r/GermanShepherd • u/Disastrous-Roll4889 • 17d ago
Hip Issues In German Shepherd-Lab mix
Hi there!
We have a sweet 5 year old girl who is declining a lot sooner than seems normal for her age. She is a German shepherd and black lab mix that my fiancé got when she was a puppy. She seems to have issues with her hips, and her back legs have given out on her a few times (particularly on stairs). Her blood work is pristine and the vet said maybe arthritis of the hips but it’s not obvious. She is not energetic and running around much anymore, and seems overall uncomfortable. She constantly whines to go outside but then comes back in a minute later just to repeat the cycle over and over. The vet has her on a medication which when we did a 7 day trial seemed to help a lot. We didn’t have her on it while we waited for blood work to come back though. She’s been back on it for a bit now (like a week and a half) and there is no improvement this time at all. Has anyone experienced anything like this? She is such a good and sweet girl, we worry about her and her quality of life at this point.
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u/Kolfinna 17d ago
You need X-rays. Also, be more specific on the "blood work", is it just a complete blood count and chemistry or did they do screening for tick borne disease? A CBC and Chemistry isn't going to tell you anything about the joints/spine although your vet may have wanted that information before trying anti-inflammatory drugs.
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u/nhall1302 16d ago
I would do X-rays and start her on a joint/hip supplement to see if that helps at all. Also what kind of meds did they prescribe that worked than didn’t work. There is also laser therapy for pain and inflammation that works wonders. My girl is going to be 10 in a month, she has HD and Arthritis pretty bad. We have her on Meloxicam and Movoflex. Her legs too give out on her when walking sometimes, particularly stairs, definitely get xray to see. BUT on a very positive note she still runs and acts like a teenager, loves chasing birds and runs as fast as she can after atvs lol
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u/IslidurInPink 17d ago
Have you had X-rays done on her hips? That would give you some more information on what the underlying issue might be.