Jerry the incredible dysplasic dog!!
Jerry Springer (I didn’t name him!!) came in to my life on the 9th August 2003. He had been handed in to a vet in Ireland, having been found wandering the streets, and given the speed with which I have seen him polish off a pigeon, I guess he had become accustomed to looking after himself!! He then travelled to the UK and I picked him up from a small rescue in South Wales. He had been checked (and jabbed and neutered), by the vet in Eire, who guessed his age at between 2 and 3.
He is not your typical springer! He is incredibly quiet in the house – or at least he was until little Otto arrived, who has finally introduced him to the joys of playing! (It has only taken a year!) However, out on walks he is far more springer like – I once lost him for over 3 hours as he had gone off investigating something – Otto and I tend to walk around on our own, with Jerry “touching base” at regular intervals! His greatest joy in life is undergrowth – he hammers through it, flat out, having the time of his life.
This has caused problems in the past – notably the “thorns in the eye” incident, which triggered an extensive veterinary investigation in to an auto immune problem (but that’s another story!!) But, basically we were at the vets appx every 2 weeks or so from September 2003 to December 2003. So, when Jerry went lame in his left hind in January 2004, even the vet said “Oh Jerry, what have you done to yourself now?!” He examined him, said he thought that he had knocked his hip, and put him on Rimadyl – told me to rest him for a few days. Within 2 days he was sound again, so thought no more of it.
Life carried on as usual for Jerry – chasing rabbits, chasing deer, going AWOL, bouncing through the bracken, swimming in the lake – in the mistaken belief that he could outswim the ducks, and generally having fun.
One Sunday morning in January of this year (2005), I got up to find that Jerry could not walk. He struggled down stairs, and I took him and Otto out for their early morning walk (Jerry will not go to the toilet in the garden, bless him) – we struggled to get about 20 yards, whereupon he had a pee and indicated that he wanted to go home – absolutely unheard of. We had to stop twice before we got home and then he refused his breakfast – again, unheard of. I am lucky enough to have a really good friend whose husband is a vet, so I rang them to see if it was worth me taking Jerry to a vet – he offered to see him for me at the surgery, as he was going to be there anyway. I had to carry Jerry to the car, then from the car to the surgery. Once at the surgery we had to make him walk – he was crippled. Friend had a feel around and said he had done something to his hip – couldn’t tell what it was, but it was major – he also had a temperature, which was unusual. He was put on Rimadyl and antibiotics and I was told to monitor him. There was no significant improvement by Wednesday so friend booked him in for an X-ray on the Friday. The results of the X-ray were incredible – the vet I saw has since said that Jerry’s hips are probably the worst he has ever seen!! It is miraculous that the little dog had shown no symptoms at all (apart from the slight lameness in Jan 2004). His hips are completely malformed now – where the ball has been slipping around in the hip socket, arthritic degeneration has taken place. I wish I could show you the X rays – even to the layman like me they are amazing. The ball is like an overcooked cauliflower, and the socket like a relief map of the Andes!! How he moves at all is one of life’s great mysteries. Having read up on dysplasia I can with a clear conscience state that Jerry showed none of the classic symptoms – bunny hopping, peculiar gait etc – the lameness literally came on overnight. I have no idea what triggered it off either.
Jerry is currently on Rimadyl and is much improved from that first day, but is still lame – pending my insurance company’s agreement, it would seem that surgery is his best bet.
There are 2 possible surgical solutions:
1. is remove the head, or ball joint of the femur, and allow a false joint of connective tissue to form. I have my concerns about this, as his right hip is almost as bad as his left, and I worry that this will put too much strain on his right one; or
2. A hip replacement.
Current vet seems to favour controlling with drugs, but given that he is on 2 Rimadyl a day and is still lame, I can’t see this being a long term solution. He is also on “Mobility Support” food by Royal Canin, which includes green lip mussel, and is not allowed off lead – which, whilst it makes for a far less stressful walk (!), is breaking my heart.
So, at the moment, it is “watch this space”!! Despite it all Jerry is a very happy dog – still spins on circles when he sees me get his lead down, and still enjoys playfighting with Otto - there’ll be no stopping him if he gets new hips!!
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Poor Jerry, he has serious hip problems, but it hasn't stopped him enjoying life |