Just curious what kind of screening the breeders did that still resulted in these issues. Elbow dysplasia is quite uncommon in my breed but most people still test for it because you can do it when you do the hips. I’ve never heard of a dog having severely dysplastic elbows with a history of clear xrays…but then again it’s not common in our breed so maybe it’s harder to avoid in other breeds.
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My lab came up witl elbow dysplasia at about 2 years old. Both his parents had xrays done and are listed on the Orthopaedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) website as Normal. His full brother out of the same litter is a Canadian Champion and he has tested as normal. One of the females from the litter was tested and she was normal. I don’t know of any other puppies from that dam or that litter that had elbow dysplasia.
The father won his breed at Westminster one year and his group the following year. He comes from a really good breeder.
The breeder does what they can to stack the deck through testing but sometimes it still shows up.
Sure of course. I understand how health screenings work. I was curious whether any had been done …just because someone is a breeder doesnt mean they health test their breedng stock.
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Both my dog’s parents had OFA “Good” Hips and Elbows as well as being “Clear” on PRCD/PRA, PLL and RCD4 genetic testing. My surgeon still says that my dog just had seriously bad luck and thinks that the FCP’s in both elbows were caused by acute trauma but it seems weird that both elbows would be injured with no incidents that we observed. I feel like there she had to have genetically weaker elbows or something. I’m just very happy to be over it and hope she can live a long happy sound life without too much arthritis.
Interesting; I don’t know how likely it is that it would be from trauma and not at all from genetics. I kind of agree with your theory - that maybe both were involved.
I hope you let your breeder know; at the very least so that they can advise other littermate owners. Health screenings are only one part of good breeding programs. But they aren’t 100% predictive.
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Hi all!
I thought I’d give an update, the baby is doing pretty well. About 4 weeks ago we had our 2 week post op appointment and the surgeon was thrilled with the lack of inflammation in the joint. He said usually 2 weeks post op they still have quite a bit of inflammation. He was even happier that I had him off all meds at that point too. He was discharged on tramadol and galliprant. The surgical nurse called me 2 days later to ask how he was and I told her I thought his tummy was upset because he picked at his breakfast. She told me to stop the galliprant and keep the tramadol and keflex. So he really only had an nsaid for 3 days.
He’s been on cosequin and a high dose omega 3 since the surgery and seems pretty comfy. We go back this Friday 1/4 for a 6 week post op check up with the surgeon. I am hoping he is still happy with his work! Lol
i will probably add in Adequan in the coming weeks. I do feel like this is always something I’ll have to be conscientious of, and maybe he won’t be as active as I’d have liked, but that’s ok. My regular vet promised me that he will do everything he can to help me manage him for his lifetime.
One more thing, I think his ED was secondary to a mild angular limb deformity. His wrist joint on that leg always seemed “different” to me. I’ve notice since the surgery that joint now matches the other side. Very strange and something I need to mention to surgeon on Friday.
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