Update: January 27, 2001
We visited the new vet and found the degree of her CHD to be worse than I expected. She's at a level 4 out of 5 (being the worse). However, she is showing no signs of being this bad. The new vet, Dr. A. advised that I continue as "normal" until she starts displaying signs of being in extreme pain. He agreed with me giving her Glucosamine and Chondroitin through OsteoBioFlex, and kidded that it has helped him and his old bones. When she does display signs of pain I will start to consider Total Hip Replacement surgery. Ouch, I have no idea how we will afford that, but she's my baby and I will manage. As of today, she's doing great...loves taking her pills and plays in the snow as if there's nothing wrong with her. I do occasionally see her favoring her front legs, but it is good that she's dealing with this. As for her knees, Dr. A explained that if you look at the whole body, fixing the knees would not help her, since her knees are out of shape to compensate for her hips. If I did do the knee surgery, chances are the knees would again go "out of place" within a year to compensate for the hips. So, Maggie and I are enjoying life. She's on a diet and gets two walks a day.
It's been well over a year since I found out Maggie has hip dysplacia. Since that time I've gotten married and now have the support of my husband to help Maggie and I through this. She has made great gains with her diet. I haven't had her weighed lately, but she looks a lot thinner. Every night we walk one to two miles. When we get a chance, we try to take her to a dog park during the off times to let her swim. I went a week ago with a friend from work and her puppy and Maggie ran too much. She was so sore that night and the next day. It's sad to see her have to stop playing because of her hips. But, overall, she's been doing well. I will have an update on her weight issue in August when she turns two years old!