~ Merlin's Magic Page ~
Hope for Canine Hip Dysplasia?
This page is easily the most heart-warming and hope-enduring page here at Ailea's Place. Though Canine Hip Dysplasia is a devastating, genetic and environmental disorder responsible for a tremendous amount of pain, heartache and loss, through Merlin's experience (and that of others, Merlin certainly did not set a precedent!) I am hoping to cast a ray of light into the shadows that surround the issue - and the horrors - of Canine Hip Dysplasia.
Much has transpired over the years, since the beginning of Cyndee's and Merlin's saga. More information is available to you regarding early diagnosis and treatment of hip issues that might develop into dysplasia, and a huge range of canine medical providers have begun to recognize these "alternative" treatments as viable, valuable, and successful. I invite you to visit Canine Physical Rehabilitation On The Web. This particular canine rehab center is located in Arizona, but offers information regarding treatments available, and gives you an opportunity to read about their success stories, including a FAQ packed with much valuable information on the subject.
I also invite you to visit the University of Tennessee whose web site sponsors training the physical therapists and rehab specialists qualified to do this type of rehabilitative work, which also includes a list of those veterinarians and physical therapists around the country who have been trained and are qualified to provide this type of alternative treatment.
I am Amy, Merlin's breeder, and the following is narrative composed by Cyndee Walklet, Merlin's human mama. Within these words I hope you see a glimpse of the hope to which I allude. I had hoped to have documenting narrative from Merlin's veterinarian and massage therapist, but these are likely not forthcoming at this point.
Enjoy the telling of Merlin's Magic, take care, keep the hope, and accept hugs from Amy, Cyndee and, of course, Merlin himself! And don't forget to return, and share fully in all the joy and hope that will be offered to you here. I do promise, we WILL deliver!
Cyndee writes:
Late March 1999
Saturday morning and Merlin woke me up shivering and acting afraid to move.
After going over him carefully I narrowed the 'owie' area down to his right hind
leg and I called the vet so I could run down and have him checked out.
After examination, my vet felt he had pulled his stifle and put him on a 10-day course of bute (doggie aspirin) and R&R. No jumping, no running. Every night I picked him up and put him between me and the wall on the bed so he could at least sleep where he normally does. He was crated during the day except for the days I brought him to work with me. The joys of carrying a 32-pound dog up and down the stairs! <<VBEG>>
My concern at this point (beyond getting him well of course) was being able to get him ready for his Novice class at Nationals. (Little did I know at that point that my entry had been sent to the WRONG club, so we had no entry after all.)
He only appeared to be sore on his leg for about 2-3 days with an occasional skip or limp and then came back fully sound after the 10 days.
Late
April 1999
We're at the Nationals and only need to be concerned with seeing if Merlin would
like to herd WOOLIES. He did. :-) I brought some anti-inflammatories with me in
case he managed to pull that leg again, but they weren't necessary. Up and down
the steps several times a day at the beach house with no problems.
Mid-May
1999
Merlin came back from playing with his sisters on 3 legs after a very loud YIPE.
Same leg. After a few minutes he was standing sound on that leg again having
apparently forgotten that he'd hurt himself.
Late
May 1999
I've seen Merlin skip with that hind leg several times and have heard a YIPE or
two when he puts it down wrong when he's running and cutting up with the girls,
but he's not come back with it in the air.
June
15, 1999
We've had some intermittent limping and skipping the past week or so. Time to
get it checked again.
I took him in yesterday and the vet did a hip series on him. His right hip ball isn't sitting as deeply in the socket as it should. Under anesthesia there was just a tiny bit of play there which my vet felt would be normal if the ligaments had been stretched.
My vet said perhaps there is some calcification behind the ball caused by his initial injury and that's why the ball is sitting out farther than it should. He's on anti-inflammatory drugs again and a regimen of physical therapy where I work the hip while pressing the ball into the socket to try and help break up whatever is behind there. He's to return to the vet in a few weeks for a follow-up.
I know the last thing I want to hear is the "D" word. Dysplasia. I told my vet he's not allowed to say it. He says we'll see what happens with the PT.
We don't know the prognosis... it could be his serious performance career could be done before he's really gotten started. I'm hopeful with the PT and exercises geared to strengthening his hip, we might be able to get back into the ring sometime in the future, but if it doesn't happen, he'll still be my best boy and continue to do his most important job - pet therapy (besides being my constant shadow).
Tuesday,
July 13, 1999
Back to the vet (just me this time) to sit down and talk. I've had time to
adjust myself to what is probably the diagnosis and time to accept that my
wonderfully talented little man may never get to compete as he deserves. It IS
the "D" word. Dysplasia. My vet put his arms around me when I cried. I
came back to my office and I cried. I called Amy and cried. I cried all
afternoon.
Then I pulled myself together and started getting rational. The next few weeks were as follows as in my post to Sheltie List on July 28.
Hip Dysplasia - A Ray of Hope...
This is a really difficult post for me as putting it down on "paper" drives the reality completely home. My marvelous, magical Merlin who is 18 months old was x-rayed and found to have hip laxity (more in the right hip than in the left) leading to a diagnosis of mild dysplasia.
He originally showed lameness to the point of being off his right hind for several days back in March. We (my vet and I) thought he had pulled a ligament in his knee and he was placed on an anti-inflammatory for 10 days and rested. He showed no signs of lameness after the first few days and went back to restricted exercise in the weeks before Nationals. In May, he was playing with the girls, stepped wrong, yelped and came back to me on 3 legs. He was fine after an hour or so. That happened again in the beginning of June. I'd notice a skip or a bunny hop every now and then, but for the most part, he seemed sound and fine. After the last incident, I decided to get his hips done and was given the bad news that his hip balls are not sitting tightly in the sockets - just partially. This is my little man who has shown SUCH promise for obedience and took to herding like a duck to water. I'd been so careful - no jumping - no stressing the joints until I was sure he was done growing - so we were waiting to start agility. My heart was broken. My puppy was broken. I cried. Amy cried. After getting through the initial anger (why is this happening to MY dog??!!?) and shock, I pulled myself together and started thinking. He has no real damage to the joints themselves and the problem is caused by laxity in the muscles. (1) Why couldn't we tighten the muscles that weren't doing their job; and (2) I started him on supplements immediately to keep those joints protected and prevent further damage from being done - Ester C, chondroitin, and glucosamine, and (3) I contacted a massage therapist in our area that works on both humans and animals to have him check out Merlin to hopefully get some exercises that would help.
Stuart went over Merlin and went almost immediately to his problem. The muscles running down the insides of his legs are constricted, thus pulling on the hip joints. He worked on Merlin for about 45 minutes and said he could feel some loosening of those muscles and then showed me what I needed to do every night for getting this sorted out. We spend 30 minutes each night on massage - Mer flat on his back on the bed with me and I work on loosening up all that tangled mess. He's back on free exercise and able to play with his sisters.
Stuart has been doing this for the past 30 years so he's not without experience. His feeling is with some time, we'll be able to get those inner muscles loosened, Merlin will begin to regain muscle mass in that right leg, his hips will go back into proper alignment and we'll end up with a butt like a quarter horse - in other words... he'll be fine, normal, able to compete, healthy, free of pain.
I listened to those words 3 weeks ago and first sighed, and then smiled realizing what he was saying. My little dog was going to be OK - without having surgery. Was it possible? I went back to my vet and talked with him about what we had planned. He's an open-minded guy toward alternative therapies and is in full support of what we are doing. In theory, the whole thing made logical sense.
I'd planned on getting x-rays in about 3 months if he showed improvement and then posting up results of what we were doing in the hopes it might help some other dog. Two things changed my mind on that.
These are of Merlin enjoying his massage
therapy. Cyndee calls these
"Merlin's Massage Thrall" and I think that says it all!
Cyndee continues:
Yesterday I ran across a web site where a woman described exactly what I'm going through with Merlin - only it was her Golden puppy. He had laxity in both hips and was diagnosed with mild dysplasia by the top hip man at UC Davis. She followed much the same treatment plan and supplements as we've outlined for Merlin with good results. In fact, she had x-rays taken after her Golden reached two years and sent them to OFA. The results came back yesterday (of all days) and you know what his rating is? GOOD! No sign of dysplasia. I'll include a link to her website, for those who are interested, at the end of my post. The second thing was seeing Stuart again today and getting a progress report on how Merlin is doing. It's only been three weeks and he's showing marked improvement in muscle mass and those pesky muscles on the inside of his legs are relaxing. We're going to continue with our current plan and see if we can add in some swimming also. I'm still planning on interim x-rays maybe in October and then we'll OFA after the first of the year when he turns two.
Does this mean that if hip laxity leading to HD is caught early, it can be turned around? I don't know, but we're sure gonna try. If folks are interested, I'll keep a diary similar to Christine's and try to keep those interested informed of his progress. My point is, if this DOES work, maybe it will keep some dogs from having to undergo surgery and offer some hope to worried moms and dads like me.
Here's the URL to Christine's web site: http://www.hsutopia.com/hd.html. Go and meet her wonderful Golden boy Cooper.
So there was a little grain of truth in that poem I posted last week about HD - my feelings upon hearing the diagnosis, the helplessness of possibly watching my active, athletic boy become crippled as he grew older - that was all very true. Merlin is in no way like the little bitch in the poem. He's active, sound, and VERY happy (especially about getting 30 minutes of massage every night). My job - my goal - is to keep him that way. He continues to improve and I pray that it stays that way.
Send us some good vibes!
Monday,
August 23, 1999
We went back to the vet for a checkup and I was able to send this good news to
list members:
I promised to keep folks apprised of Merlin's progress, good or bad, through this alternative treatment of massage therapy and supplements we've been trying for early HD.
I'm sitting here with tears running down my face.
Happy tears.
Merlin was to the vet this morning for his first doctor check since we began therapy a little over two months ago. I'm just gonna go to the bottom line here...
The treatment is WORKING! He has no evidence of any pain. He has no evidence of any hip laxity. He has full rotation, extension and mobility. His hip joints are TIGHT. I don't know who is more excited - my vet or me.
We're continuing on with present treatment. Massage, stretching, exercise. He still needs some additional building in the quads, but that will come with a little more time.
I'm gonna go get him a bacon-double-cheeseburger for his special lunch :)
Friday,
September 17, 1999
Took Merlin to see Stuart and have him checked. He's not seen him in a few weeks
and even though Merlin hasn't shown any signs of pain or limping, it would be
nice to have him looked at from the therapist's point of view. Stuart said he
couldn't be happier with the way Merlin has come along. He didn't expect to see
such an improvement in such a short period of time.
Mer was happy to go through his paces for Stuart - first some obedience work and then playtime with his Frisbee, leap in the air with all four legs off the ground that this is the same dog of two months ago. He feels REALLY good!
Wednesday,
September 29, 1999
I had Merlin to the vet today for just a check and so my vet could add to his
record (he's gonna publish this boy's treatment and
progress when this is all said and done).
Verdict... His butt muscles are nice and tight - gluts are equal and quads are within 97% of being equal. The pectineus tendons are limber and flexible. Hips are tight - no laxity present.
Everyone is happy :) No HD.
He's continuing on his massage (just cause he likes it and I'm being extra careful) and his supplements of 500 mg Glucosamine/Chondroitin per day and he's on a maintenance of 1000 mg Ester C a day. Exercise is what he wants to do - Frisbee, running, playing and back to serious obedience work. I put him on concrete for the first time last Wednesday at class and he flew through with no stiffness or after effects. I'm NOT going to jump him on concrete... I'll keep that for at home with the soft grass and turf.
Saturday,
October 16, 1999
We had a seminar at my office for folks to learn from Stuart how to massage
their dogs. It was a great day full of learning and Stuart got a chance to go
over Merlin at the very end. He does have "quarter horse" butt muscles
now. :-) We're all happy with the way things are going.
I admit I watch him like a hawk when he runs, climbs or jumps - watching for any little sign that things aren't right in those joints. Maybe I'm being paranoid. I mentioned to Stuart that I thought I had seen a little hitch once or twice while he was running, twisting and turning. Stuart said that is to be expected and to let the poor little dog continue to heal in his own time. :-) It's hard being patient.
Wednesday,
October 28, 1999
Merlin was at the vet today for his annuals and hip check. Hips are looking
good. We're going to continue with current therapy just as maintenance.
Note
from Amy
One thing I think Cyndee should have mentioned and didn't was, when she was
finally able to sit with the vet and discuss the reality of the "D"
word, the very first thing the vet suggested to her as an early, preventive
treatment (to hopefully stop development of full-blown dysplasia) was surgery. I
cannot begin to describe how thrilled I am as a dog person, as a Sheltie breeder
- Merlin's breeder - and as Cyndee's friend, that turning this around WITHOUT
surgery was so simple as what she describes to you here on this page.
Did I tell you we would offer HOPE????
So ANYone, it seems, judging by Merlin's success and the success of Cooper, the Golden to whom Cyndee makes reference, as well as that which is given in the other web sites whose URL addresses appear in this writing, that anyone willing to get a preliminary x-ray (like between 12 and 18 months) can, if that x-ray indicates a laxity in the hip joints that could easily develop into full-blown dysplasia, STOP the development of this heart-breaker, eliminate the need for such "preventive" surgeries, and wind up with GOOD hips, happy, pain-free.
I DID tell you we would offer HOPE, didn't I????
I think it has been a hope long in coming. And like I've said before and will say again over and over - Miracles happen EVERY day. We just need but open our eyes to recognize them.
And
finally, though it is impossible for me to express fully just how grateful I am,
might I please be allowed to say, Cyndee is THE BEST mama. Thank you, Cyndee,
for everything, but mostly, for Merlin.
Pictured left are Merlin, the ultimate therapy dog, and little Hope Kitty, who he has always taken great pains to comfort. Whadda dog!
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