A Plauge of Tics

I really enjoyed reading this piece. I thought it was very easy to read and it was very interesting to me. I have a friend who suffers from OCD but his is not as bad as the boy's is in this essay.  I think it's unbelievable how ignorant his family and teacher are to his condition. Instead of trying to help him, they make fun of him. He suffers from a serious disease and has no one there to give him support for it.  Sometimes I think I suffer from mild OCD with certain things, but then again who doesn't? We all have our own special habits or things we HAVE to do to stay in a routine, but I can't imagine living how the boy does in this story. It would be horrible. I was glad when he finally found a way to control his tics for the most part in college. GO HIM!!

5th Blogggggg

            My final research paper is on the effects of hip dysplasia in dogs.  Throughout my paper I will be answering several questions.  One of which is what exactly is hip dysplasia and how does it affect dogs.  This is my broad question and from within that question I have several more specific ones like what dog breeds is it more prevalent in and why do pure bred dogs seem to get the disease more often than a mix breed.  I plan on recovering a lot of information on the topic in order to make sure my paper is very informative.

            My thesis statement is that larger dog breeds are more prone to getting hip dysplasia then smaller dog breeds.  This makes sense to me because bigger dogs have a larger masses and more weight on their bones, therefore when they are running or jumping they are putting more pressure on the ball and socket joint in their hips as opposed to a smaller dog.  The research I do will either approve or disprove my thesis statement.

            An overview of hip dysplasia is this; basically it’s arthritis in the hips of a dog.  They can start showing signs as young as two years old.  It’s a malfunctioning of the ball and socket joint in the hip.  Basically the ball is not placed correctly in the socket which causes limping, pain, inflammation and if it’s serious enough needs to be corrected with surgery.   There are two different types of surgeries that a dog can get.  One is more effective but is also a lot pricier, the other is less expensive but doesn’t have as good of results.  You also may need to take your dog to a specific surgeon to get it done seeing as how not all vets perform the surgery.

            I need to find out in more detail what breeds it’s most common in. I also need to find some more information about why pure bred dogs are at a greater risk of carrying the disease rather than a mix.  One idea is interbreeding and if the father and mother both have the disease then those genes will be passed down to the offspring.

            Some ideas that could oppose my argument are that an equal number of large and small dogs get the disease. I haven’t found any statistics yet so it makes it hard to prove one way or another.  Another opposing argument could be that it’s at random what dogs gets the disease; that it’s bases solely on the dog’s stature and physical condition.

            The sources I have found as of now are as follows:

Foster, Dr., and Dr. Smith. "Hip Dysplasia in Dogs: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention." Foster & Smith Inc. n. pag. Web. 1 Mar 2011. <http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2084&aid=444>.

Johnson, Ann. "Canine Hip Dysplasia." ACVS. erican College of Veterinary Surgeons, 5/15/2008. Web. 2 Mar 2011. <http://www.acvs.org/AnimalOwners/HealthConditions/SmallAnimalTopics/HipDysplasiainDogs/>.

Hayashi, Kei . "Total Hip Replacement Surgery in Dogs." Hip Replacement Surgery in Dogs. Wordpress, 5/29/2009. Web. 3 Mar 2011. <http://labradorhipdysplasiatreatment.com/hip-replacement-surgery-in-dogs/>.

Unknown. "FAQ: Total Hip Replacement." Hospital for Companion Animals. The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Web. 3 Mar 2011. <http://vet.osu.edu/vmc/faq-total-hip-replacement>.

 -Meggie