Hello, To introduce myself first, my name is Stephan, we have a 16 months old female yellow lab, "Dasy". This morning my wife took Dasy for the X-Ray of hips and elbows, as we had thought about breeding her. Dasy has FCI papers and according to her pedigree her ancestors are free of HD and ED. To our surprise the vet told us that breeding with Dasy will not be an option since she could clearly see ED on the X-Rays. Not being able to breed her will not be the end of the world. But the vet kept on talking that Dasy will need surgery very soon and that we should not wait too long with this. We are a little bit overwhelmed with this information at the moment and I also feel like the vet wants to pressure us into this surgery. Before the X-Ray we had no clue, that Dasy may have issues with her joints. In retrospect we see a few things that could indicate first signs, but they could also indicate other things. Dasy loves playing wild with the neighbor dog on the meadow behind our house. We had never seen that she may have issues with her joints. We only noticed that she does not have the best endurance. After a few minutes of hard play, she typically slows down, while the neighbor dog still wants to play. We thought that this was just breed specific, as Dasy is more of a show line dog. We had also noticed, that each time she was in heat (2 times), she had very little energy towards the end. But that went away again after a few days. Other than that we had no indication that she may be in pain or anything. We are also a little unsure about her weight. When she was at the vet for her 12 months vaccination, the vet told us, that she has 27kg but she should loose about 1kg. We can feel her ribs, but barely. On the other hand Dasy's breeder was of the opinion that Dasy was too slim and we should feed her more. Today the vet advised us to have her loose 3kg, which I think is now mandatory with the ED diagnosis. I hope the other family members see it the same way. What I need advice for is for the way forward. Is it really necessary to do surgery on a dog that does not show signs of discomfort? After all, if we had not toyed with the idea of breeding her, we would have not found out. Is surgery really a must for ED or can it also be treated otherwise? Does anybody have experience with this surgery, what was the outcome over time? Does anybody have experience treating ED without surgery and what was the outcome? BTW, my wife asked the vet, if there was anything we did wrong, with food or exercise? The vet told her no, it was just a genetic thing. To me that is a little surprising for a dog that has no ED in her pedigree. I'd be glad for any advice at the moment. Greetings, Steph
Hi Stephen, just taken a call from our vet telling us our 8 month old female lab has elbow dyplasia in both elbows. To say I’m devastated is an understatement. She had ct scan yesterday because she’s been limping on her right front for 4 months now and complete rest didn’t help. There’s no sign of arthritis at this stage which he says is good. I asked him what he’d do if it was his dog and his reply was he’d operate on the side she is limping on as she is obviously in pain and leave the left side alone. I was so careful with my search for her, making sure there was no genetic diseases going back generations in on both sides but here we are are, totally gutted. He said genetics are is strange thing and good tests on parents don’t guarantee anything just increases the odds of good health. Pure bad luck. He wasn’t pushing me in either direction because he says there is a lot of reliable research done on conservative treatment versus surgery and it appears by age 2 both sets of dogs reach the same plateau only the dogs operated on reach that plateau faster. I just think maybe, seeing she’s limping (so in pain) I have no option for her right elbow but to operate. I will be talking to him in more detail next week so I’ll have time to digest it and do some research. I need to ask him what exactly is that “plateau”. What exactly is conservative treatment, does it mean months and months if her resting but still limping. Worried sick right now. So sorry you’re going through it with Dasy. Wishing her well.
Ralf, I think you probably need to get a 2nd opinion from another (specialist orthopaedic) vet. They can take a look at the x-rays and let you know what they think. This is the situation that second opinions are made for... I can't help you with finding an ortho specialist, but get googling and asking other knowledgeable dog people. My understanding is that strengthening the muscles around problematic joints, can go a long way to helping keep symptoms at bay - especially non-weight bearing exercise, like hydrotherapy, can really help. Second, your vet is wrong that it is entirely genetic and there is nothing you could do to make it worse. Allowing a dog to be overweight, is a big contributing factor to hip and elbow dysplasia. It puts excess pressure on the joints and at a very sensitive time in their development, whilst the dog is young. One of the best ways to ensure hip and elbow health is to keep young dogs lean. It sounds like your breeder is a show breeder (if your dog is show bred as you said), and therefore favours the obese dogs which can be found in many a show ring. Sadly for you, this is not a healthy look. It is also the case that excess high energy exercise and play with another dog, regularly, is also a factor in leading to hip and joint problems. All the rough play with your neighbour's dog, may not have been advisable for a young dog, for this reason either. But don't beat yourselves up over these things, what's done is done. Of course, she will not be able to be bred from, either. Did your breeder give you a guarantee on hips and elbows?
