dirtychicken Posted November 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2007 Well today was The Specialist day. Steve Butterworth is a very lovely man and was very very good with Flora (who was shaking in the waiting room but fell asleep in the consulting room ). No huge decisions have been made yet, although he does feel that the TPO might not be appropriate for her given her age - apparently it works best on dogs aged 7-8 months and well on dogs aged 10-12 months but beyond that it becomes less effective. We took her outside so that he could see her move and he noted that she walks completely out of whack because her front end is being thrown off balance because of overcompensating for the back end. Big relief for somebody to notice this as I've had hell's own job getting her to walk "nicely" and she has always leaned against my leg if she's walked on my left (very annoying but now I realise why). Miraculously, she did behave like a star though and trotted on loose lead at my side instead of behaving in her usual bulldozer manner He then said that we had 2 options: 1 was to go straight into physio/hydro etc and monitor her progress and 2 to have further x-rays across her whole leg just to make sure that nothing else had been missed. He was a bit dubious about putting her under another GA for x-rays because of the epilepsy but the risk of missing something needing treating is, to my mind, greater than her having a fit when coming out of the GA (which can be handled anyway). Unfortunately, they'd had lots of emergencies admitted today so we're back out there again tomorrow for her to be admitted for the day for x-rays. The main push for the x-rays is that he is still not 100% sure that it is the hip dysplasia which is causing the lameness There is a chance that there is a problem with her knee which *will* require immediate surgery as, if it is a problem, it will deteriorate quite rapidly and surgery will become harder to perform. Anyone want to place bets on how straightforward this next step will be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted November 20, 2007 Report Share Posted November 20, 2007 Anyone want to place bets on how straightforward this next step will be? At least it sounds like you've found someone who can see the extent of the problem and is determined to find the right cause. I can remember going off to the specialist armed with xrays of Lily's shoulders from my vet and it turned out that the problem was actually her elbow on the opposite side to the one where we thought the problem was. Good luck tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted November 20, 2007 Report Share Posted November 20, 2007 I like the sound of Steve Butterworth I hope he does well by Flora and it all looks like he's set to do just that. Ronnie sends his love and lots of licks to ickle Flora. I'll send this to you , keep your chin up. A positive is due so I'll keep my fingers crossed. Above all, to fall asleep in the Consulting Room, Flora must be ok with it all so far so just keep following her lead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackthelab Posted November 20, 2007 Report Share Posted November 20, 2007 Sounds like s good old fashioned, hands on vet, not many of them around sadly. Good luck with everything, if its not HD it could be Cruciate tears which can be repaired, particularly as the vet mentioned a knee problem as a nother possibility. To you both xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtychicken Posted November 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2007 Thanks for the thoughts I was so relieved that Steve was nice - I've been so worried about having to be tough and talk down a vet that I didn't really like Natalie - She definitely has HD and only 1/4 hip joint on her left, but he's just saying that some dogs manage with this and have no symptoms so he's not 100% sure that it is her hip joint problems that are causing the pain at the moment. There *might* be problems with her knee - on top of the hip problems - and they *might* be causing the pain. I'm sorry, I don't think I made that clear before did I? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtychicken Posted November 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 Just sitting here biting my nails now. I've done all of the housework and still have 2 hours to kill before I can call to see if she's ok I found it very very hard to leave her today. I think we might just have had enough of this merry-go-round. Over the last 2 months my poor little girl has been left to be poked and prodded by so many different people and she takes it all in her stride, but the look in her eyes when I put her into the kennel this morning made me cry Please please let this be the last time for a while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 Any news yet Sarah? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtychicken Posted November 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 (edited) I called at 2 to see how she was and they immediately made me panic by stumbling over their words and saying things like "she's.....umm......." and "well........no.......she's fine, but........" and then they asked if I could go immediately as Steve would then have time to talk to me as well. So I drove like a bat out of hell I came in the door and went to wait in the consultation room and could hear her barking and barking and barking out in the kennels, but the nurse came and stuck her head in and said "she's not made a sound all the time she's been here" Anyway, enough drivel........ The upshot of the x-rays are that her knee is absolutely fine, which is great because that means no immediate surgery. However, her "outside chance" of being able to have any surgery was shattered when he'd had a good feel of her hip and a good look at the new x-rays. She was probably born with the ball joint that she has now - it's practically unrecognisable as a ball - but the constant rubbing of the bone against her socket has caused arthritis and that, in turn, has worn away the socket to the point that it, also, is practically non-existent. He feels that there is nothing salvageable to work with at this point in time. Now I am ecstatic that I don't have to make the decision about surgery but had a little anyway that she's in such a bad way. Given that her hip is so bad, he's just surprised that she doesn't complain more. We did discuss hip replacement but he told me that it is a "salvage operation" which is done only when every other possible avenue has been explored. He feels that she may still be able to have this at some point in the future but it would be of little benefit to her now. So the path we're going down is the one which I would have fought for if need be - she will start intensive physio next week (including hydro and acupuncture) and will have that twice a week until he's reassessed her in 7/8 weeks. He's stopped the intermittent Metacam as it is of no value to her at all and may be causing problems with her epilepsy medication. She has a supply of Rimadyl which she can take in times of need. Miraculously, he was going to prescribe something similar to Synflex (which she's been on for 10 days) and will also reassess how she's doing on that when he sees her. If he feels it's not working well enough then he'll prescribe an alternative but he's happy to do a prescription for it if it is working - hallelujah the insurance can cover it My faith in this guy has increased a hundredfold as I feel as if he read my mind, realised exactly what my priorities were for Flora and offered them all on a plate The physio clinic is above Steve's surgery so they work together all the time and they're happy to tie in our appointments so that I don't have extra trips. All in all, I'm a very relieved mummy tonight and feeling considerably more positive than I have done for some time Edited November 21, 2007 by muckyhen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 I think that's about as positive as we could ask for The surgery route is a bit scary, I think. Acupuncture and hydrotherapy should be a great benefit to her, acupuncture can be really relaxing for them and hydrotherapy will seem like a big game. So all in all, I think it's a good result for Flora. Her hip sounds the same as young Ronnie's - like it since birth. The way I like to think about it, is that he's never known any different so he's perfectly normal to him. To me, he's just perfect and I love him. My biggest issue with the little man today is....his bum. He stinks! Love 'em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toddsmum Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 So sorry to be reading this but it sounds like you have a good vet there. Thoughts are with you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 My friend's lab had the same and her vet was also amazed at the dog. But , as he said, the dog had never known any difference so just accepted it. He lived until he ten years old, with pain management. He did slow down due to arthritis when he was about eight, but was able to go for walks until his front elbow gave way, due to ocd and the strain of taking his weight on his front legs. He did develop a large chest and shoulders as well as he was a big lab. It's great that you have a good vet to help her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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