Lady has ED. A problem around the formation of the choronoid process. She was diagnosed at 2 years old and operated on very successfully. She's 9 in September and has had an additional 7 good active years that she wouldn't have otherwise enjoyed. The weakness in the elbows hasn't gone away of course and for the last couple of years she's had annual cartrophen injections that have been very helpful. After the last course, her third, the improvement has been pretty negligible so I think we are at the point of looking for something else. She's gets uncomfortable fairly quickly on walks now and is often very stiff when she gets up in the morning.
Our vet has suggested a Metacam trial if the cartrophen doesn't seem to be working. We discussed options, not in any great detail, during the 4 week cartrophen course. He said the next step to try would be Metacam as it's usually very effective if the dog is not sensitive to it and is the cheapest option. It's been over 4 weeks now since we completed the cartrophen course and it's clearly lost it's effectiveness. So off to see him on Friday to set up a Metacam trial for a week to see how things go. Lady seems to be ok on Metacam as I've been administering it strategically for a while now.
Just reporting on the progression really. If she hadn't had the operations she would have been crippled with arthritis long ago. The specialist obviously was a bit non-committal when I asked at the time, but thought the op could push back arthritis until she was 10 if she was lucky. So not too bad really. I was really concerned at the time about putting her through the trauma of the op but so glad now that I did. I was lucky to have a good vet who gave good advice and I got her to the specialist soon enough for a successful outcome. The key was that cartilage damage had to be within certain boundaries and it was. We also were lucky, I think, to have "Supervet" Fitzpatrick do the op. Thank you Marks & Spencer pet insurance!
Anyway, she's still a happy dog but has yet to realise that she has retired early as a gundog. I'll deal with the strops in that area when it arises.
Our vet has suggested a Metacam trial if the cartrophen doesn't seem to be working. We discussed options, not in any great detail, during the 4 week cartrophen course. He said the next step to try would be Metacam as it's usually very effective if the dog is not sensitive to it and is the cheapest option. It's been over 4 weeks now since we completed the cartrophen course and it's clearly lost it's effectiveness. So off to see him on Friday to set up a Metacam trial for a week to see how things go. Lady seems to be ok on Metacam as I've been administering it strategically for a while now.
Just reporting on the progression really. If she hadn't had the operations she would have been crippled with arthritis long ago. The specialist obviously was a bit non-committal when I asked at the time, but thought the op could push back arthritis until she was 10 if she was lucky. So not too bad really. I was really concerned at the time about putting her through the trauma of the op but so glad now that I did. I was lucky to have a good vet who gave good advice and I got her to the specialist soon enough for a successful outcome. The key was that cartilage damage had to be within certain boundaries and it was. We also were lucky, I think, to have "Supervet" Fitzpatrick do the op. Thank you Marks & Spencer pet insurance!
Anyway, she's still a happy dog but has yet to realise that she has retired early as a gundog. I'll deal with the strops in that area when it arises.
