limping and x-rays

[paula20380]

That is awful news poor Bonnie, I hope the operation goes well.

I wish health testing could become compulsory. As, like Dave says it may not stop everything but surely hip and elbow scoring would minimise the risk which in turn would help to cut it down in the breed.

[davemac]

i am so sorry it could not have been better news for you, i hope all goes well for you with the operation and just as important the recovery

[bonnienlouise]

Hi Guys

Thanks for your replies. I rang at 5pm to check on her and she had come round after the operation fine. The surgeon was kind enough to let us have a copy of the images from the CT scan and also forwarded us a copy of a post op x-ray this afternoon also which shows the screw placed into the bone and also the cut he has made in the ulna. This has given us chance to make sure our son understands before she does come home what has been done and how she is likely to be, no more rough and tumble for quite a while.

Lou

[porgster]

sorry to hear about all that bad news, hope everything works out for her!!

[bonnienlouise]

Hi

We picked her up yesterday and were quite surprised when she was bought out pulling like crazy on her lead on three legs which is quite a feat at her weight. The leg which they operated on had a very large bandage to reduce the swelling but she was fine getting up her ramp to get in the car to drive back and then back inside when we got home. Then the pain obviously kicked in and the poor thing could not get comfy. She has a particular position she tends to sleep in on her back with legs in the air; this was not easy when the leg with the bandage weighed so much more than normal. She spent most of the evening crying until we were able to get her in a position that she found comfy. I did have reservations about how mobile she would be but she did venture out in the garden a few times as we were instructed to have short ten minute lead walks with her but to ensure that she does not run or jump.

We were up during the night with her as she woke around two and couldnt settle but today has been a different story. We went to the vets this morning and had the bandage removed and she is far more comfortable and is already putting some weight although not a lot on the poor leg. She has been out into the garden again a few times and is far perkier today. All in all the outlook does not seem as bleak as it did at the beginning of the week. I have also found out that the hip issue is a very subtle one at the moment so will be managed with weight and exercise restriction at present.

The surgeon shaved a huge amount of fur off her one side and all the way down the leg, that coupled with the typical grumpy looking expression means she is a sorry state to look at, but all in all things are looking up.

[busterbaby2]

I'm so pleased the op went well

I hope Bonnie continues to recover and is right as rain soon.

Do you know what type of elbow dysplasia Bonnie has? If it's UAP the same as Busters (the op would entail either fixing the anconeal process in place with a screw or removing it), then anybody else unfortunate enough to have a pup with the same problem, will have 2 cases to look at here that have both taken different approaches.

[bonnienlouise]

Hi

Yes its the same thing a UAP. She had the anconeal process fixed in place with a screw and the ulna was broken as they needed to kind of remould the joint by trying to lift the bone to rectify a step that had been created.

I dont know whether it may help anyone who might go through this in the future but the CT scans were what helped us to decide on the operation.

This is the ct scan before the op of the bad elbow.



This is the x-ray before the op of the bad elbow which you will see around the ball of the joint it should be a nice smooth round socket but the step is evident.



This is the CT scan of the good elbow which you will see looks much smoother.



This is the x-ray of the good elbow showing the smooth socket.



This is the xray which shows what was done during the op with the break in the ulna and the screw in place.



We did our best to read up on the operation before we went ahead but there was not a lot of information from people who had decided to go ahead. We had a lot of information about the options without surgery which made us think it was a better way to go as many people had had success without going for the operation. As I explained before when you are able to compare the 2 ct scans of each elbow alongside each other and you can see such a difference it seemed the only option. I think it shows that each case may be completely different but you need to get as much information as you possibly can about all of your options and ask as many questions as you need from the vet.

The information we did manage to get suggested that she would be on cage rest for around six to eight weeks with very short walks in the garden on a lead. The surgeon however said it is very important that she does not run or jump but she is fine to potter round the house as she feels the need and has a few walks round the garden. So she still follows me from room to room and has adapted to things very well, she has even started to place weight on it at times and is holding her bone in place with it and seems to be quite contented and making good progress already. We know that it could take up to six months for recovery in the worst scenario but early signs seem good

Lou

[busterbaby2]

I can see why you opted for the opperation. Busters elbow dysplasia looked much less problematic on xray and was soley confined to the anconeal process, which simply had not attatched itself to the end of the ulna as it should have.

The anconeal process starts out seperate form the ulna and fuses with it by about 5 months, in Busters case, the anconeal process simple refused to join up and he has no further problems with his elbow other than that. I don't have his xrays, but I have found some xrays on-line that show what should happen to the anconeal process during early growth.

http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/projects/saort ... 5/85f1.jpg
The xrays above show the anconeal process (the little blob to the left of the elbow), slowly joining up with the rest of the elbow. Busters has not joined and remains detatched, so it doesn't effect the actual the inside of the joint itself.
Leaving the anconeal process detatched for Busters means that it may cause artritic changes later in life due to movement of the anconeal process against the back of the joint, but not cause problems within the joint. If it gets to the stage it causes him problems due to bony changes, he can then have an op to 'clean up' the bones and attatch the anconeal process.

It looks like Bonnie has been very unlucky and has a couple of problems going on in her elbow I hope she carries on recoving well

[bonnienlouise]

Hi everyone

Just thought I would post an update. Bonnie is doing well and regularly trying to run on the bad leg which is a nightmare as we are not allowed to let her at least until she has a follow up x-ray with the surgeon in May. Due to the restricted exercise when we do take her out on the lead she is pulling like crazy and is unbelievably excited when she sees anyone outside the family.

We have had a couple of issues with her leg since the op which we didnt know to expect. Where they have broken the bone has been painful and she spent around a day licking it and it came up in quite a painful looking are which developed into a very hard scab which sounded almost crumbly if you manipulated it. I took her to the vet and he said it was a side effect and when the scab dropped off she would have what he could only describe as a crater. Well after three days of applying cream 2-3 times a day in rubber gloves as it is strong stuff the scab dropped off and she was left with the crater which now seems to be shrinking.

When she goes out on the lead walks she is tending to lift the bad leg when standing to sniff around and it appears that around the same time as the problem above she has caught her dew claw on something. We didnt realise for around 24 hours as all of our attention has been on her elbow; by which time she had has a good chew at it overnight, managing to actually take off some of the fur. She was taken back to the vets again and he changed the antibiotics again to a very strong one which she is having twice a day. The only way I can describe it is that the area swelled looking like a great big bubble of pus in the space between the dew claw and the foot itself. I am now cleaning this twice a day with something called hibiscrub whilst she sits and thoroughly enjoys the whole process.

I have to say that despite initial reservations that we had not done the right thing she has been fantastic, it is far better than we could of imagined. I know there is a long road ahead and a lot relies on the results of the next x-rays and where we go from there but it is all looking really good at the moment.

Lou n Bonnie

[bonnienlouise]

Hi everyone

I hope everyone is well. I just thought I would post an update as it has been a while. Bonnie is doing fantastically, she had her follow up in mid May when they did an x-ray to check on how she was healing. The surgeon said that she was doing much better than he expected her to do. She is now on three walks a day which we are increasing by 5 mins each time and we are supposed to be up to 25 mins each walk however this does not always work out as she has decided walking near where we live is not what she wants to do. We are gradually getting her used to noises again such as cars and town as she is scared of things like this.

She is a completely different dog compared to before in terms of what she wants to do and has now found the joys of playing chase, rugby although she hogs the ball and football. She seems to think that it is funny to pretend to run back to you with the ball and then dodge and run right past. She has also started to bark at things and especially the door when someone knocks and for someone who didnt know her I think it must be quite intimidating.

I think the one thing I would say is that if this does happen to you and one of your babies get as much information as you can regarding the problem itself so you can ask the right questions of the surgeon or vet. Dont believe all of the information you read on the internet as we read a great deal that she would need 7-8 weeks of cage rest however she has been very mobile albeit limping since the day she came home. Always always do what is best for them as ultimately we went with the advice that the only way she would have any quality of life was if she had the operation and that was enough for us.

take care

Bonnie n lou

[sarajane]

Hi Lou

I'm sooooo happy to hear the Bonnie is doing well. I have been reading your posts holding my breath. I understand totally what its like to be faced with that, all those ailments and the decisions you have to make. I hope you and your family are able to relax a little now and enjoy Bonnie.

Sara x

[CCUKMR]

Get in a Chiropractor/ they are wonderful

I have just rehomed a young Mastiff and he had one come in £30 she was here an hour and was brilliant he had some bits that needed alittle adjustment and he loved it
2 days rest and now he is just a normal baby no more pain in his joints and yes most is growing pains But this helped so think about it before you let the vets loose on her
they really dont always do the best.....
I will post the site up later for you to read and Cloe that went out to Bruin is so calm and Bruin loved her and just went so relaxed while she was working on him....

[bonnienlouise]

Hi

Just wanted to give another update. Bonnie is now nearly five months on from her operation and is doing amazingly well. She has two thirty minute walks a day and after a power nap is raring to go again. We are keeping her weight down but she looks so much better for it and is bounding around like the puppy we didnt really experience.

I am so glad we took on all the advice and info we could and paid the extra for the ct scans as that was the defining moment that proved there and then we were doing the right thing as the elbows looked so different. The specialists were all fantastic and we couldnt of asked for better treatment.

She is still afraid of loud noises, small dogs and men who wear hats despite my best attempts at socialisation but step by step we are getting there and I wouldnt change her for the world. She has a favourite place to go for her walk which has lots of wooded areas with long grass in which she can forage. Then when you call she comes bounding out like a great big rabbit.

As we now know that she has mild arthritis in her hips and will potentially always have a slight limp that can become worse if she overdoes it we have ordered synflex to see if this will help, as she is now also no longer taking any rimadyl we thought after recommendations here that it would be a good idea.

Lou

[cravemoor]

So glad to hear that all is going well with Bonnie The Synflex really is wonderful stuff and we wouldn't recommend it otherwise. I hope Bonnie continues to remain well - how about some new photo's of her >

[bonnienlouise]

Hi

I have added another mastiff to the family this week so I am in the process of taking lots of piccies so I will definately post some of both my babies this week

Lou