Hi everyone, I've just joined the group but have been following the Labradour pageon Facebook for a while. I have a question and would love to know if anyone has any feedback or experienced elbow dysplasia with their lab at all. Denzel is 4.5 and is very fit and healthy. He started limping around 8 weeks ago on his front leg and after a week we took him to the vet as there was no improvement after a week they recommended to keep him on a lead walk and review after a further week we then took him back and was given metacam as it looked like a muscle strain. After no improvements so 6 weeks and then the change in his limp to the other leg we then had X-rays taken and was diagnosed with elbow dysplasia after talking to the vet we wanted to understand more so he then had a CT scan which has confined he has early stages of ED in both legs so the only option is surgery. I've spoken to the vet who has been brilliant with information around all of my questions. Denzel is booked for surgery next Tuesday and will have PAUL procedure. My question is ( sorry long winded) has anyone gone through this procedure with their dog and then physio sessions after? Would love to hear from anyone who has? There is a huge amount of info on hip but not on elbow. Thank you
Hi there and welcome, I wish the welcome was under better circumstances. It's always sad to hear of a dog being diagnosed with ED. My girl has ED in her right elbow, which as you may now is a catch all term for a range of conditions affecting the elbow. She was diagnosed at 8 months following a second incidence of limping and had xrays and scans before surgery. Our diagnosis was Fragmentation of the Coronoid Process, together a with some malformation of the joint and the Ulna being too long. I had to look up the PAUL process but ended not much the wiser apart from it being an operation around the Ulna. Our surgery was followed by crate rest with 3 x 3 minutes of exercise for several weeks followed by a slow process to rebuild our exercise regime. We attended hydrotherapy for 7 weeks, once the wound was healed with sutures removed, which also included massage both before and after the water session. I have to manage Juno's exercise and there are some activities which are not allowed, her weight and work to prevent osteoarthritis from becoming a serious problem, although osteoarthritis is inevitable for her. Has your vet discussed exercise programmes etc. with you. What is the prognosis following the surgery? Juno is coming 2 now and we have a pretty normal life of walks, play, swimming - just with some limitations. Can you explain a little more about your dog's form of ED. There are several members who have dogs with ED and we try to share our experience and knowledge as much as possible.
Hello and welcome to the forum. There is quite a lot of information on the forum about others' experience with ED I wonder if you might find Claire's post about Mabel useful to read?
@Denzeldog didnt want to read and run so to speak. Welcome to the forum sorry it's not under happier circumstances though. I'll answer in depth at some point later today. Xx
Hi @Denzeldog and welcome to the forum. Sorry you're joining us with so much worry. I have no experience to share, but there are active members (@MaccieD and @Pilatelover for sure) who have a wealth of information for you. This thread on what to do with dogs on limited exercise may also be really helpful for you, post surgery: http://thelabradorforum.com/threads/things-to-do-for-dogs-on-restricted-exercise.10654/
Hi @Denzeldog really sorry to read your thread. Here is a link to my thread when I discovered Mabel had ED. I hope it helps you. http://thelabradorforum.com/threads/elbow-dysplasia-and-mabel.11237/page-3#post-170967 I felt my world had ended, if it wasn't for the forum not sure how I'd have managed. My head was in such a muddle and I cried and cried. I live with her problems and always concentrate on what we can do together not what we can't. As MaccieD said elbow Dysplasia is a catch term for a range of elbow conditions. Mabel is very severe, she is bi laterally lame with her right being worse than her left, she has three monthly check ups at The veterinary hospital, I'm preparing myself that she will require further surgery. She had an arthroscopy when she was 7 months old but this has only worked to some extent, the operation you are describing is possibly the next step for Mabel. She is now 17 months and still has weekly hydrotherapy sessions to help build the muscle on her front legs. She had a lot of muscle wastage which made her look deformed. The future really is far from bleak, with careful management of diet and exercise Denzel can lead a happy life. I'm in Wales at the moment and if you saw Mabel running and playing on the beach you would never know. The first days after surgery Id suggest he is kept warm, comfortable and quiet with very short walks.(I'm sure you will anyway) Your vet will explain everything to you or the nurse. Anything at all please ask even if you wish to start a private conversation that's absolutely fine. @MaccieD and myself have a motto, "one day at a time", keep that in your head. Also @snowbunny suggested the post surgery thread on things to do on restricted exercise. It really is first class, well worth a read. Best wishes and please put regular updates on how you and Denzel are doing.
Just want to say welcome to the forum. You must have a lot going through your head over this diagnosis but you will find lots of support here. It's great to hear that you have an excellent vet on your team.
Thank you all very much for your replies. Denzel has had surgery for the worst elbow yesterday and as you can image it's been an anxious 24 hours. We are very lucky that he his very laid back He's surgery went well and the vet is very pleased he ended up having PAUL alongside using a stem cell injection into his elbow were there was a large fragment which they also removed. He is due back to the vets on Friday for a post check and then hopefully the plaster will come off 10 days after. I'm going to read the articles you have recommended so I can prepare what we can do as I know he will be back to his full energetic self in a couple of weeks. I'll keep you updated and I'll also connect with a number of people that you have kindly mentioned. Thank you
Wishing you all best with Denzel. Don't know anything much about ED, but isn't it great to have this forum to share our concerns, joys and thoughts? Look forward to hearing how he's doing.
Hi MaccieD thank you so much for your response it was reassuring I'm not the only lab lover who has gone through this especially when I was not expecting it from a very fit healthy boy. He was diagnosed with very early signs based on his X-ray but once he has his CT scan I was told that he had tiny stress fractures showing in both ulna to which it was referred as elbow incongruity. With the ulna being to short I've posted an update below 24houts after his surgery and I'm back at the vets on Friday for a post check. They have given me limited info at this stage for his exercise but it's on the top of my list to understand what we can do. He is currently just resting in his cage at the moment but has taken to laying outside in the cool garden were is seems to most at ease with us not that has Ben possible to much today due to the rain. I'll update after Friday and thank you for taken the time to talk to me. Thank you
Thank you I'm going to keep yours and @MaccieD motto "one day at a time" close to my heart as it will certainly remind me of where we were yesterday and what he's doing today . I will no doubt reach out to you both as he improves just to check I'm doing it the right way. Thank you.
Hi @Denzeldog Good to hear that the surgery went well. Feel free to ask whatever questions you want and we'll try to answer what we can. If you feel like it have a rant, we know all about bad days with our dogs following surgery, and if you want a private conversation feel free to contact me, and I'm sure Claire @Pilatelover will say the same. we've both been there and got the t-shirt. My best advice at the moment is to sit down and try and think of all the questions you want to ask the vet at your next appointment which I guess will be around exercise, diet, supplements, hydrotherapy/massage It goes to show how different ED cases can be - Juno's ulna is a little too long
I don't know that there is a right way, it's what works with your dog and we all know how different they are
Hi @Denzeldog, really pleased the operation went well. It's absolutely amazing how our dogs bounce back. I can still see Mabel the morning we went to collect her from the hospital she was so full of beans, running round . Rosemary (@MaccieD )has said it all in her post above. Couldn't agree more, the right way is the way that suits you and Denzel. I hope you have a good nights sleep.
Hi, I'm glad the surgery went well and you are getting advice and support from others that have been through this with their dogs. Wishing you boy a good recovery.
Update on Denzel , well he is nearly 2 weeks in after his surgery and he has forgotten everything all ready and believes he's super dog! He's had 2 further checkup visits and next Monday he has all of his staples out so it is looking good so far. He has started his exercise programs with 1x5 minute walk a day and this morning when the lead came out he was the happiest boy we have seen since the operation. The vet is very pleased on his recovery so far so smiles all round. Based on reading about ramps for stairs to be able to get him into the garden eventually we are just having some made considering he will need to have his other elbow done in September we are preparing for a long term basis. We're hoping as he used to go to agility classes he will take to the ramp easily! Fingers crossed. Still taken day by day and looking forward to be able to take him out walking with some of his friends soon.
It's so good to read a positive post following surgery. We spent much of Juno's exercise period having a good smell around - after all you can't get very far when you only have 5 minutes in total and that's for the outward and return walk. I ended up managing her walk by distance rather than time and increased it, when allowed n the same way. It is really important to plan for the future and a ramp, if necessary, is a good idea although you have to train Denzil to walk up the ramp more sedately as he's been doing agility. Looking forward to when he can walk with his buddies is good, and gives you something positive to aim for but you will need to have built up his exercise and may need to monitor his interaction quite a bit to begin with - he may feel on top of the world and run and play for ever with his friends but his elbow will need some protection from 'over enthusiasm'.
That's great news about his progress so far. Keep up your positive vibes, I'm sure they'll help you enormously.
