Scubby has the ballerina’s delicate feet. His hind legs are always at a tiptoe whenever he walks. And for the past 5 months, it never struck us as odd. But a Tease.

Dr Lim thought otherwise when he spotted Scubby’s Swan Lake wannabe. An x-ray quickly proves his suspicion and a diagnose that left us heavyhearted.

Scubby is suspected to have what known to be the Canine Hip Dysplasia — a degenerative, developmental condition that will one day leads to hip arthritis. In simpler words, Scubby might have an old man’s squeaky joints syndrome

This is how a normal canine hip joint should look like.

And here is Scubby’s.

Did you spot the abnormality?

What is CHD?

Canine Hip Dysplasia is a poor developmental condition of the hip joint. It causes the femoral head (“ball” of the hip joint), which normally sits snugly in the acetabulum (“socket” of the hip joint), to show some degree of deformation which can lead to arthritis.

This deformation can take different forms, depending on what genes are involved with creating that individual dog’s hip dysplasia. It may be a shallow acetabulum, or a flattening of the femoral head. The femoral head itself may be deformed. Or the femoral neck (the narrow part just under the head or “ball” part of the joint) may be shortened and thickened. Any one of these may lead to hip dysplasia; a dog may have several conditions in its hips that create dysplasia.

Dogs that have the genes that predispose them to hip dysplasia will develop the disease. Some environmental factors (such as weight, exercise, or exposure to extreme cold weather) can contribute to the severity of the disease. However, a dog must have the genes in order to develop the disease. Environmental factors alone cannot cause hip dysplasia.

That’s a lot to digest. Isn’t it? And the research doesn’t stop here.

Scubby is 7 months going 8, and 3 months shy of a year. What kind of lifestyle will he have now? No jumping, no going up or down the stairs, no running with other dogs, and all other normal active activities that a dog enjoys. Everything associated with Young is prohibited…

We don’t love Scubby any lesser by knowing his fate. Our only regret is trusting a breeder which we thought breeds out of love, but instead plucking money with each delivery.

If you are planning to get a puppy, please make sure you run a health check on the pup — best if both dam & sire were checked — with a proper veterinary certification. It might not be Hip Dysplasia, but why take the chance of some other scary genetic diseases.

Although the consolation may not be fatal, no person or dog, should be put through such a life!

*Beware of Irene Kang, Starhill Kennel Penang*

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