunching back & avoiding extending hips
• A change in behavior
• Whining
• Reluctance to walk, climb stairs, jump, or play
• Lameness after strenuous exercise

Dr. Sherelyn Allen writes - "Neapolitan puppies have a tough time getting around in the first year of their life. Everything on them is loose - their skin, their tendons, their joints. they grow so fast and become so heavy that their lax tendons and liaments barely hold their bones together. The instability of these loose joints is reason for the joints to become truamatised easily. Invariabbly, the Neo puppy begins to limp at 6 months of age. he often sags down on his pasterns and his toes splay. Then he limps from behind, and the first diagnosis everyone makes is hip dysplasia. Xrays invariably show loose joints. Sometimes the heads of the femurs are away from the sockets. veterinarians and owners alike immediately jump to the diagnosis of doom. LET'S HOLD ON, AND BACKTRACK"(read the last paragraph again)

It's hard to ignour a 6 month old puppy who is limping but he is more likely to be limping because of myopathies (growing pains) or generalised pain in all the joints associated with low thyroid hormone and abnormal collagen synthesis. Excersise actively when you are not used to it...and you will limp too!! so WAIT and give him metacam and a joint supplement, crate him so that his movement is restricted for a while and hopefully by 12 months of age things should be back to normal and the growing pains will stop".(Extracts taken from pgs 215-217, of The Official Book of The Neapolitan Mastiff by Sherelyn Allen, 1995.)

Anatomy

Literally, hip dysplasia means "badly formed hip". In unaffected dogs there is a good fit between ball and socket. However, if ligaments fail to hold the round knob at the head of the thighbone in place in the hip socket, the result is a loose, unstable joint, in which the ball of the femur slides free of the hip socket. Swelling, fraying, and rupture of the round ligament follows. This laxity causes excessive wear on the cartilage in the hip joint, eventually resulting in arthritis.