My poor Kiefer has elbow disease

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GloBug

Guest
=cry It's also referred to as elbow dysplasia, but it means the same thing. Basically, it's problems with the growth plates of the elbow bones. He will be perfectly fine and then he plays hard, runs hard, has a great time with his best buddy at the dog park, and suddenly he starts limping on his right front leg.

We went on a long 1.5 hour walk over the weekend. He was fine the first hour, but then on the way back he started limping. It was obvious he was hurting. If I could have carried him I would have. We had to stop for about 15 minutes, let him rest up, and then we took the last short walk to the car as slow as possible, and he curled up at my feet on the way home (I wasn't driving!)

I feel soooo bad for him. Surgery is definitely an option, but recovery means 4 to 6 weeks in a crate, with bathroom breaks the ONLY reason for letting him out of the crate. OMG, this dog would go nuts! =hammer

I'm sad for Kiefer tonight....
 
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conniecat

Guest
Poor baby! And Poor Mom. He certainly has had his problems, hasn't he. What are the other options besides surgery?
 
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gottacruz

Guest
hi,
so sorry to hear about kiefer, my dog shadow had arthrtis and when i walked him, he would limp real bad. His last walk was back in march, he just couldnt make it home, so i asked one of the neighbors to drive us home, and we were only four houses away from home. Shadow watched me leave to go walking, and he wanted to go, but he couldnt, i know he wanted to.
 
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GloBug

Guest
Well, quite often it will clear up as he grows up, but then it will come back when he is older, and he'll develop arthritis. There are several different conditions that "ELBOW DYSPLACIA" covers, and it's usually in larger dogs... sigh...
 
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nieciez

Guest
Oh poor Kiefer...I hope it is something he will grow out of for the time being. It sounds like that surgery is something you would want to put off for as long as you can.
 
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korinalacount

Guest
I know that isnt what Fred our basset has but I hear ya,we take him only for short walks now as his back legs give out,give my hugs to Kiefer!
 
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Beryl

Guest
Poor lil Keifer! Yorkies suffer from something somewhat similar...Patellar Luxation! Pretty much all you can do is try to have them restrain themselves somewhat and try to prevent the hurt from starting....definitely not an easy task to accomplish....and hope to postpone the inevitable.
 
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Happy2cu

Guest
Poor baby....that's so hard to watch. My dog Bailey, (a chocolate lab) has had hip dysplasia since he was a puppy (the breeder swore she NEVER had a dog with hip dysplasia - yeah right). We had a salvage surgery done on one hip, where they cut the bone off that fits into the socket (the round part). Usually only for small dogs but we didn't want to put him down. He seems to do find with it (the muscle is the only thing holding it on) but now the other hip is getting bad. He is 8 years old and loves his walks, but if we go too far he is definitely hurting, limping and moaning. I just feel so bad that they have to go through this stuff!
 
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GloBug

Guest
It really is heartbreaking when our furbabies are hurting and we really cant do much for them.
 
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