My poor Ozzy Roo...UPDATE

[swells]

Ozzy (4 years old) started limping last week so I brought him to work with me and we did xrays. The vet looked at them and said he had moderate hip dysplasia and severe arthritis in both knees. He sent them off to a board certified radiologist and to top it off, he thinks that he has torn both crucites (not sure if they are partial or full - it was hard to tell with all the arthritis) and he doesn't think surgery will help much because of the severe arthritis.  I am supposed to meet with him next week to go over the percentage of improvement he thinks ACL surgery would help. I can't bear to see my Ozzy in pain. He is staying strong but it is obvious that he is in pain.

The one good thing is that the vet didn't notice any muscle atrophy in his hind end yet. We just had an Hydrotherapy place open up for pets so I want to try that. They have a heated pool with resistance and an underwater treadmill. Has anyone tries these?

He is on a strict diet and has about 10-15 more pounds to lose. He is also on excercise restriction (now if I can just keep him from climbing on the couch). It is hard for him to watch all the other dogs play so we try to stimulate him in other ways.

Please keep my Ozzy in your thoughts. I love him so much. I will keep everyone updated to his progress.

Stacie

OK. So here is what we found out from the radiologist. It is definately a bi-lateral chronic ACL issue. The good news is he does think that, despite his arthritis, the surgery should help him get back to 90%. Not to bad. The bad news is, I sent some recent x-rays of my Saint Bernard and he also has at least one knee (only had xrays of his left knee) that has chronic ACL injury. So now I have to somehow come up with $2800 x 3 to cover each knee. My hubbie has offered to sell his boat, so that will definately help.

I could use anyones experience with recovery of ACL surgery. I know I can only do 1 knee at a time with Ozzy, but do you think I should do Ozzy and Harley at the same time so they can recover together. We also have a very energetic 6 month old newfie that is not going to appreciate not being able to play with his buddies for so long.

Stacie

[swells]

Oh, I forgot to add. He is currently on Deramaxx (NSAID) to help with the pain although I only see a slight improvement.

Stacie

[MommaBear]

Poor Ozzy Arthritis can be a terrible pain...I just spent an observership in a (human) arthritis clinic.

[poseidon]

I'm so sorry to hear about Ozzy.  our oem, Poseidon had ACL surgery on his back leg and he is still limping on it.  We have to keep him in our room because he can get hurt.  He can have normal activity in two more months.  Plus we just had him fixed, and our female is in heat so he tries to get at her all the time when he is out of the room.  He got at her a few times so she might be pregnant.  Anyway he is talking Rimadryl(spelling?)Well good luch with Ozzy, We will keep him in our thoughts.
Chris

[longshadowfarms]

For any joint issues, I have a lot of faith in glucosamine chondroitin.  Our chocolate Lab, Jaeger, had terrible elbows starting at less than one yr old and HD though that never seemed to bother her too much other than being unable to climb stairs.  At about 5 or 6 yrs of age when we were wondering if we'd need to put her down due to the pain, the vet suggested glucosamine chondroitin.  She was on it until she died at age 14 and she acted like a puppy up until the day before she died.  I'm not saying every dog will have results like that.  She still had times when she was in pain and we used rimadyl at times for that but the glucosamine chondroitin definitely extended her life tremendously.  I've used it with all of my older dogs as soon as they showed signs of aches and pains.  Even Carter is on it now.  I haven't figured out what his problem is (vet is pretty confident it isn't HD but can't tell for sure w/o x-rays) but figure the g.c. won't hurt and may help.  I also give Vit C to the youngsters as their joints are growing and developing. It does take a month or more to see results from the g.c.  Hope you can figure out what is going on and how to treat it!  Please keep us posted!

[kathryn]

I'm sorry to hear Ozzy isn't feeling well.  I don't really have any advice.  I have always used Rimadyl if things were too bad and glucosomine chondroitin the rest of the time.  Please let us know how he is doing.  I would definitely be interested in hearing how the hydrotherapy works.  I have considered that for Kaila because she has a second partial tear to her ACL. 

[Gypsy Jazmine]

I really hope you can get him feeling more comfortable soon!

[swells]

Thanks everyone for your replys.

Ozzy has been on Glucosamine/Chondroiton/MSM since he was about a year old. I haven't tried Vit. C supplements though, I will look into that.

I am taking him to get another set of x-rays today and send them off for a second (actually third) opinion.

Deramaxx is in the same class as Rimadyl, only it is a little easier on their liver. He still gets his bloodwork checked every 6 months.

Stacie

[galaxybears]

Oh dear I hope poor Ozzy will be ok . Can't offer any advice, but I am thinking of you all.

[swells]

OK. So here is what we found out from the radiologist. It is definately a bi-lateral (both knees) chronic ACL issue. The good news is he does think that, despite his arthritis, the surgery should help him get back to 90%. Not to bad. The bad news is, I sent some recent x-rays of my Saint Bernard and he also has at least one knee (only had xrays of his left knee) that has chronic ACL injury. So now I have to somehow come up with $2800 x 3 to cover each knee. My hubbie has offered to sell his boat, so that will definately help.

I could use anyones experience with recovery of ACL surgery. I know I can only do 1 knee at a time with Ozzy, but do you think I should do Ozzy and Harley at the same time so they can recover together. We also have a very energetic 6 month old newfie that is not going to appreciate not being able to play with his buddies for so long.

Thanks everyone for your support.
Stacie

[newflvr]

Our little girl Newf, Lucille had ACL surgery on both knees and came out of it fine.  It was hard keeping her quiet during the recovery time, but I tried to keep her busy with chewing on various toys and kept her confined where ever I was.  She was great after everything healed up.

Good luck to all of you!  It is a really hard thing to go through.  Oh, and regarding meds, I've put my guys on MSM and Cetyl M and they are both doing so well.  The info on Cetyl M is on www.katiesbump ers.com

[kristi]

I could use anyones experience with recovery of ACL surgery. I know I can only do 1 knee at a time with Ozzy, but do you think I should do Ozzy and Harley at the same time so they can recover together. We also have a very energetic 6 month old newfie that is not going to appreciate not being able to play with his buddies for so long.

My mom has a (giant) lab that is on his 2nd ACL repair - same leg. He's only 4. He is a very, very energetic dog.
The 1st surgical repair was a "standard" repair. It lasted 1 year.
He just had the 2nd one in June. This time they cut the bone, changed the angle of the joint, pinned it with titanium rods, & used a synthetic ligament.
Mason's rehab program will take 12 weeks. He has an older 'brother' that he loves to play with, & it has been tough to keep Mason's enthusiasm to a minimum.

IMO... It maybe easier to do the two dogs at the same time - they could recouperate & rehab together. Then you would only have to focus on keeping the puppy occupied.
I can get you info on the specific name of the surgical procedure if you like - just send me a PM.

[seaherons]

We decided against the recommended TPLO (Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy) surgery for Cirra because she was not done growing, her level of impairment was not that severe and the risks of the procedure as I have said before.  We took the Conservative Management approach which is not for every situation however worthy of consideration.  It seems that vets are quick to recommend the TPLO surgery.  There is a Canine Conservative Management Yahoo Group which can provide additional information.  Resources regarding this approach and rehab can be found in the links and files section.  There is also an Orthodogs Yahoo Group.  There have been some good posts on this topic on BPO.  Good luck.