my lab has been diagnosed with Erlers Danlos syndrome. It's rare in dogs and my vet hasn't seen it in 30 years in a lab! Does anybody else have a lab with this?
No and never heard of it either. Does your boy have all or just some symptoms? https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/what-is-eds/
I've never heard if it either and had to google. Sounds rather nasty although the article I read didn't include Labs as a breed that it has been seen in. As there is a genetic link to Ehlers Danlos please inform your breeder as your dog's parents shouldn't be breed from again and neither should any litter mates even if they don't show symptoms.
He was the smallest of the litter and had a slight entropian of one eyelid. When he was quite small, he was attacked by 2 small dogs and had a rip by his tail that seemed disproportionately large for the incident. It took a long time to heal. Next time he needed stitches after he slipped on a rock was when they took a skin sample as his skin seemed friable and he wasn't growing into his rolls of puppy skin! He's a year now and still lollops along like a puppy, he's definitely not a lithe fast lab but he's very cheerful. The eye expert decided to postpone his eye op as as he's grown, it's proportionately less. I've told his breeder and she had already decided to have her bitch spayed. The other litter and the sire owners also know.
I hadn't ever heard of it either , but wanted to say how sorry I am , that your dog has been diagnosed , so pleased that the breeder is being responsible x
I have never heard of Ehlers Danlos syndrome. Just wanted to say how sorry I am, it must be very difficult adjusting and dealing with the diagnosis, especially with something so rare.
Oh, I did find a facebook page, thought you might find it useful. https://www.facebook.com/EhlersDanlosSyndromeInDogs/
Ah, sorry to hear this. Its not that common in humans either, really, but interestingly for any of you UK lot that watch Coronation Street, its the condition that the actress who plays Izzy in the wheelchair has. It is hypermobility of the joints and overstretchy muscles for those that haven't googled it. I imagine you will need to be even more careful than usual in preventing your boy jumping running twisting and generally overdoing zoomy-ing. Poor boy, though I am sure he is oblivious to it, and is a typical happy go lucky lab x
Good to hear that he's still a happy boy. I'm sure he also gets the best of care Kudos to the breeder for doing the right thing.
Thank you everyone for your replies. I'm glad that nobody else has come across it so it must be rare. It's interesting to watch Inky as he almost self limits for instance we live by a shingle beach, he'll walk slowly across it because he loves to swim but doesn't leap on and off the prom wall the way lots of dogs do and so I don't encourage that. But I do think the stronger his muscles are the more protected his joints are so I don't stop him running on the flat grass. I can't imagine him doing agility as he's clumsy but we do lots of other training which he loves. Luckily we have a good vet who says you can only manage it. All in all it could be a lot worse and he's such a lovely dog I feel lucky.
