Surgery or not? - Page 2

The right elbow has sclerosis of the ulnar trochlear groove and and an  indistinct medial coronoid process.  These secondary changes are consistent with an "incongruent elbow" joint  according to the surgeon who operates on a lot of police dogs that are screened at six months prior to going into work.  From what I understand it can be very difficult to see a fractured coronoid process on lateral xrays.

She is lame on the right forelimb intermittently. But radiographically there is no evidence of panosteitis.

This is the puppy at 7.5 months she weighs 65 lbs I am wondering if that is a little too heavy at this age, which will adversely affect joint development and function?

Did you have the pup tested for any tick diseases?

If she isn't having rear end lamenss, I would not do the surgery. I tend to be conservative with HD and have owned and seen quite a few dogs with far worse hips that these that have done just fine as adults. In addition this is unilateral,  she has one hip that appears to be very good. I would give her a glucosamine supplement, keep her slim, not encourage exercise that required any jumping - no frisbees, IMO that is the worst exercise possible for any large breed dog.

Pano doesn't always show radiographic changes, it is usually diagnosed syptomatically.  If there is a process going on that could cause joint pain and lameness, that may well require some  surgery in the future. Dog bear a higher percentage of their weight on the front end, expecialy a dog with imperfect hips.

You can re-xray her at a later date to see if there are any remodeling changes going on, but I would not expect to ever see normal hip conformation on this dog. She is a big female, but I've had VERY big dogs with OFA excellent hips. Her weights looks good on the photo, can you feel her ribs? If so, she's probably not overweight. BTW she is very pretty.


 

Thank you for all the excellent advice.  She was negative on the tick borne disease panel.   As has been suggested the dilemma is that TPO surgery has a narrow window of opportunity for success.  It must be done before any arthritic changes are present and under 12 months of age.  My wife has a concern with the agressive nature of the surgery (three cuts through the pelvis and an implant)  and the fact that an 8 month old puppy will have to be crated and kept quiet for 6 to 8 weeks.  From the sounds of it many have dealt with less than ideal hips successfully without surgery. I had hoped to do agility with this pup but I guess without the surgery that is likely not going to happen. ...

if you're really worried, wait until she's 11 months and redo the x-rays. make sure she is at least a month after or before her heat cycle. and in the mean time find a place to swim her and no jumps or agility until then.

tpo is a horribly painful surgery and doesn't give a 100% guarantee.

 

As far as activities with her, let your dog tell you what she's not comfortable doing. I know of a GSD who failed to pass OFA at 2 years, but she had too much drive to be a couch potato. She ended up competing in flyball--a physically strenuous sport--until she was 10 years old, with never a problem due to her hips.

I think OFA doesn't pass some hips that will be functionally useful throughout the dog's life. It's worth removing those dogs from the breeding pool (although, I suspect that the SV passes them for breeding with an a3 rating), but it doesn't mean the dog can't have an active, happy life.

And your dogs hips are really not terrible.... it wouldn't shock me if she didn't tighten up and turn out HD free as a mature dog. Looking at the muscle mass in her thighs, it sure looks like she's been actively using those muscles and they haven't been causing many issues. Check out http://leerburg.com/hipart.htm for more on hip xrays can make a dog's hips look better or worse.

Christine

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Don't write her off for agilty just yet. If she's not lame you can still do the table, teeter totter, big walk, tunnel to get her ready for a trial. I'd hold off on the weave poles and any jumps. Rally is another option, no impact at the novice level, little at the advanced and excellent. Novice OB, no impact. I know people who weight pull dogs with less that perfect hips after they have reached maturity.