Hi I posted the other week about my puppy limping and not improving to the vets satisfaction. My puppy has been on metacam and rest for three weeks and went in for x rays two days ago. His shoulders are fine, the vet seems to think there is 'possible elbow dysplaysia' and we have been told we need to pay another £5,000 to have a CT scan and another consultant fee to confirm. We have already paid nearly £1,000 and are no further forwards with what's wrong. Poor puppy has had no socialising for 3 weeks and is not in any pain, and has a very occasional slight limp. Is this normal or should we get a second opinion?
Oh wow, GBP 5k only for the scan? That seems very high. And that's not even a treatment/surgery of some sort? I don't have any experience with UK vets, but in general I'm a huge fan of 2nd opinions. I've told my ED story here before, but when Brogan was 10 months old he started to limp on his front leg. I took him to what was for me a new vet (long story as to why). They told me he had ED and bone shards in his joint and that if I didn't operate with a full elbow replacement it would be considered animal abuse. I promptly took him to my orthopaedic surgeon (who had done my other dog's TPLO) who said that the surgical techniques for fixing what was wrong with Brogan were still experimental and there was nothing he recommended trying on such a young dog. He said to sit tight and see what happened. It all cleared up just fine - he would occasionally limp if we really did too much, but even then disappeared once he had his TPLOs. He never had a single surgery on his elbow. I'm not saying that this will happen to your dog, only that a 2nd opinion can sometimes really surprise you and is worthwhile before going down an irreversible road.
That seems an awful lot, I went to an extremely good referral centre in the Midlands a couple of years ago, I paid just under 2,000 for a CT scan on hips, shoulders, elbows, wrists, possibly the spine too. This included a full ortho surgeon consultation, plus some injections directly into his elbows. I think some painkillers as well. My xrays at my general vet were around 400, I think. Can you go elsewhere? This was also my 2nd opinion I didnt like the first one he annoyed me with flippant comments.
Sorry you've been given that diagnosis! however I would definitely seek a second opinion, especially with that amount of money being asked of you. Out of interest, if you did have to go ahead, would it not be covered by your insurance?
This happened to my last Lab. The CT scan cost about £1300 7 yrs ago, and we decided to wait and see how it progressed. The surgeon told us that the chance of complete recovery was 60%, which I didn't think was good enough odds. He always walked with a slight limp, which would get worse if we overexercised him. We managed him with joint supplements and pain relief only on those occasions when his limp got any worse. He lived a full and happy life. We did review the situation 4 years later in order to check whether his elbow had deteriorated but the surgeon said that he was very impressed with how well the dog was managing. I would definitely get a 2nd opinion before rushing into costly surgery.
tibial-plateau-leveling osteotomy It's a surgical procedure to correct a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament - essentially a torn knee). Very common in large breed dogs including Labs. My boy had to have both his done.
