My dog has been limping and my vet took 4 x-rays of my dog's elbow. He thought there was one thing that he didn't quite understand. Since he is on good terms with a vet at a specialty hospital, he had the specialist look at the x-rays.
So here is what the specialist had to say. The x-ray is very suspicious. There could be OCD lesions, either united aconeal process or medial coronoid process. He would need to scope to evaluate. This would cost $2800. Even though the other elbow is not suspicious, he recommends scoping both because it is often bilateral. That would add $600 for a total of $3400.
That is a whole lot of money for "very suspicious" and I wonder if this specialist is too eager to go this route.
Had the same question - how old is the dog? I would send them in to OFA and have their specialist look at them. I wouldn't do any surgery on elbows. Would try crate rest and supplements (including Adequan) and see how the dog does first.
OFA will evaluate without ID- you're not looking for a permanent rating, just an opinion.
Crate rest, baby aspirin, legend & adequan can do wonders for reversing elbow OCD lesions. Happy to share, but will do so privately to avoid all the flames.
Bone fragments in the elbow can be successfully repaired if done early in the life of the dog. Less than 6 months is best so that growth can continue without the irritation to the bone that fragments cause.
Fragments can be repaired with only a scope, and I presume that the vet is planning to repair the elbow during the scope (which is why the scope is so expensive on one side but not the other). Fragments are often bilateral. Rest and supplements will not make them go away, and they will cause arthritis in the joint eventually. X-rays frequently can't reveal all the fragments. So scopes are the best diagnostic tool.
If you have more than one specialist in your area, shop around for price, but don't put this off too long. 7 months is bordering on too late for a repair without joint damage.
Used properly, most of the time the alternative methods listed will prevent you from "cutting". These meds have to be supplemented with crate rest and hand walking... for several months. Many are not willing to commit to that, but if you can, the results are well worth it.
Legend is synthetic Hylauronic Acid and Adeqean is synthetic glucosamine.
My dog has been limping and my vet took 4 x-rays of my dog's elbow. He thought there was one thing that he didn't quite understand. Since he is on good terms with a vet at a specialty hospital, he had the specialist look at the x-rays.
So here is what the specialist had to say. The x-ray is very suspicious. There could be OCD lesions, either united aconeal process or medial coronoid process. He would need to scope to evaluate. This would cost $2800. Even though the other elbow is not suspicious, he recommends scoping both because it is often bilateral. That would add $600 for a total of $3400.
That is a whole lot of money for "very suspicious" and I wonder if this specialist is too eager to go this route.
Surgery will make the pain go away in the short term but it won't prevent arthritis in the future. Recent studies show that there is no difference in the onset of arthritis among dogs with surgery and dogs with conservative treatment. I would do the surgery only if the puppy is in severe pain. Otherwise, I would do crate rest and the mentioned supplements.
If you don't want to do the arthroscopic procedure, ask about doing an MRI/CT scan. That should be able to tell you for sure, with out cutting the dog, if elbow dysplasia is evident.
Surgery will make the pain go away in the short term but it won't prevent arthritis in the future. Recent studies show that there is no difference in the onset of arthritis among dogs with surgery and dogs with conservative treatment. I would do the surgery only if the puppy is in severe pain. Otherwise, I would do crate rest and the mentioned supplements.
I would like to read these studies. Could you post somewhere I can read them?
