Hip Dysplasia: Treatment part 1

This post is not going to be an easy one to write. I could literally write the whole book dedicated to the alternative ways for treating hip dysplasia. Well, anyway, I will try to be brief and give you information that hopefully will be of some use.

This post is for all of you, guys, who actually failed to prevent hip dysplasia and now is in search for an alternative treatment or remedy for your young dog.

Hip dysplasia affected one of my dogs. It happened a little over 3 years ago. I had a large breed puppy and knew very little on the subject of hip dysplasia. All I knew was that the ailment had to be a genetic desease and that if my puppy's parents were all screened for hip dysplasia and werent' affected, I had nothing to worry about. Well, I was so wrong...

My puppy became symptomatic (started walking with a limp) at the age of 10 months. Since she was around 6 months old, we allowed the puppy running around  and playing with the neighbour's dog. In the end we are in the vet's office taking x-rays. The puppy had a limp, on one of the rear legs. She wouldn't even step on one of her rear legs, she was in pain.

The vet looks at the x-rays and says how sorry he is for us and for the puppy. He says 'unilateral hip dysplasia'. I was so sad, I just wanted to shoot myself in the head. Oh god, that was a horrible feeling! He suggested that we should wait and see how it goes and how quickly the condition worsens, but admitted that we needed to prepare ourselves for putting down the puppy in a short period of time. He gave us no hope at all. The vet said that the chance for her to be able to have a normal active life equalled zero. I just wanted to break down and cry at that point. That was the LAST thing I was going to do. No way I would put my lovely precious puppy down!

About a week of crying and feeling increadibly sorry for my poor puppy I decided that I was going to find the treatment. My research began. Books, articles, internet forum discussions, I just needed more than I could possibly find in order to save my puppy's life and maybe even I needed a miracle.

I had some financial problems at that moment, and could not afford expensive holistic therapies, chiropractors or other methods. All I could try was actually meds and supplements.

My supplement number one turned to be 'Arthramine' by International Veterinary Sciences.
The second one was vitamin C in the non-acidic form - Sodium Ascorbate powder.
The third one - Bromelain.

I discontinued interactions with the neighbour's dog and took my puppy on short walks every single day. We would normally walk for 10 minutes, then increased to 20 minutes a day. I tried to avoid sidewalks, we mostly walked on the grassy parts of the street.

I also massaged the puppy's leg every evening.

A month passed and the limp became a lot less noticeble. After 2 months my puppy was walking firmly on all four legs. After half a year she was perfectly asymptomatic!

Some time later I discovered colostrum and started adding it to her 'treatment program'. We just continued walking, even sometimes jogging. No more limping! My puppy was not in pain anymore.
I will write later about how it went with my puppy in more detail. For now I will say one thing - this treatment program worked for us. The young dog regained mobility without further damage to her joints. And we even took an x-ray of her hips at the age of 2 years old to make sure her condition wasn't worsening.

We used 'Arthramine' for the first 3 months. After that I just bought similar dog supplements that contain not only Glucosamin but Chondroitin, MSM, green lipped mussel extract and some more beneficial extral for the joint health. Anyway, the first three months did help a lot, there was a visible difference - month after month.

Bromelain is a pineapple enzyme and is highly recommended for the joint health. It reduces inflammation in a safe, natural way. I gave it to my pup in between her meals.

Here is a link to 'Arthramine':



And here is Bromelain: