One of my puppy buyers with a now 13 month old boy called about a month ago to say her boy had been limping. I told her to visit her vet to look into it. I also suggested that she put the dog on one month of doxycyline in our lyme infested area.

The lyme titer from the snap test was negative; so they did not proceed with the antibiotic. I would have just the same.

The vet did x-rays and apparently sent them off to Cornell for a reading. The report came back negative and that there appeared to be no evidence of an OCD.

The vet said that rather than do an MRI or CAT scan, the dog should just have a debridement for $2000, thinking that something is in the joint that is not visible on x-ray.

I am not happy with this protocol and told my buyer that she is entitled to see the report, get the x-rays and go for a second opinion.

Question: Is this a common protocol for a limping dog with no visible disease on an x-ray?

I agree with vet about not treating for Lymes since the snap test was negative....I totally disagree treating a limp with surgery when x-rays say no OCD! Have they tried resting the leg (really resting it)? I would try chiropractic, acupuncture,maybe a brief course of anti-inflammatory....say no way to surgery...insist they get another vet's opinion. Surgery will just lead to further problems if recovery is mismanaged!

I have had this scenario. At 4 months my pet person called me that the pup was limping. They took him into see the vet and did an xray which showed nothing. After it did not go away I recoommended they take him in for a cat scan. It was OCD. The ortho vet wanted to do the surgery but after some research we opted not to do it. He is running around fine now, with no limp. He is also 6 years old.
I don't give out advise but this worked for us and the pet owner.

Tough call on this one. There may very well be an OCD, but I would think restricting activity, giving joint supportive nutracueticals and possibly adequan ingections would be a more sensible course of action. If it were a horse the joint could be injected directly with adaquan as well (not sure if it as effective or as necessary in canines-dog's joints just aren't as weight bearing as horses are). Some OCD lesions will fill in with time. I would think that an invasive debridement surgery without clear evidence of an OCD could add to this dog's discomfort rather than cure it.

No way I would do an invasive joint surgery without knowing exactly why we were doing it and what we were hoping to accomplish.

I think a second opinion is in order.