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Unexplained lameness


L and M Ranch
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Nancy, what made you decide to try surgery on both dogs? Did the xrays show any bone chips in the joint?

 

Xrays on both dogs did NOT show anything.

 

Laura, with Ben the problem had been going on for about 18 months before I took him to the last ortho vet, and he had just been back to one of the previous vets right before this appt. He had lost over 50% of the muscle mass in that shoulder, gait was off because he wasn't putting alot of weight on that leg. They said I could spend the money for an MRI (about 1/2 the cost of the surgery), they said about 1/2 the time the MRI will show if something is fixable, the other 1/2 of the time it won't show it but if they do surgery anyway they find a fixable problem. Not wanting to spend more money with not really having a firm answer, I opted for the surgery.

 

With Jack, the history of me observing the actual injury, picture the proverbial person slipping up in the air on a banana skin, well Jack did it sideways and landed on his shoulder not once, but twice with the second one being on concrete blocks and not getting up right away, they were almost 100% sure that he had a traumatic OCD. Again, we had been resting him and going to other ortho vet who said nothing was wrong with him. Time kept passing and nothing was getting better. So I decided to have the surgery.

 

Jack's surgery would have occured earlier, but right after Ben had his surgery, my husband fell when using crutches on steps (while waiting for his knee replacement) and fractured his femur and ankle. It was a wonderful winter :-)

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Xrays on both dogs did NOT show anything.

 

That's pretty typical, from what I understand. Proper positioning for xrays makes all the difference. A friend of mine had lameness in her dog for months, her vet had ruled out OCD, pano, etc etc. as Xrays showed nothing. She finally took the dog to an ortho vet who specialized in working dogs. Xrays showed OCD quite clearly. When asked why the earlier xray didn't show the defect, the answer was that small changes in positioning make all the difference.

That being said, if the bone spur is on the caudal aspect of the humeral head, I would ask if it could be a calcified cartilage flap. My concern would be that if any bits break off the spur, that those can migrate down the biceps tendon and elsewhere and cause ongoing lameness. The dog being "out", chiropractically speaking, may be the result of trying to compensate for the shoulder pain, rather than the source of it.

The surgeon who operated on my friends dog has operated on hundreds of Border Collie shoulders. He said that often times when older BCs come in with shoulder problems (typically rotator cuff injuries) and he operates arthroscopically, he sees old OCD lesions. In other words, the dogs had never shown clinically that they had damage/problem going on in their shoulder joint, but it was there all the time. I didn't ask, but I can't help but think that some of these old lesions, laying dormant, become problematic when the dog suffers an acute trauma, such as running into something. I don't think you can know until you drop an arthroscope down into the shoulder and have a look see. Hopefully it won't come to that for you dog, and that the Adequan and hands on work will put him right as rain again.

leslie

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My vet always says surgery is basically controlled trauma.

Interesting way of putting it. True though I guess. For humans too. Hope it doesn't come to that for your Jag. I'll be watching with interest and checking back for updates. Good thoughts coming your way. :rolleyes:

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"My vet always says surgery is basically controlled trauma."

 

True, but ongoing trauma to soft tissues by bony bits and pieces is also trauma.

Also, arthroscopic surgery is minimally invasive. 2 small (less than an inch long) cuts in the shoulder. Dogs completely healed in 8 weeks post surgery, and you can put the whole thing behind you. Trauma with a purpose and a positive outcome! :-)

Anyways, best of luck with your boy!

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My vet isn't against surgery at all it's just his way of saying that when dogs are recovering from it don't forget that they have been through trauma. Treat them as such during recovery.

I am using therapeutic ultrasound on him now as well. Twice a day along with the flexibility exercises. He seems better today than he did yesterday. He seemed more sore yesterday than Friday which I would guess normal as I'm usually the same way after a visit to the chiropractor.

Thanks.

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I'm glad is doing better, and that the outlook is at least somewhat optimistic!

 

Quick question for anyone: I have only used Adequan for one dog, for about a year (when other issues arose and vet recommended ceasing the injections), so I'm no expert. But I thought that it was something that worked cumulatively - that one or three injections really wouldn't do much. Is this incorrect?

 

TIA,

diane

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I'm glad is doing better, and that the outlook is at least somewhat optimistic!

 

Quick question for anyone: I have only used Adequan for one dog, for about a year (when other issues arose and vet recommended ceasing the injections), so I'm no expert. But I thought that it was something that worked cumulatively - that one or three injections really wouldn't do much. Is this incorrect?

 

TIA,

diane

 

The normal protocol is a loading does of injections 2x/week for 4 weeks, then maintenance dosing (which can vary from monthly to much longer, depending on the dog). Some say they see an improvement in the dog,( through reduction of inflammation), after 2-3 doses. Full benefits are not obtained until the end, or close to the end, of the loading period.

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