Dysplasia in Labradors

[Suelin]

Can anyone please advise me regarding Dysplasia in young Labs. My brother has a 10 month old black lab dog which, following jumping out of the car was lame. All tests and scans have been done by the vet and the diagnosis is confirmed. This is affecting his elbow and not hips. The parents were all properly scored for this kind of thing and by all accounts the other pups in the litter are all clear and sound.

Obviously this is both disappointing in such a young dog and also sad for the dog who has to put up with this from such a young age.

Can anyone please advise any tips and wrinkles to enhance his life and help him to cope with it all? Which supplements have any proven efficacy with this condition? Is there any known exercise regime which may help?

Poor little chap we just want to give him as much help as possible.

Many thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Clodagh]

Our lab bitch was lame at 3 months and diagnosed with fissures in her growth plates. (again, both parents had good scores, I think we over did it with her, obs. your brothers dog has self harmed). She is now rising 4 and a full on working gun dog, so she has been OK. We keep her on the light side, every ounce of fat is more work for them, and she has a supplement that she has just run out of and I can't remember the name. Joint Aid I think, it comes in a blue pouch thing. She isn't allowed to run in mad circles with other dogs and we try to stop her running on concrete but she jumps ditches and everything as normal.
We were offered an op to pin the joints which then needed 3 months cage rest. We decided to not go for that but to see if we could manage it. I am told she will get arthritis when older but seeing as originally we were told she wouldn't go opver a year old without the joint 'exploding' she has done OK.
You can now tell me what your brothers dog has isn't the same thing at all!

 

[Neo88]

Hi

Very sorry to hear about your brothers dog.

The main goal of managing the condition is to avoid excessive strain being placed on the elbow joint. Is treatment surgical or conservative?

Feed intake needs to be carefully controlled to avoid obesity and exercise also needs to be closely monitored (although difficult with a young playful dog!) Try to limit/stop high impact movements such as climbing up and down stairs and jumping in and out of the car. Also things like skidding and sliding around after toys may further damage the elbow.

As a form of low impact exercise, hydrotherapy is excellent as it reduces the loading on the joint whilst providing a high energy work out!!

With regards to supplements Glucosamine, Synoquin and Green Lipid Mussel are the most popular although the research is rather limited. Cod liver oil is known to be good for joints.

As the dog gets older it is likely to develop osteoarthritis due to the abnormal wear and tear on the joint so Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatories may be needed.

Hope this helps

Neo88

 

[CorvusCorax]

Genetics is a huge factor but if the dog has been overdoing things (jumping in and out of cars, on and off sofas, up and down stairs, over fences, splatting on hard surfaces etc) before 12 months this will not help. Have the elbows been scored and was the dog in the correct position, as can be seen on threads here, not every vet is good at x-raying and some vets can be quick to jump to an HD or ED diagnosis. Obviously if the x-ray looked like a Jackson Pollock painting, there would be no ambiguity!

There are lots of supplements which people will recommend, structured exercise is very important, swimming/hydro and sand work will help.
Keep him lean, skinny if you have to.

I'd go for management and a shorter life before any sort of big procedures or replacements but that is very much a personal thing for me.

 

[111ex111]

my lab had an operation on both elbows last year when he was 4. one elbow was really bad but the vet also did the other one to save having to do it in the future. he is most definitely going to have arthritis when he's older although we can see he is starting to struggle now with the long walks etc. we just give him joint supplements but not much else we can do

 

[Booboos]

I am sorry to hear about your dog, but with a bit of luck he can still have a long and happy life. J had elbow dysplasia but lived to be 15 years old. As far as you can try to avoid jumping (in and out of cars, sofas, beds, etc.), excessive exercise, etc. and take him swimming if you can. J was given Metacam as and when he needed it which was not very often, maybe once a year.

 

[Suelin]

Many thanks for the advice. I have passed all this on to my brother as he would know the answers to some of your questions which I do not. Definitely some useful tips.