Palliative Hip Dysplasia Treatment
Let’s say that your dog has hip dysplasia and you can’t afford surgery, or it’s not the right time in the dog’s life to treat things surgically. Your responsibility as a dog owner is to keep the dog comfortable and provide as full a life as possible. After all, the dog doesn’t know why it’s in pain, it’s not the dog’s fault it’s in pain, and it’s really not fair to your companion to let them live in constant pain without knowing why. Since dogs can’t be responsible for taking medicine and limiting their movement themselves, it’s up to you as a dog owner. These are all things that I’ve done with Eowyn to help keep her very advanced case of dysplasia from getting worse.
Palliative treatments for hip dysplasia revolve around treating and/or limiting the inflammation, arthritis, and the resulting pain. I’m going to split this into two areas. First, let’s discuss what you can do to reduce the pain and inflammation and keep arthritis from building up. Second, we’ll discuss what you can do to make your dog’s life better. These are just the things that worked for Eowyn — I’m not a vet, and your dog should definitely be under the care of one if you suspect that he or she has hip dysplasia!
Inflammation will happen no matter what. Just the simple act of getting up and moving around will cause your dog some pain and discomfort. The number one thing that you need to do is limit your dog’s movement. For Eowyn, who is a very very active puppy, this has meant a lot of kennel rest whenever I can’t supervise her, and absolutely no running at all. The second thing has been a maintenance dose of a Non-Steroid Anti Inflammatory Drug (aka NSAID), Rimadyl, and an occasional dose of a narcotic painkiller, Tramadol, on days when the weather or some activity has made her feel worse. Last, she gets food and treats that’s supplemented with glucosamine and other supplements designed to help lubricate joints and provide resources for her body to repair it.
The no running point is very important. Shocks (such as jumping off a couch or running) are really bad for a hip dysplasia dog’s hips — the biggest problem with hip dysplasia is the head of the femur continuing to ‘mushroom’ outwards. Limiting these shocks is important. If you let your dog up on the couch, make sure that there’s stairs or a ramp. Same with the bed. Train them to use the ramp or stairs to get up and down. (Stairs can be ordered online or bought at any pet supply store.)
To make Eo’s life better, we’ve been taking lots of short walks to strengthen her hip, back, thigh, and stomach muscles. The more muscle she has and the more flexible her tendons, the more she can support the joint using muscles instead of allowing the bones to contact, and the easier and faster her recovery should be after surgery. Swimming is also a good therapy. Some owners have reported a lot of success with different type of massage, or if there’s a facility near you, 
some time on a water treadmill might be the best way to do some structured physical therapy with your pup. In Eo’s case, we walk a mile in the morning and at least a mile in the evening. We go straight home if I notice that she’s in any pain. In the beginning, I overdid it a bit, but now I can tell pretty easily when she’s going to tucker out so that I can start back home before she’s in pain. If we weren’t scheduled for surgery this week, I would probably start having her carry a bottle of water in a doggy backpack so that we could go farther afield at night.
Eowyn goes under the knife tomorrow (the 28th) — I’ll post pictures when she’s home.