arthritic dog-wwyd? - Page 2

[lonegirl]

I know they checked his hips....did they check his stifles (knees) for cruciate damage?

[Violet2]

Originally Posted by lonegirl

I know they checked his hips....did they check his stifles (knees) for cruciate damage?

This. It took us 3 years to get a diagnosis and do the surgery. And it was a vet tech who figured it out, never a vet and we saw several. Of course by the time the 'experts' got their act together our black lab was completely lame. And then the other knee blew out after the surgery from the accumulated stress. So she had two knee surgeries.

You need to have someone who knows knees test for a ligament blow out.


V

[lonegirl]

Originally Posted by Violet2

This. It took us 3 years to get a diagnosis and do the surgery. And it was a vet tech who figured it out, never a vet and we saw several. Of course by the time the 'experts' got their act together our black lab was completely lame. And then the other knee blew out after the surgery from the accumulated stress. So she had two knee surgeries.

You need to have someone who knows knees test for a ligament blow out.


V

I am glad they finally found the problem.
Speaking as a tech and to defend the vets...We work as a team in the back...Often I see something that the vet may miss...I've been in the field 14y longer than many vets I have worked with. Some things are learned on the job. As I am the one taking the Xray I see it first....I do a quick perusal of it and let the vet know it is up and ready....we talk together about what is seen...So yes the vet is the one responsible for making the diagnosis, but a team is often behind him/her finding that diagnosis. (Another example- do urinalysis regularly, I know by what I see if there is an infection/crystalluria etc....I make my diagnosis and tell the vet what was seen and my diagnosis...but it is the vet who has to legally make the diagnosis-even though the last time they saw urine microscopically was often in school)

Also on a big strong dog a "drawer" (movement in the knee) cannot always be found unless a very pronounced tear is there...even when fully anesthetised. It also takes lots of practice finding this....again something not taught in school but learned on the job...

[betsyj]

I too would take some weight off of him. You can add some green beans to his dish to add some bulk without a lot of calories.

We did adequan injections for my dog's severe hip dysplasia and it did work for a while. I had no luck with DGP at all.

Sometimes putting a dog on a larger theraputic dose of deramaxx (or other NSAID) will really help. At your dog's age I would be thinking more of comfort rather then worrying much about long term liver damage.

It is of course a trade off. I am making it with my dog at this point-I want her to enjoy our walks and be mobile and in less pain so we do the long term NSAID.

I also second getting his knees looked at. Good luck!!

[lisalulu]

Originally Posted by LittleRockstar

Have you looked into the Glyco-Flex supplements? Adequan injections? We do these for my 12 year old GSD. We also use Metacam as needed and we get monthly acupuncture. LOVE the results of the acupuncture!

The glyco-flex is what we started in late Dec and are still doing. It did seem to help at first but now he seems the same as before

[lisalulu]

Originally Posted by lonegirl

I know they checked his hips....did they check his stifles (knees) for cruciate damage?

I know they looked at them but I don't know if they checked for anything specific. They did send the film to a radiologist to have them look too. But its worth a try to ask them to look again. I'll ask when I call!

[lisalulu]

Originally Posted by betsyj

Sometimes putting a dog on a larger theraputic dose of deramaxx (or other NSAID) will really help. At your dog's age I would be thinking more of comfort rather then worrying much about long term liver damage.

Yeah thats what crossed my mind too.

[Violet2]

Originally Posted by lonegirl

I am glad they finally found the problem.
Speaking as a tech and to defend the vets...We work as a team in the back...Often I see something that the vet may miss...I've been in the field 14y longer than many vets I have worked with. Some things are learned on the job. As I am the one taking the Xray I see it first....I do a quick perusal of it and let the vet know it is up and ready....we talk together about what is seen...So yes the vet is the one responsible for making the diagnosis, but a team is often behind him/her finding that diagnosis. (Another example- do urinalysis regularly, I know by what I see if there is an infection/crystalluria etc....I make my diagnosis and tell the vet what was seen and my diagnosis...but it is the vet who has to legally make the diagnosis-even though the last time they saw urine microscopically was often in school)

Also on a big strong dog a "drawer" (movement in the knee) cannot always be found unless a very pronounced tear is there...even when fully anesthetised. It also takes lots of practice finding this....again something not taught in school but learned on the job...

I appreciate your efforts to defend the vets, but I think there may be a lot of mediocre vets in my area. My lab is pretty petite, about 50lbs and has dainty legs. The drawer test was never done by a vet. They were all concerned about the hips.

The vet tech who helped us was in my writing group and out of desperation I asked her what she thought--We'd been trying to resolve this for years at that point. She didn't even need to see my dog, she knew just from my description because she worked with that population.

We took her to the vets who specialized in knee surgery and they were able to diagnose it.

V