Elbow Dysplasia

[usf5678]

My basset/beagle 9 month old had been limping on his right leg for about a month so I took him in to have it checked out. Looks like a bone did not attach correctly to the elbow and now needs surgery. According to the vet surgeon, they need to cut out part of the bone so it can keep growing and attach itself correctly to the bone. And eventhough he only limps on his right side, they also need to operate on his left. He is showing symptoms on that leg as well. They also found early stages of arthritis on his right because of the bone problems. Eck.

Anyone else had this problem? Sully is my first dog EVER and it seems to me that everything is going really fast. I took him in this morning and they wanted to operate this afternoon!! And the $$! They quoted me $4,000 (US) which is ALOT for me. I'm going to go ahead and schedule the appointment for this month, but I would love to hear anyone with similar stories and/or any advice. Thank you!

[hazelrunpack]

We had a dog that began showing symptoms at the age of 9 weeks. We subsequently had the surgery done to clean out his elbow joints. The surgery was pricey even back in '97, and the recovery is long--took 8 - 12 weeks of restricted exercise/splinting per elbow. Although the surgery stopped the immediate damage from bone bits floating around in the joint capsule, Evan still developed arthritis in his elbows from past damage.

Unfortunately, he died of other causes at age 3 so I can't tell you how bad it would have gotten. But at age 3 he was still fairly symptom free. Occasionally he'd overdo and need NSAIDS, but if we kept him to moderate exercise he did well. If your dog swims, that's an excellent joint-friendly exercise.

Glucosamine/chondroitin supplements helped a lot, as did keeping his weight on the low side of normal (the less weight he carries, the less stress on his joints).

Good luck with Sully, usf5678. Please keep us posted on how he's doing!

[usf5678]

Thanks Hazel. I'm hoping everything turns out ok.