Just wanted to share. Myrika is a week over 20 months of age and was recently spayed on the 7th of this month. We chose to have her hips x-rayed while she was under. Turns out she has severe/advanced hip dysplasia. We saw the x-rays...it is very clear that the head of femur (ball) has hardly any coverage from the acetabulum (socket). The bones are not smooth like they should be...they are jagged, indicating arthritis.
Right now, Vet recommendations are for her to be on glucosamine for the rest of her life. Surgical options were explained to us, should it be necessary in the future (need to start saving mula now). The Vet did not push surgery on us. We are of course devastated but are also well aware that she can lead a very good life with this condition and are remaining positive.
At this point, she is not showing any major suffering from pain. All of this ice we've been having doesn't help though...she has shown pain from continually trying to keep her balance and hind end stable when going out to potty - in that case, we try to keep an area easily accessible for her.
She will be receiving regular massage therapy from me and hopefully I can get her into a hydrotherapy pool in the near future.
She is currently getting Next Level joint pellets but I was told by the breeder that the ester-c (which is an inactive ingredient) has calcium which in her opinion Myrika should not have. The Vet approved the joint pellets. Breeder recommends Cosequin DS which I am familiar with (in regard to horses). In addition, we also have Metacam on hand for pain relief and as an anti-inflammatory if and as needed. She has already been getting omegas from fish oil.
I have been making very good use of the search function on the forum. There are many good threads here discussing hip dysplasia, cosequin, etc. I thank you for that! And, in advance, for any other thoughts or experiences you'd be willing to share.