Elbow Dysplasia what are your stories / treatments, advice ?

Maistaff · #1 (**permalink**) 16-05-2011, 01:12 PM

Elbow Dysplasia what are your stories / treatments, advice ?

I have a young dog 10 months of age who at 6 months old showed varying signs of lameness in her front legs. Antiamflamatories were given and Catrophen Injections (1 given once a week for 4 weeks) as well as x rays taken which at the time indicated nothing but a normal joints

A few months on my girl is now displaying the lameness again and after a visit to my vet and manipulation of both elbows it is thought that she has Elbow Dylsplasia. We are going down the medication of anti inflammatory / pain and then she will see a specialist a week on Tuesday.

I would be very grateful for any advice that anyone can give e.g supplements, best forms of treatment possibly both sides from those who opted for surgery and for those did not. To be honest any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thank you all for your time and responses in advance

CarolineH · #2 (**permalink**) 16-05-2011, 04:45 PM

Hi there. I have a dobermann cross, Chucky, who was diagnosed with this at 7 & 1/2 months old. Back then he was obviously lame and his elbows stuck out quite a bit.

We were sent to a specialist vet who explained the xrays to us very thoroughly and pointed out the Osteochondritis Dissecans lesions in the joint. He offered us the option of an operation of the worst elbow first followed by an op on the other after he had recovered but I believe in making informed decisions so deferred the decision whilst I swotted up on it.

After a week or so I decided not to have him operated on as there seemed too high a chance to me that he would end up even lamer if things did not pan out. So I decided to manage his condition myself. At first we gave him the medication as recommended by the vet and limited his exercise but then I decided to swap him onto Glucosomine and Chondroitin capsules (from health food shop) and to give him some free running exercise without allowing him to go too mad. A year later we went back to my vet for something who had not seen him since the initial diagnosis. He could not believe it was the same dog! He was really surprised at how his elbows had tightened up and that he was no longer lame! So I admitted that I had gone against the 'no off lead exercise' advice as I believed that the more muscle he developed, the better and I was right!

He admitted that I was as the proof was stood in front of him! I stopped giving the G & C caps to see how he would be and he was fine so I did not give them again.

I was also told that with or without the op, Chucky would develop arthritis by the time he was six years old. He is now 10 & 1/2 years old and has only just shown signs of it in his elbows during the past few weeks. I now give him 5 ml of Liquid Devils Claw in his food (available from horse feed suppliers) and he is now comfortable again. I think I will get some G & C cps again though, just to be sure.

I am not saying that what I have done with Chucky will work with your girl. Chucky is not a large dog, being only 18 /19 inches at the shoulder and is built like a small doberman. He does not carry any extra weight either - in fact it is hard to keep weight on him! But I do not regret not having him operated on as Chucky has led an active, normal and happy life through our choice of management.

thecatsmother · #3 (**permalink**) 16-05-2011, 05:17 PM

Hi can I just ask CarolineH whether you gave Chucky human G&C capsules? And if so I presume you did this after swotting up to make sure they were Ok to give (and presumably worked out cheaper than dog-specific supplements?

)
Just today our crossbreed 13 month old bitch saw the vet for on/off lameness in one front leg only, and elbow dysplasia was mentioned as one possibility. We started on the anti-inflamatories this evening, and I am supposed to be resting her as much as possible, but as she's a lean mean running machine I'm really not relishing the thought

She's (probably, she's a rescue) collie/lurcher/lab in some combination, 22 inches at the shoulder, 19 kilos, very very fast, usually spends 3-4 hours a day off lead running/leaping etc

) . I just hope the house/furniture survives

Maistaff · #4 (**permalink**) 16-05-2011, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarolineH

Hi there. I have a dobermann cross, Chucky, who was diagnosed with this at 7 & 1/2 months old. Back then he was obviously lame and his elbows stuck out quite a bit.

We were sent to a specialist vet who explained the xrays to us very thoroughly and pointed out the Osteochondritis Dissecans lesions in the joint. He offered us the option of an operation of the worst elbow first followed by an op on the other after he had recovered but I believe in making informed decisions so deferred the decision whilst I swotted up on it.

After a week or so I decided not to have him operated on as there seemed too high a chance to me that he would end up even lamer if things did not pan out. So I decided to manage his condition myself. At first we gave him the medication as recommended by the vet and limited his exercise but then I decided to swap him onto Glucosomine and Chondroitin capsules (from health food shop) and to give him some free running exercise without allowing him to go too mad. A year later we went back to my vet for something who had not seen him since the initial diagnosis. He could not believe it was the same dog! He was really surprised at how his elbows had tightened up and that he was no longer lame! So I admitted that I had gone against the 'no off lead exercise' advice as I believed that the more muscle he developed, the better and I was right!

He admitted that I was as the proof was stood in front of him! I stopped giving the G & C caps to see how he would be and he was fine so I did not give them again.

I was also told that with or without the op, Chucky would develop arthritis by the time he was six years old. He is now 10 & 1/2 years old and has only just shown signs of it in his elbows during the past few weeks. I now give him 5 ml of Liquid Devils Claw in his food (available from horse feed suppliers) and he is now comfortable again. I think I will get some G & C cps again though, just to be sure.

I am not saying that what I have done with Chucky will work with your girl. Chucky is not a large dog, being only 18 /19 inches at the shoulder and is built like a small doberman. He does not carry any extra weight either - in fact it is hard to keep weight on him! But I do not regret not having him operated on as Chucky has led an active, normal and happy life through our choice of management.

Hi Caroline

Thank you for your reply and for your advice, you have given me a lot of hope and have chosen a path i am 99% sure i want to follow

My girl is only 15 inches to the shoulder and quite lean (not a bully type SBT

)and is only 14 kilo's.

I have noticed that the more i rest her the worse she is and that she only gets better if i keep her exercise up (in moderation of course). I have just recently put her on synoquin as i have two with arthritis already on it but it is early days yet to see any difference.

I really appreciate you telling me your expereince as you have really confirmed a an option which if my specialist does confirm OCD that i would be very willing to go down.

Thank you

CarolineH · #5 (**permalink**) 16-05-2011, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thecatsmother

Hi can I just ask CarolineH whether you gave Chucky human G&C capsules? And if so I presume you did this after swotting up to make sure they were Ok to give (and presumably worked out cheaper than dog-specific supplements?

)
Just today our crossbreed 13 month old bitch saw the vet for on/off lameness in one front leg only, and elbow dysplasia was mentioned as one possibility.

Hi there. Yes I did and yes, they certainly were! He had them for about a year then I stopped giving them. Never had any ill effects but he was so disappointed when I stopped giving them to him! Let's put it this way, Chucky is one very odd little dog who will come running to sit in front of us from wherever he is for worming tablets etc as since the days when he was on the G&C, we only have to say 'Takey Tablets!' and he gets very excited!

I taught him that taking his 'pills' was a fun thing to do that got him a titbit if he swallowed straight away!

Needless to say, I never have to force tablets down his throat!

I hope that your bitch is ok. It's a possibility that may be what it is, but not a certainty.

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