Hi everyone, My now 15 month old lab, Barney, was diagnosed with bilateral, severe ED at 10 months and had arthroscopies. He never seemed in pain and was never reluctant to exercise but after limping for a day I took him to the vets and hence the process of a diagnosis of ED began. He is now almost 6 months post surgery-the vet said he will never have normal elbow flexion and will always have an adaptive gait. I'm doing everything I can e.g. keeping him lean, trying not to over-exercise, joint supplements etc etc and for the most part, he seems fine, keen to play/run/exercise etc and is a happy, very boisterous boy but my question really is this: Does anyone else with experiences of ED find that their dog has an abnormal gait and do you find that they have bad days with stiffness/almost limping? Most days he is fine, even when he's been running/playing with other dogs but every few weeks or so he will have a day or two when he appears to be lame, almost always on regular days when he has not overdone it or anything...I'm breaking my heart every time I see him like this and thinking the worst...I give him metacam when he seems to be struggling but wondering if this is a bad sign? I hear so much that ED is not a disaster etc but I'm struggling with it at the moment-just want him to have a good, relatively normal life. I know he's never going to do things like agility etc and that's fine but as much as I want to protect his joints, ultimately he's a young lab with loads of energy and he needs to be a dog...just wondered if bad days are to be expected and I guess I just want someone to tell me that he can still have a good, long life...sorry for the essay, thanks in advance xx
Hi , we have one or two members who have dogs with degrees of ED , so hopefully they will be able to support and advise .It sounds like you are doing absolutely everything you can to help Barney , from my little knowledge , I believe that its all about managing the disease , which you seem to be doing wonderfully x
Oban's ortho evaluation says his ED was started by abnormal gaiting to protect a bone spur on his right foreleg. Now, I never saw that abnormal gaiting except for a three month period from age 10 months to 13 months and then it just went away. Then at age six he hurt his left front leg (put it through the crust on the snow when we were skiing) and now he limps on the left, not the right. When it is humid out he limps more, strangely. Winter or summer. He always limps and always will, it's just worse some days that can't be accounted for by exercise.
Thank you for saying that-I'm trying all I can think of, just feel like I'm failing sometimes and just want him to be happy...I'd happily have the elbow arthritis myself if it meant he didn't have to...thanks again, great to have the forum and support
Thanks so much for your reply; it's encouraging to know I'm not going mad thinking that his limping doesn't seem to be related to exercise at all. Barney definitely has abnormal gait all the time, but that is "normal" for him and usually doesn't seem in pain at all, it's the odd day of limping that bothers me, like today just started out of the blue and obviously I restrict his exercise on those days but he has so much energy I feel awful keeping him in and know he must be bored...mind games have their place up a point but they just seem to get him more excited and then he has the zoomies which is putting even more pressure on his joints...hard to know what to do for the best; just want him to be happy (which he is)...love him to bits. Hope Oban is doing well xx
Hi @Cab my girl's ED is different to your boy'so but I sympathise with your concerns and fears. We had our first limping problem at 5 months which improved with restricted exercise onlyour to reoccur at 7 months. X-rays and scans were followed by surgery to remove fragmentation but we have an underlying malformation of one elbow which leads to a slightly abnormal gait at different times. As you have already learnt much of our life is governed by monitoring exercise and play, keeping a check on weight and diet, feeding supplementsand trying not to become neurotic All you can do is continue as you are and be aware as to what is 'normal' for your boy and if in doubt have a few days of restricted exercise - prevention is much easier than cure. We've had one small limping incident since our op over 2 years ago but when I spoke to my vet she advised against the use of metacam as much as possible as it can hide the true extent of any problem. Try not to despair, life really does goes on and our dogs really do enjoy life to the full I even have 121 gundog training sessions but again manage the activities that we do. Please feel free to message me if you want to chat or ask any other questions
My dog Brogan was diagnosed with ED at 10 months old after I noticed a bad limp after a day at the beach. I was told at that age that he would need at least one elbow replaced (back then a fairly experimental surgery though I imagine that has changed) before he was 2 years old. He never had elbow surgery, though he had two TPLOs (cruciate surgeries). He always had a funny gait but it didn't mean he was in pain, it was just the way he walked. He went on long hikes with me, played like a mad dog with all and sundry and thoroughly enjoyed a very long life. Except for recovery from his TPLOs, he was not on any pain killers. If we had a "big day" of activity he would need to rest more the next day...but so would I. Every dog's situation is different and I do think Brogan's ED was much less severe than the original doom and gloom diagnosis made out. He definitely sounds like he had a lighter case than your pups'. However, I wanted to add my experience here that ED (or other joint issues such as torn cruciate) is not necessarily a lifelong sentence of pain or limited activity. Brogan lived large and long, even with his wonky joints.
@Cab oh bless you, it can be so tough. I had a little tear in my eye as I can feel your pain. Mabel was diagnosed at roughly five months. I have written a couple of posts in the past for two reasons, basically to help others as well as channel my own energies as I found it so hard to cope with. Here is the second post. https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/poor-mabel-more-surgery-required.15063/ I think when ED is severe bad days are to be expected, Mabel has them and I just adjust life to suit her. On the 28th of this month it will be a year since Mabel's surgery, now she can play with other dogs, manage two one hour walks a day. We go to training sessions, we do a group walk once a month with the training club. We go to pubs, cafes, dog fun days etc. We have booked a holiday to the Lakes in October. Okay she can't climb Haystacks, do agility or Field trials ( my one real sadness as that was one of the reasons I bought her) but she is a darling of a dog a bit skittish but fun and happy. Yes she has a strange gait and has days when she limps. My heart sinks but then I pick myself up and carry on. I really hope my story helps you. Wishing you all the best. Xx
Thank you for getting back to me-I am definitely becoming neurotic with it all and have to calm down as it's not good for my boy to see me like that! Glad to hear there is light at he end of the tunnel-i try to stay off metacam as much as possible too, but he gets omega 3 supplements every day and just started making him turmeric paste which I've heard is a good natural anti-inflammatory...fingers crossed that the limping days will be far outnumbered by the good days.. Glad your girl is doing well
Thanks for sharing your experience-it has encouraged me to know that the odd gait doesn't necessarily mean he's in pain-like you said I think he has just learned to walk like that due to the ED...he's normally fine and running about just had the odd limping day which makes me go into panic mode....thanks again
Thanks so much for your reply...glad Mabel is doing well. It's so hard when they have a period of limping and it's all so new I don't know what to expect eg how often he'll get the limp etc etc... he loves running around the field and goes like a racehorse most of the time, and never hesitates getting up on the sofa so it took me by surprise when he started limping yesterday just on a short lead walk around the village...slightly improved today so hoping it will pass in a day or two. I read your article too, sounds like you had a very difficult time of it-barney's only had one surgery to date-they did arthroscopies on both elbows he same time-I've convinced he will need more one day but then I worry about elbow replacements being in their infancy, and arthodesis changing the gait in a massive way..but getting ahead of myself I think... Interestingly Barney's brother also has an elbow score of 0/0 but like you, I wouldn't swap him for the world ❤️ Thanks again, and all the best to you and Mabel too xx
@Cab it is a pity elbow replacements are in their infancy, Mabel really needs her right one replacing. This is one area her consultant is working on at the moment. Here's keeping fingers and paws crossed for the future. Just reading your post, Barney is lucky to have you. Xx
Aw thank you so much...that brought a tear to my eye...I'm lucky to have him...makes me laugh every single day and is the light of my life ❤️ Mabel is very lucky to have you too...keeping everything crossed for them xx
