Is this a good hip???

Yikes!! If you didn't know the history on this little pup you would think he must have had some form of trauma and dislocated his hip. Unfortunately, both of his hips look like this, they are both dysplastic. He is a small breed dog about 10-12 pounds and around one year of age. He presented for dislocating knee caps (patellar luxation) and in the preliminary xrays for knee surgery we always evaluate the hip/knee alignment. Good thing, because we had no idea this little guy had "floating" hips. If he develops pain as he gets older, he is too small for a conventional total hip joint replacement and he will get an FHO (Femoral Head and Neck Ostectomy) to alleviate any discomfort. This owner is potentially anticipating 4 orthopedic surgeries in this little guy, both hips and both knees. What an investment! It is always sad to give owners this type of news and shows us that good breeding is best for the pet and the owner.