Worried about elbow dysplasia

Interesting what you guys are saying vs what this particular vet said! I'm definitely going to look into it further.

 

I have to say this comment from the vet does disturb me. On one hand he says there is nothing but then says could be mildly dysplastic . I may not be a vet but even a mildly dysplastic elbow is dysplactic and I would want to know what is happening and the effects for exercise, activities and diet.

Vets train very hard and are knowledgeable about many aspects of animal care and welfare but they aren't experts in all fields. I know I'm writing from my own personal experience of ED in a young dog but I am incredibly thankful that my vet had a policy of referring all x-rays on to a specialist.

 

We needed an expert orthopaedic vet to diagnose Lilly's hip dysplasia.
Our ordinary vet thought it might be her elbows, but it wasn't.
This was after an exam under a GA and x-rays of her elbows. They were happy with her hips after the exam.
The ortho vet picked up something a little odd when we took her for admission assessment/surgery.
Came away with a diagnosis of severe bilateral hip dysplasia and normal elbows.

Expert orthopaedic vet all the way for me.

 

Thank goodness for this forum. Our boy Sam 13 months was limping front left leg. We did the x rays last Friday and nothing obvious showed so vet thought tissue damage. Our vet had sent the x rays to the orthopedic vet. Went back yesterday to be told yes he may have it and to consider seeing the consultant, m r i and possible op. Luckily we are insured but is up for renewal shortly. My question is this has he been diagnosed or not? We have not claimed yet. And what is the future for our Sam does surgery help?
So worried for him

 

I think that is where the expertise of the orthopaedic vets come in to it. To make the decision. A diagnosis usually needs to be made both looking at the x-rays and making a clinical assessment.
Your own vet will likely have a fair degree of suspicion to recommend the referral though. The orthopaedic vet will be able to tell you whether surgery is the best option.
Wishing you luck,

 

Hi @Sue Vernon
As the owner of a gorgeous girl with ED you need to have an appointment with the consultant and ir sounds as if a mri is being recommended to confirm the condition of the elbow. ED takes several different forms and the treatment required depends upon the diagnosis and severity of the condition and the consultant will be able to advise you on next steps. Please let us know how you get on.

 

Hi, I am so sorry to hear this. I'm been through exactly the same with my 8month old Rex. Unfortunately we were diagnosed after having an arthroscopy just yesterday. It was only his right leg they were concerned about but unfortunately it's both. Once he has healed from this he's going to have what's called the PAULS procedure which will take the pressure off and give him more comfort and pro long anything. We had months of waiting and just resting on anti inflammatory, my advice is keep pushing so you can get straight in there and sort it out.
I really hope you don't have this, it's heartbreaking.

 

My experience of two different orthopaedic vet surgeons is that they want to see a MRI scan. The second even declined to look properly at the X-rays my local vet had done and went on a very thorough physical examination followed by MRI same day. I suppose for us it was the difference between 'probably has ED ' to 'definitely has this type of ED, in this exact place, causing this issue, and this is what we can do ' I agree with @drjs@5 's view that our local vets have the suspicion but don't tend to definitely diagnose without a specialist opinion.

 

My dog just had surgery on his right and left elbows. His right was really bad 9left not that bad) and his symptoms were similar to yours when he was younger. He would get a limp....it would go away....and then reappear after playing hard. We rested him occasionally and it went away but would then return. It came and went and then recently when he was about 14 months old the limp never went away. We ended up going to an ortho vet and got X-rays. He was able to see that the coronoid process was chipped although they couldn't see any fragments floating on the X-rays....but when they went in for the surgery, which we agreed to, there were multiple fragments in there that were removed.

I will tell you a few things I came across on my intense searching/worrying about this all.....first thing is you may want to switch his food to a low calcium, low protein food. if they grow too fast this can worsen dysplasia. Look it up on the internet....they are genetically predispositioned for this but their food intake can worsen it. Also my advice would be to get the X-rays/ct scans now instead of waiting. If he does have it, then it is so much better to tackle it while they are still growing then if you wait. Unfortunately our dog was a bit older and was pretty much done growing when he was officially diagnosed and the recovery I believe is harder. I would wish this upon no owner as I know how devastating this can be to have happened to your best friend. I hope that it is just a muscle strain but I would error on the side of caution and just run all the tests to be sure in case it is ED.

 

Thanks for your support. We are to see the consultant and will let you know how I get on. Luckily our vet has a few practices and the consultant works at the other one. Yes Sam is on the low calorie food we wanted to keep an eye on his weight. At least we know we are not alone. Will keep you posted

 

Sam update - About a month ago he got up and was fine. We still kept him on limited exercise even sleeping downstairs with him but now he is back to his naughty self, still on the diet but back to his walks.No painkillers at all.
We knew he had picked up as he started that running round like a loony thing they do which he had not done at all
The vet has examined him - no discomfort, nothing. We are not out of the woods but for the time being we are monitoring him see how we go.