Hello, and welcome to our website dedicated to our love of dogs – PupsterPassion.com.
In this post, we will explain how you can look after and help a dog that is suffering from canine hip dysplasia.
But before we dive into the details of this condition, in another post, we wrote about how canine a wheelchair can be a big help for a disabled dog. You might find it an interesting read.
Table of Contents
- What are the Best Ways of Helping a Dog with Hip Dysplasia?
- Keep in Regular Contact with Your Vet
- If Your Dog is Overweight Help it to Shed Some Fat
- Buy the Dog an Orthopedic Dog Bed
- Apply Heat to the Affected Hips
- Use Gentle Exercise to Reduce the Pain and Increase Mobility
- Give the Dog a Diet High in Certain Nutrients
- Massage the Hip Muscles
- Try Canine Hydrotherapy for Dogs
- Give the Dog Lots of Love and Cuddles
What are the Best Ways of Helping a Dog with Hip Dysplasia?
If your dog is suffering from hip dysplasia, then there are lots of really effective things that you can do to alleviate its suffering:
Keep in Regular Contact with Your Vet
As with any concerns about your pet dog’s health and well-being (such as dogs with hip dysplasia), your local vet should always be the first port of call.
They are professionally trained and qualified to help you look after and care for the dog in the best way possible.
The veterinarian will do a thorough check for symptoms of hip dysplasia and any other potential issues that might need medical attention.
If Your Dog is Overweight Help it to Shed Some Fat
Getting an overweight dog’s body fat down is a really effective way of reducing the pain and discomfort they will feel in their hip socket from their hip dysplasia.
The most effective way to do this to reduce their overall daily calories. Either by giving them less food or replacing some of their current food with lower-calorie options.
Buy the Dog an Orthopedic Dog Bed
All dogs sleep a lot and if they have bad hips from a condition such as hip dysplasia, then investing in a good quality dog bed is a great idea.
Your goal should be to find a bed that supports their joints and keeps all of their body up and off the floor.
Apply Heat to the Affected Hips
Heated will make the muscles around the joint relax. This will then reduce pain caused by hip dysplasia and increase hip mobility.
The easiest and safest way to do this at home is to buy a purpose-built electric heating mat for your pet pooch.
Make sure you get one that can be on 24 hours a day, then all you need to do is turn it on and leave it on the dog’s bed, and it will do the rest on its own.
Use Gentle Exercise to Reduce the Pain and Increase Mobility
Slow, safe, gentle walks once or twice a day will help alleviate the hip dysplasia symptoms (check with your veterinarian if you are worried this might make the condition worse).
Give the Dog a Diet High in Certain Nutrients
Glucosamine, chondroitin, and Omega-3 fatty acids can all help your dog’s hips condition.
So either buy food that is high in these nutrients (your vet can help with this) or give your dog some supplements.
Massage the Hip Muscles
The dysplasia will cause your dog’s hips to be really tight. By gently massaging them, you can give them some effective pain relief and even increase their hip joint mobility.
BTW – Read this article if you are worried about hip dysplasia in a puppy.
Try Canine Hydrotherapy for Dogs
Hydrotherapy uses warm water and flotation devices to support the dog’s weight.
Then the dog is encouraged to exercise, either by swimming or on an underwater treadmill.
This allows the dog to move its hip joints through a full range of motion without bearing the load of carrying its own body weight.
Give the Dog Lots of Love and Cuddles
Yes! Everyone needs some love and cuddles, especially your pet pooch!
So, we hope this short and sweet blog post has helped you find some useful ways to help your canine companion cope better with their hip dysplasia.
Thanks for taking the time to visit our site and read about hip dysplasia in dogs we always appreciate it.
Good luck with it all, and please free free to take a look around the rest of our pupster lover’s website.
We spend a lot of time researching and writing about dogs, we cover a wide range of canine-relatedtopics, so hopefully, you will find our other posts useful.
