If left untreated, elbow dysplasia in dogs can lead to a progressively debilitating condition that significantly impacts their quality of life.
As Dr. Alex explained in the "Call the Vet" podcast, elbow dysplasia involves the abnormal development of the elbow joint, which causes misalignment and uneven stress leading to painful wear on the joint.
This condition not only predisposes dogs to severe arthritis, even at a young age, but can also lead to chronic pain and loss of mobility.
Early detection and intervention are crucial as they allow for management strategies that can slow the progression of joint damage and alleviate pain.
Without such proactive measures, dogs may experience a decline in physical activity and well-being, potentially leading to more severe health issues related to inactivity, such as obesity and its consequent complications.
Let’s dive in to the steps you can take to ensure your furry companion is living their best life…
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I just found out my dog has elbow dysplasia. He’s 3 years old. What is your action plan that you typically would do? I heard this surgery isn’t very reliable as far as cost and what the results truly are. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.
What is Elbow Dysplasia?
Recently, a worried pet parent, Jan, contacted me concerning her three-year-old dog diagnosed with elbow dysplasia.
To understand this condition, imagine the bones at the elbow joint of your dog failing to grow normally, leading to misalignment. This misalignment causes uneven wear and creates stress points in the joint, which can be quite painful for your dog.
Furthermore, elbow dysplasia can speed up the process of arthritis, potentially leading to significant issues even in relatively young dogs.
The Multi-Modal Approach to Managing Chronic Conditions
When facing a long-term condition like elbow dysplasia, it’s crucial to adopt what is called a "multi-modal approach."
This strategy involves integrating various aspects of a dog's life to alleviate discomfort and improve overall well-being.
This approach is not only applicable to elbow dysplasia but can also be helpful for other conditions such as hip dysplasia, cruciate ligament injuries, and general arthritis due to aging.
Weight Management and Nutrition
First and foremost in managing any joint-related issue is weight management. Ensuring your pet maintains a healthy weight can significantly reduce the stress on their joints. Even a weight loss as small as 6% can substantially decrease pain levels.
Alongside weight management, proper nutrition plays a pivotal role. I often recommend a therapeutic joint diet, which has been clinically proven to enhance comfort in pets. Foods formulated specifically for joint health typically include essential nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids from marine sources, which are highly valuable for reducing inflammation.
Environmental and Exercise Modifications
Another critical aspect to consider is modifying your environment and exercise routines to suit the needs of a pet with joint problems.
For instance, avoiding slippery floors and using ramps can help prevent your dog from exacerbating their condition through everyday activities.
Similarly, exercise is essential but should be low-impact to avoid stressing the joints. Regular, gentle walks are preferable to sporadic, high-intensity activities, which can lead to injuries.
The Role of Complementary Therapies
Investing in complementary therapies such as hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, and rehabilitation can also make a significant difference.
These therapies are particularly effective in maintaining muscle mass, which is crucial for joint stabilization and overall mobility. Moreover, therapies like these can adjust and improve the range of motion in joints, which is vital for dogs with elbow dysplasia.
Pain Management: A Cornerstone of Treatment
No treatment plan for elbow dysplasia would be complete without addressing pain management.
There are numerous options available, from daily medications to more long-term solutions like weekly or monthly treatments, depending on the severity and specific needs of your pet.
Pain management is essential for improving quality of life and can be adjusted based on how well your dog responds to other interventions.
Surgical Options: A Last Resort
In some moderate to severe cases, surgery may be considered. Options range from minimally invasive procedures to correct specific issues within the joint to more significant surgeries like a total elbow replacement.
However, these interventions come with potential risks and total joint replacement especially should be considered only when other treatments have not provided sufficient relief.
Monitoring, Modifying, and Maintaining: A Long-Term Strategy
Managing a condition like elbow dysplasia is a long-term commitment. It involves regular monitoring and adjustments to the treatment plan as needed.
This continuous cycle of assessment and adaptation helps ensure that our pets remain comfortable and that their quality of life is maintained over the long haul.
Concluding Thoughts
If you suspect your dog might be suffering from elbow dysplasia or if they've already been diagnosed, remember: there is hope. By adopting a comprehensive, thoughtful approach to treatment and management, you can significantly alleviate pain and improve your dog's quality of life. I encourage all pet parents dealing with this condition to stay proactive and informed.
Further reading:
Effective Treatment For Arthritis in Dogs (the best options are free!)
The Best Green-Lipped Muscle Supplements for Dogs (effective + SAFE)
Full Transcript →
The following is an AI generated transcription:
voiceover [00:00:00]: Welcome to the call the vet show. The podcast that helps pet parents understand and optimize the health of their furry family, so they can live the full and happy life you want for them. And here's your host, veterinarian, doctor Alex Avery.
Dr. Alex [00:00:18]: Hello. Welcome back to another episode of the show. We're dealing with a really common problem today. A question from, worried pet parent Jan whose young dog has developed, or just been diagnosed with a potentially very serious life impacting condition. But fear not, there is definitely hope, and hopefully, I will be able to give Jan some comfort and some action steps to take forward. But the the reason that this question is so important for every pet parent is that it helps. It's gonna help talk about how we deal with chronic with long term conditions, how we can best go about managing those no matter what the condition is. And I also applaud Jan for wanting to take action now when maybe the problem isn't severe as severe as will be in the future because the earlier we take action, the more impact we can have on the health, the well-being, the quality of life of our pets.
Jan [00:01:23]: So even if your dog, if your cat isn't faced with the condition we're talking about today, there are vital lessons for all of us. So without further ado, make sure you hit that follow and subscribe button whatever you're listening to this on, and let's jump in to today's question.
voiceover [00:01:42]: And now, on with the show.
Jan [00:01:45]: I just found out my dog has elbow dysplasia. He's 3 years old. What are your typical, I don't know, an action plan that you typically would do? I heard this surgery isn't very reliable as far as cost and what the results truly are. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.
Dr. Alex [00:02:11]: Thank you for your question, Jan. And I'm sorry to hear that your dog has has been diagnosed with this condition at such a a young age. For those who don't know elbow dysplasia, it's when effectively the bones of the elbow, don't grow normally in inverted commas and so you get a misalignment. You get uneven wear, stress points, and this is painful. So it can be very painful. Depends on the how severe this is. But regardless, it also, predisposes a dog to developing arthritis, not just when they're old. Depending on the severity, they may develop arthritis very, very quickly.
Dr. Alex [00:02:50]: And at 3 years of age, it may well be that a dog, and I don't know if this is your dog, Jan, but already has some fairly significant arthritis within that elbow. Kind of where while we're talking about elbow dysplasia, you know, a lot of what I'm going to say is going to be relevant to, dogs with hip dysplasia where the hips aren't aren't, formed properly, with cruciate ligament rupture where there's been some kind of damage to a joint, a traumatic event, or, a dog with arthritis because of, again in inverted commas, old age in general, wear and tear without a specific initiating event or underlying condition. And we'll come on to surgery in a little bit, Jan, but I think we need to think about how we are wanting to tackle any chronic condition like this. And and we do this through what we call a multimodal approach, which is where we take, all of the different aspects of a dog's life, of all of the different ways that we can keep them comfortable. We can impact their their health, where we can impact that condition. And we take do all of these little things that add up to make, much bigger different than the sum of their parts if you'd like. So when we're thinking about, arthritis, we're thinking about chronic pain conditions, you know, even in cases potentially like this where there isn't already significant arthritis present. The earlier we make all of these changes or as many changes are are appropriate and as you're able to to do, the more benefit we're going to have over the long term.
Dr. Alex [00:04:24]: So the first and foremost is is weight management. So if a dog or a cat is carrying too much weight, then we know that losing as little as 6% of their body weight can make a huge impact on their pain levels. We then think of nutrition. So, for example, in conditions like this, we think of maybe a therapeutic joint diet, something like, Hill's JD, which has been clinically proven to improve comfort in our pets. We can think of dietary supplementation. So though, supplements are generally already included in our joint diets, the the most important dietary supplement are omega 3 essential fatty acids which come from a marine source, not from a plant based, a land based plant based source. Glucosamine and chondroitin may may have a a benefit, but our omega threes are really important. If we're feeding a diet with these already added, we don't need to then add extra supplementation.
Dr. Alex [00:05:26]: We need to think of environmental modifications. So we want to avoid slippy floors. We want to maybe be using, ramps or or steps up onto, you know, the sofa, for example. We want to be, you know, just modifying that environment to make it as easy and as comfortable as possible for that individual, and allow them to live their life without, you know, having to jump up anywhere without the risk of slipping and sliding and and tweaking, painful joints. We need to think of, exercise management. So we don't want to be encouraging activities where there are really explosive events. So by that, I mean jumping, so you're even jumping into the car. But, you know, jumping, twisting, accelerating, rapid braking.
Dr. Alex [00:06:15]: So things like ball chuckers and encouraging ball chasing really are kind of public enemy number 1 if you like when it comes to exercise. Exercise is important. We don't want to just, kind of shut these these individuals away so that they're not putting any weights through their through their joints. You know, exercise is important for for muscle maintenance. But we just want to make sure that it is as low impact, as low stress as possible. And generally, you know, regular shorter, periods of exercise are much better than the longer intermittent, exercise with these guys. And then we've got our complementary therapies. So things like hydrotherapy, physio, and and rehabilitation therapies, are really important for helping to kind of keep our joints, range of motion as as as optimal as possible.
Dr. Alex [00:07:09]: And also, probably more importantly, to maintain that muscle mass because the muscles will help to kind of stabilize the joint, and and help a dog carry themselves properly as well. You know, often if we've got, say, a painful elbow, then the the gait of, of that dog is going to change. And that's going to put stress and strain through other parts of their body which may also become uncomfortable. And so, you know, physio, and hydrotherapy are really good at addressing those problems as well. So, you know, that would be a very brief run through of what a treatment management plan might look like like for the long term. And then the obvious addition to that is also, painkillers. So painkillers are really important, and they provide the best opportunity for a dog in pain to become comfortable again. Now it may well be that some dogs will need this on a constant basis, on a a daily basis or whatever the interval is for the particular treatment.
Dr. Alex [00:08:11]: And we do have, we have daily. We have I believe there's a new weekly, anti inflammatory pain killer that comes, that's just been released. There is a monthly one. That's a tablet. There is our injections. There's lots of different options when it comes to pain painkillers. But some dogs will need it all the time for the rest of their life to be as comfortable as possible. If we're doing all the other things that I've spoken about, it may be that we can get away with reducing the dose.
Dr. Alex [00:08:39]: It may also be that actually once we've given a course of painkillers to help, reset the system if you like to get a dog back to being comfortable, to reversing, the sensitization of the nerves that happens in long term pain, it may well be that actually we can then get away with doing all of the other things and not needing painkillers for a period of time. Now that might be months. It might be it might be years. It's gonna depend on the individual. But that's then going to lead into, you know, how we can think about when managing this from a long term point of view, not just for the next week, month, or year, is we we need to put a plan in place. And then I have a kind of a 3 m mantra, which is we we, monitor, we modify, and then we maintain. So we we start a plan, we then monitor how well that's doing. Is it doing what we want it to be doing? If it isn't, then we modify that plan appropriately.
Dr. Alex [00:09:40]: And then once we and then we monitor that, and we modify, and we go through that kind of cycle until we get to where we want to be, and then we maintain that plan. So we don't just go, great. Our dog is really comfortable now. We can stop doing all the things. We can we we maintain that treatment plan in the long term. And it may well be that we can dial back some of the things. So like I say, it may be that we try dialing back the pain killers that we're giving, but we're then monitoring that still. And the moment that that seems to be breaking down, we modify that plan.
Dr. Alex [00:10:13]: So we jump back in with the pain killers. Or maybe we we, you know, remove a supplement, and actually, things seem to deteriorate again. So we need to pop them back onto that supplement. That's just an example, maybe not the best one. And then this, I guess, brings us onto, the surgical treatment as well. So depending on what is going on specifically within the elbow depends on what surgical options there are. There's certainly some that can be carried out arthroscopically, to remove kind of flaps of bone. We think of these as like an osteochondrosis type lesions.
Dr. Alex [00:10:48]: But we can also go through the whole spectrum and end up with something like a total elbow replacement. Now this is a fairly, kind of novel, fairly new treatment option that may or may not be available in your area. It's certainly a specialist procedure 100%, and only in my understanding relatively few specialists are going to be offering this. And really it's an option where everything else seems to have failed. So it's a little bit of a salvage procedure at this stage. Now with all surgeries, there are going to be, potential risks, potential complications. And when we're dealing with, joint replacement, so elbow total elbow replacement or or to total hip replacement, some of those complications can be, fairly catastrophic or be it very unlikely. So, infection, implant loosening, with elbows it can be, luxations or dislocation of the elbow can be then challenging to manage afterwards.
Dr. Alex [00:11:50]: Now it's not a a con it's not a surgery that, is available where I am. It's certainly not something that any of my patients have had. So I am not aware of all of the the ins and outs of percentages of recovery, and I think that's something that's going to become more readily available as time goes on and more dogs have had this procedure carried out. I would encourage you if you're thinking about that to certainly go and consult with a a specialist surgeon to see if that is an appropriate option for your for your dog. It may be that they want to have, you know, CT imaging, take place beforehand. What a CT does. CT is, a great way of imaging bone and then producing a kind of a 3 d, image that can be examined from all angles to really dial in what is going on with that elbow and to work out what the best plan is from a surgical point of view. It may be that there's arthroscopic options that need to be explored like I say, but even if we're doing all of those things, we're still going to need to then be thinking about all of the other things that I've spoken about so that we can really optimize the health for a long term outcome.
voiceover [00:13:04]: Helping your pet live the happy, healthy life they deserve.
Dr. Alex [00:13:10]: Now that's quite a lot of information that I've gone through and really, kind of summarized at the at the very top level. I've got a lot of links and resources available that I'll leave linked in the, the description to this episode. So make sure you check those out. And until the next episode, I'm veterinarian doctor Alex. This is the Call the Vet Show because they're family.
voiceover [00:13:35]: That's it for this episode of the call the vet show. Be sure to visit call the vet dot org to join the conversation, access the show notes and discover our fantastic bonus content. We'll see you next time.
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