flattened femoral bone

Question
Hi,
I am not sure if you can help me with this or not, but I appreciate your time.


My 7 month old male English Springer Spaniel was just neutered.  While he was there we got an X-ray of his hips.  There isn't a visible problem, but I heard if you can diagnose hip dysplasia while a pup, they may be able to do a suregery.  Anyway dr. says he doesn't have hip dysplasia but does have a flattened femoral bone.  She says it may cause a problem in his senior years with arthritis.  Do you know anything about this?  When I internet search it, hip dysplasia keep coming up.  Is this common?  Him Dad was hip Penn x-rayed good, and his mom we are unsure, but she is 3 years old and is still appearing well.  Thanks.

Heidi

Answer
Sorry, but this is outside my field of expertise. From what I can find, this apparently is a problem in your breed: http://www.petdoc.ws/BreedPre.htm

I did find this, but am not sure if it is the same thing as your problem: http://petsurgery.com/triplepelvicosteotomy.html

Here is also an X-ray showing a flattened femoral head in Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease. http://www.vetsurgerycentral.com/legg_calve.htm Now, for that one they recommend a femoral head and neck ostectomy, and THAT I know about as one of our dogs had to have that done at the age of 10 after a dislocated hip refused to stay in place. Nasty surgery, requiring a good deal of physical therapy, but our dog not only became four-legged again, but she resumed her agility career and became a Master Agility Champion at nearly 13.

My suggestion would be to contact a veterinary orthopedist at a university veterinary hospital with your questions.

Karen