Hip problems

Hi Everyone,

My 2 year old corgi starting limping after sleeping and we took her to the vet where after x-rays she was diagnosed with degenerate hip disease. Does anyone else have similar problems with their corgi? and how have you managed the pain?

It was suggested to try a series of injections because she is so young... and then surgery later on once she was older.

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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on October 26, 2012 at 12:16am

Are they suggesting Adequan injections? I would say get her on glucosamine/chondrotin and fish oil to help slow down the progression of arthritis and the fish oil is a nice natural anti-inflammatory. Hip surgery is a good idea too depending on the severity of the disease. Many dogs do great with an FHO (where they remove the head of the femur and scar tissue creates a false joint). I'd start with natural means to control the pain so you can progress to stronger stuff as the condition gets worse. Acupuncture also works really well for some dogs. My German Shepherd mix was diagnosed as a puppy with hip dysplasia but never had pain or discomfort until he was about 8 or 9 and we think it was because we put him on joint supplements once we knew he had bad hips. Also make sure your vet knows what corgi hips look like, they can look dysplastic when in fact they are normal for a corgi.

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Permalink Reply by Jane on October 26, 2012 at 9:13am

Did you take her to an orthopedic vet? Before I did any type of surgery I would at least get a second opinion. Unfortunately many vets are not familiar with corgi anatomy and misdiagnose hip dysplasia quite often.

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Permalink Reply by Geri & Sidney on October 27, 2012 at 3:57am

HI AimeeLou,

Sidney was three years old when his hip dislocated and he was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. He had the FHO surgery that Melissa mentioned and he's done awesome on it! You would never know he had hip problems now. He gets Dasuquin chews 3x a week for joint health. You can check out our page, scroll back to Autumn 2010 for blogs and videos about his recovery.

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Permalink Reply by AimeeLou on October 27, 2012 at 8:18am

Thanks for all the input! I'll definitely try to get a second opinion on the diagnosis. We are in Australia where corgis seem to be very rare so I might seek a second and possible third opinion. But it's great to know that there are things we can do if it is a genetic condition. The injections recommended where Adequan - we might try one trial and seem how she goes, unfortunately her limp is still present after resting even while being on an anti-inflammatory.