bi lateral elbow dysplaysia

[chivas]

I am seriously considering adopting a 1 yr 9 month neutered male with xray diagnosed bi lateral elbow dysplaysia. He has a slight limp now and is active and healthy otherwise. Health problems dont bother me, none of us are perfect. I know he should be kept slim and on supplements. What other advice or suggestions can i get??
Kim

[Judi W]

I would suggest that you make sure his hips are good. Bad hips shift more weight to the front and what might have been manageable quickly can become unbearable for the poor dog.

[chivas]

i left that out! His hips are good and the vet (not my vet but the foster's vet) said that he should live a fairly normal lifespan but cant be certain he will either become disabled or maybe even not have much of a problem with it. I know MSM/glucosamine would be a lifelong routine. Could it possibly keep him from having ANY problems?? Plus i know new treatments are always possible.

[Rott-Wiley]

I just read about a complete elbow replacement being done. I think it was started at a University in Ohio. The process cost around $2,000 but the dog must be rehabbed in a swimming pool for about 3 weeks. I understand more and more vets are doing this. If that helps in your decision

[Judi W]

I believe the surgery is still in the investigative stage, but they did have good results. Iowa State University - Michael Conzemius, DVM. They operated on 20 dogs. 16 of the dogs had what they called good or excellent outcome with limb function increasing by at least 25%. (hummm, 25% doesn't seem outstanding to me).

The hardware is not yet being mass produced and they don't give a time estimate for when the surgery might become more generally available.

Anyway, I'd evaluate his gait and see how much discomfort he is in. Also, I'd want to know what grade his elbows came back at. As long as you go into it knowing he will have limited abilities and the rear is good, ................

[Rott-Wiley]

Judi, I did a search and saw that site that gave that information. Doesn't sound very good at all. 2 months ago in Dog World Magazine there was an article that was much more promising. It stated that their success rate was up around 80% that the dog would regain comfortable movement to within 15 degrees of normal. This was a private vet, not a research facility in Ohio and they had to have the dog for 3 weeks after the initial procedure for rehab in a pool. But we don't know if that process would be effective in this case anyway, I just put the info out FYI.

I also agree that his gate should be evaluated to see how much discomfort he has now. At his young age, you have to fugure, it is going to get worse.

[Carina43]

Good advice about checking hips...Cooper also has dysplasia in both elbows; he was limping intermittently for months, but responded extremely well to glucosamine/chrondritin. No limping at all now, even after a 3-4 mile hike, his hips were xrayed and they are very good.

Try to discourage jumping, and encourage swimming, or even wading in water, that's what I was told at MSU, and by the ortho specialist. Expect early arthritis - but as you say, with supplements, regular exercise, and keeping him lean, he should live a long healthy life.

Keep us updated! :)

[Judi W]

Yes, hips are important relevant to the front end because a dog with bad hips will shift his weight to the front which will put more wear and tear on an already faulty assembly. Dogs cannot however, shift weight to the rear so in some respects a good front is even more important, but if you don't have that, you want to make darn good and sure the dog is not going to be putting weight from a bad rear forward.

[chivas]

Thanks yall, i need all the info i can get. Ive never a dog with orthopedic problems. I dont know what grade his dysplasia is yet. The rescue is extremely good at getting info out. I will talk to the vet that is seeing him and also my vet and maybe an ortho vet to see what i can expect after i get all the details. I wont be able to see the dog before adoption (if i do get him) because he is in Texas and I am in Virginia and he will be tranported to me. The foster mom has given out great info so far and isnt candy coating or hiding anything. So, I should talk to some vets you think?

[Beckysmom]

Ah, I think this answers my question about your rescue dog. For some reason I thought you already had adopted one.

A lhuge ab that my dog is / was friends with has a problem with one foreleg such that the people who own her are told to SWIM her rather than walking for exercise whenever possible. And she isn't allowed to play with B anymore, tho the dogs broke that rule a couple of times already when we all happen to be out walking at same time. But it is sad, now at 5 years old she plays and is exquisitely happy for a few minutes and then cries and limps. It is sad for my dog too, because now he basically has no one to play with since his other friend moved away. But I would think that if the dog were encouraged toward swimming exercise right from an early age that it would have fewer problems later on? (along with weight off and supplements).

Also if the dog did get disabled by it later, there are those Dogs on Wheels contraptions.

Could be that one of those would help earlier rather than later--there are some interesting stories of dogs with various structural problems being helped by being able to keep weight off the problem are for a while as glucosamine etc. regimen is used--but I have no idea of the validity. Don't think there are any studies on it at all. Still, if swimming is supposed to help, I would think a Dog on Wheels device might help for same reason when water was not available due to location, temperature, if dog hates water, etc. (In fact, I think I will mention this to my neighbors with the lab when I next see them!)

Does the dog have a tail? It would affect the weight distribution fore and aft. And how is he built? This is one time when a smaller head and chest might be nice since if those are massive he will have lots of weight no matter if he is kept slim.

I would think talking to your vet(s), and getting vet records on the dog would help.

Besides this problem, what is the dog in question supposed to be like?

And how do the things that you can already contemplate might be needed for this dog fit with your needs and desires for a dog? (I could imagine that a person who is a swimmer with a backyard pool might be delighted and someone hoping for a dog to carry doggybackpacks on long hikes would be disappointed, for example.)

[chivas]

Kate, Yes i did adopt a female rottie back in Dec. Total goof and very silly! I am also thinking about this male in the SSRR foster family.
I emailed the foster mom to find out what grade his dysplasia was and also about the tail. I have seen pics of him - one head shot and one side view and it appears he does NOT have a tail but I cannot be sure yet.
I live less the 1 mile from the chesapeake bay, so if he likes to swim like my sheltie does, maybe i can get him to swim in there. If not, I would be willing to buy a pool to help him.
I have seen those dog wheelchair thingys too. I suppose that is an option also.
I am not a sports buff, but i do like to bike and ride. Yet wouldnt worry if he wasnt able too, since my young rottie girl would run to the end of the earth!
Kim

[chivas]

sorry for taking so long - just got this email from his foster mom and here is the scoop on Andre.
Sorry for the delay in answering your question about Andre dysplasia. He
was found to have bi-lateral elbow dysplasia with osteoarthritis Xray,
which is notably worse in the right elbow. The vet went on to label the
right elbow as "Grade II lame, with crepitous deformity severe for age.
His prognosis was listed as guarded (choices were good, guarded, or
poor).

I hope that helps. I will say that since I've gotten his nutrition up
and put him on supplements, his gate and the crepitousness in his joints
have improved. He still limps as a rule, and pays for it when he runs
and leaps around the yard too much, but overall he does not seem to be
that uncomfortable.
Ok yall - any comments?