# Please help with 16 week old puppy xrays



## NewbieOwner (Jun 15, 2016)

Hi All, my first post and In really need help from people who can help me with this 16 week old puppies x-rays, Are they good or bad ? THanks so much I am very anxious...


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## alam (Sep 2, 2015)

normal hips for that age but that don´t means nothing your puppy is too young. repeat again when you puppy complete 1 year then again after another year.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Why did you have xrays done on a 16 week old? Were there issues? I'm not expert, they look fine to me. You could send them in to OFA for prelims and see what they say.


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

One knee is different than the other but I have no idea what that means -- as has been referenced "nothing" because it is too early to have xrays tell you anything.


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## NewbieOwner (Jun 15, 2016)

Thank you all so much for your replies. No problems at all with our girl, we went in for her booster vaccination and vet said she had hip dysplasia after stretching her back legs right back and she yelped, they x-rayed and said she had bad hip dysplasia and we need to operate (JPS surgery) straight away. After I showed our breeder they said hips looked perfectly normal for a 4 month old, but vet had an 'orthopaedic surgeon' look at x-rays and said we should go ahead with operation immediately. Anyone else had experience with this ?


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## Dunkirk (May 7, 2015)

I'd find another vet.


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## Xeph (Jun 19, 2005)

Your vet is an idiot. Legit.


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## Ryanhaus (Dec 9, 2010)

I agree with Xeph,

Run as fast as you can from that vet,
they are just looking to make money off you at the expense
of the poor little puppy!!!

Maybe start a new post looking for references of honest caring vets in your area.


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## Xeph (Jun 19, 2005)

It is truly rare for me to tell people to get another vet, because many times things are just a difference of opinion, and have no ill effect on the dog or its care. 

In this case, the vet is an idiot and I'd seek to switch. Shame, really. The positioning on those rads is stellar.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I'm not an expert with xrays unless there is something major to see, which I don't see here. 

I will say that I don't necessarily agree that xrays should wait and puppy's have loose hips, etc. In my personal experience working at the vet years ago I seen more then one pup have severe hip Dysplasia by 6 months old. One that stands out was a beautiful golden that couldn't even walk, because it was so bad. My own golden was only about 16 months when his hip dislocated. I often wonder if I could have caught thatwith a couple xrays earlier on. I always say go with your gut and if need be get a second opinion, but I won't ever say it's not possible to see hip Dysplasia in a young dog. Robyn(my female GSD) had looser hips, they always told me she will learn to control her back end, etc--she does have hip Dysplasia. My male GSD never had those same loose hips and X-rays showed good hips. Is there a connection there? It would be interesting to see how many pups that had obvious looser hips ended up with hip Dysplasia versus those that didn't have looser hips and ended up with hip Dysplasia?


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

No hip dysplasia there! I can't believe your vet would lie and put your puppy through major surgery for money.

These is so un-ethical, and even us lay-people can look at the x-rays and see that the hips are fine.


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## alam (Sep 2, 2015)

middleofnowhere said:


> One knee is different than the other but I have no idea what that means -- as has been referenced "nothing" because it is too early to have xrays tell you anything.


the positioning is not perfect so you see the diference on the knees is just one leg higher then the other.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

I would send this to the AVMA -- licensing body for veterinarians and ask them if they could check this out. My opinion is to wait, and do the x-rays again at 12 months. At the same time, provide good nutrition and proper exercise for healthy joints.


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## Syuydy (Jun 18, 2016)

Hi All,

thanks for you feedback, these have been the most difficult months of my life. 
My suspect about Moses hips have unfortunately being confirmed. we took xrays at almost 4 months but didn't show anything. 3 weeks ago Moses wasn't able to lift himself up from the floor. I called the vet again and they managed to give me an appointment with a specialist. He took the xrays of everything and Moses has hip dysplasia and also elbow dysplasia ( UAP).

he gave him metacam and now he's up again not perfect, he's still really unstable especially on his back legs.
He said if the dog gets better in 14 days I'll be more incline to do the elbows surgery otherwise I have to consider to put him down.
I have to call him today to let him know how he feels.
I have friends with dogs and all says I make a mistake to do the surgery that would be better for a 6months old to stop suffering now.

But I don't want to give up on him and it's not like "oh once gone you rreplace him" doesn't work that way.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

NewbieOwner said:


> Thank you all so much for your replies. No problems at all with our girl, we went in for her booster vaccination and vet said she had hip dysplasia after stretching her back legs right back and she yelped, they x-rayed and said she had bad hip dysplasia and we need to operate (JPS surgery) straight away. After I showed our breeder they said hips looked perfectly normal for a 4 month old, but vet had an 'orthopaedic surgeon' look at x-rays and said we should go ahead with operation immediately. Anyone else had experience with this ?



I would have "that" (first) vet reviewed . Exploitation of GSD owners' fears .
GRR.
Those hips look really nice. 
Send them off to OFA for a prelim report . 

In the meantime find another vet .


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## sebrench (Dec 2, 2014)

I'd get a second opinion from a vet experienced in orthopedics. A while ago, I took my boy, Asher, to the vet because he had been limping on and off for about two days. Our vet took x-rays and said that he had a bad elbow and needed surgery. When I asked to have the x-rays sent out to be read/confirmed by an ortho surgeon he said he would do that, and he told me to schedule another appointment in a week. In the meantime, Asher's limp went away. When I came in for the appt it was with another vet, and she said the original x-rays looked fine, and that the consult had never been sent (though it was deducted from my checking account). Also, they did not want to give me a copy of the x-ray.... took me about two tries before someone finally made me a CD. 

I ended up getting a second opinion from a vet recommended by our trainer. He said the elbow looked fine but was not positioned correctly for the xray. I got a second set of x-rays just to be on the safe side, and his elbows looked normal. I don't necessary think the first vet meant anything dishonest; perhaps he was just not good at reading x-rays, and since Asher is a GSD, assumed the worst. At any rate, I really like our new vet, and feel confident there. Asher just ended up having a very expensive strain. 

If your pup isn't showing any signs of discomfort, perhaps, you might want to find an orthopedic vet to give you a second opinion.


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## GatorDog (Aug 17, 2011)

Have you had he X-rays repeated?


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## mego (Jan 27, 2013)

Have you ruled out anything neurological with the dog not being able to get up?


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Wow, this doesn't sound like hip dysplasia at all. Wobblers? Exercise induced paralysis? Slipped disk -- really young for that though?

The thing is, with hip dysplasia, the long bones do not fit in the joint correctly. So, there is pressure building up between the bone and the joint. Arthritis develops, calcium deposits can build up in there, and bony matter rubs against bones instead of cartilage, and gets progressively more painful. I just don't think the puppy would not be able to get up off the floor one day. That is more like a slipped disk -- injury, where the dog, through inflammation and pressing on the nerve, the back legs are unable to move. And it can happen higher up too. 

Ununited Aconeal Process -- elbow dysplasia, is where the bones do not fuse together by 5 months of age. This will cause limping/pain. Hits dogs young. Often requires surgery. Can be genetic, can be caused by an injury. I have some questions about that. GSDs are a large breed and they develop slower than small breed dogs, but it seems across the board that the bones should fuse by 5 months. I have a bitch who will be 7 in March. She was given back to me just under 6 months, because the owner's kids caused an injury to the dog. They had her x-rayed, and they said UAP. Fine, I took her back with her x-rays, and her leg all swelled up. I took her and the x-rays to my vet, and she said, let's wait and see. 

I let her heal. She healed. She has not limped since. At all. Will she get arthritis there as she ages? Probably. But she would have if I operated too. So, I am in the camp that does not want to rush into operations. 

I am really skeptical about Hip Dysplasia causing what you have going on. Elbow dysplasia -- maybe. Obviously not in the back. The two are not related. A dog can have both, but there is no reason to think that if the dog does have one, he will have the other. 

I think the dog has enough symptoms at this point, to take this dog to a specialist, have x-rays done and find out exactly what is going on with the dog. There are so many things: spondylosis, spondylitis, DM, Lymes Disease? Wobblers. And probably others. There is a possibility, because the breed is so often associated with HD, to jump to that conclusion.


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

agree with what others have said. what you describe doesn't sound in any way like HD or ED. I would send those xrays to OFA to have them evaluated before taking any other steps.


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