Thread: Hip Displasia

Originally Posted by Whyemier

So, how bad and frequent is this problem for MCs?

I think the fact that I have had MC's for fifteen years & never come across it either in mine or in the many other MC's I know,have never seen it in the 40 years of working at a vets or as yet waiting on forum for someone to pop up & say they have encountered the problem hopefully it is good news pointing to the fact that it is not a bad problem but it is something that has been noted in the breed & a genetic test can now be done on breeding cats to do what they can to help eliminate it.
Although you don't wish it on any of our babes for MaryM's sake it would be great if someone with personal experience did come along to give some help but.....!!!!!!

Thank you all so far for your thoughts and best wishes. And I'll keep looking in the hope that there is some experience of treatment out there in this member group as I want to make sure I make the right choice of treatment now. I've notified the breeder and I'm going to contact the MC Cat Club as well. For all those concerned let me reassure you that little Watsi is absolutely fine ... she doesn't know she has a problem and is still joyously bouncing around and conducting her favourite hobby of catching frogs and bringing them home and dropping them in the loo ... sooo adorable :-~

Hi Mary, One of my cats, Aria, had a definite problem when she walked when she was just 6 weeks pregnant but it turned out to be a patella luxor. When they x-rayed her they fully expected that she would have hip dysplaysia. It turned out she actually had no ball on her femur at all. She needed an op on her knee to stabilize it which went really well, although she had to live in a cage for 6 weeks, much to her disgust. I had her spayed once the diagnosis was made, just in case, but have kept two of her kittens who have both since been x-rayed and are fine
My vet said the good news about not having dysplaysia meant she'd never get inflammation of the joint and would just lead a normal life.
It just seems to have been one of those random things as her other ball was formed perfectly normal - dysplaysia is nearly always on both sides.
Dysplaysia, depending on the severity, can often be managed through weight management of the cat, which is where I suspect the diet aspect may come in? Weight control is an important aspect of recovery and is recommended to decrease the pressure applied to the painful joints as the cat moves. The lighter weight the cat the less pressure on the joints, the less pain the cat will feel. Trouble is with MC's they are usually heavy boned and in that respect would be treated like a small dog, in that the pressure/pain may be too much for the cat to bear. Rule of thumb most cats are light and agile and can usually manage to 'put up' with the unstable joints without too much of a problem.
If the vet recommended to get at least one of the hips done then I wouldn't hesitate, personally. Sometimes one is more severe than the other.
I don't think it is so much of a frequent problem for MC's, just more obvious due to their size and bone density.
I am surprised the vet would want to put her on pain killers for life though. I have a Cavalier KC dog that has had one hip done, four years ago now, and will at some stage need the other repairing, but he's not on any medication at all. He initially had serequin to support normal joint function but hasn't even been on that for the last few years.
If you do opt for surgery, once the six weeks to heal has passed- which is a nightmare when you have to restrict them in a cage- the cat should return to normal and you'd never know she'd had it done
Hope all that makes sense and isn't too gobbaldygook