[Bodes]

Hi everyone,

My 5 month old puppy, actually a White Swiss Shepherd (I hope you don't mind us crashing your forum??) has just been diagnosed with a left leg Ununited Anconel Process :crying: ... I am feeling like the worst person in the world for not being able to prevent my baby from suffering.

It was probably developing for a while, but he became lame after a bad slip whilst playing with another dog.

Our radiologist was not very caring and basically traumatised me, saying there are not very good outcomes from this condition and firing off surgery options at me. I am waiting to here in the next few days what option the surgeon decides to go for and hopefully we can get it treated asap.

I would love to hear peoples experiences who have been through this? Outcomes? And surgery cost, not that that matters right now he will get what he needs, but it is good to have an idea of what to expect financially.

Thanks :frown2:

 

[dogma13]

AKA elbow dysplasia.

I know very little about it, but I do know someone that has a dog with this condition and she gets around just fine now.No surgery was necessary in her case.Hopefully someone with more knowledge will chime in soon.So sorry this happened to your pup

 

[Bodes]

Sorry, I misspelt Anconeal and don't seem to be able to edit the original post.

 

[huntergreen]

Never heard of this. Get a copy of the films and report and find a vet who has treated this.

 

[Magwart]

It's probably not due to anything you did -- this particular form of elbow dysplasia appears likely to be genetic, so if you bought her from a breeder, you should contact them to let them know. This information may help:

https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/ununited-anconeal-process-or-uap-in-dogs

I would work with a board-certified orthopedic surgeon on the treatment plan -- they're the experts at figuring out which surgical technique would be optimal in a given case. Pricing among them can vary wildly, so once you've done an initial consultation, don't hesitate to call other specialists (and even your state university's vet hospital) to check what their pricing for the same surgery is. I've sometimes seen a difference of $1,000 when I've had to do this sort of price checking for the rescue.

I haven't had to do that surgery, but I've rarely seen a specialist quote for any surgery for less than $2,000. Just brace yourself for a big number.


Oh -- and no worries on this board about your white dog being called something other than a German Shepherd. They're part of the family! You might even dig up some of the very interesting old threads we've had discussing the history of the recognition of a separate breed in Europe and US -- a user named White Shepherds had some really interesting posts in those threads.

 

[Shane'sDad]

There are three "conditions" of which UAP is one...all are called elbow dysplasia ....I have a 13 year old now who was simply diagnosed with elbow dysplasia as a young dog I think 1 to 2 years old....it really only became noticeable at around 10 years old....he's arthritic now and the elbow is basically rigid now.....he takes anti inflammatory meds and gabapentin but his life overall is still pretty good...he still lives to chase a ball although a chase doesn't involve running just walking to get the ball...even that still puts a giant grin on his face.....in Beau's case the dysplasia wasn't a death sentence and no one would even know about it for his first 10 years if I didn't mention it.


If I was you ( I don't know where you are located)----I'd seek a second opinion from a orthopedic specialist/surgeon OR if you're close to a vet teaching college contact them over the years I've had really good luck over the years with vet colleges--they're up to date on all the latest procedures IMO....10 years ago there wasn't much they could do that was successful when it came to elbow dysplasia...that's changed over the last few years....don't get down on yourself or think the worst --until you have another opinion.

 

[Bodes]

Thank you guys.

I am based in Europe. The vet that saw my dog is actually an expert in dysplasia and my pup is going to be treated at a University hospital, so I have no doubt that he is in the best hands, I think he just wasn't particularly good at communicating compassionately with me and ending up traumatising me.

I'm actually scared to tell the breeder, in case she thinks it's my fault..... she's a little scary!!

I'll keep you updated, hopefully we'll have a plan of action later in the week.

 

[DaBai]

Second the recommendation of consulting different surgeons/specialists, we were quoted vastly differently (2k difference) by different surgeons for our cat's surgery. BTW, I received a bunch of quotes for my cat, and all except one of them were above the higher end of the googled cost result for her condition so yeah def be prepared for at least the googled cost if you want to do surgery.

 

[Dunkirk]

My dog had arthroscopic surgery for this in 2014 at 9 months. There was a triangular bone fragment floating around the joint. He made a full recovery. The physiotherapy after surgery resulted in very close to even muscle mass over both sides of his body a few months after surgery, and an excellent range of movement for the joint.

The hardest part for me was the 2 week post surgery period where the only 'exercise' he got was going outside on a lead to potty. My dog's breeder was my emotional support person. The 3rd week he had a daily 5 minute 'nanna walk', each week 5 more minutes was added to his daily walk, ie. 10 minutes week 4, 15 minutes week 4 etc. We took Nitro for drives in the car, windows down, to get him out of the house, being very careful getting him in and out of the car.

I'm sorry about your experience with the radiologist, shrug it off if you can. Be optimistic for an excellent outcome. There would be differences in costs, depending on where you live. I've forgotten the amounts, but add physiotherapy sessions to the cost of treatment.

 

[Bodes]

So my pup had surgery 2 weeks ago. Pinning the Anconeal process and an ulnar osteotomy.

The last 2 weeks has been horrendous, trying to keep him from doing more damage to himself while he heals and trying to stop him getting too bored, god knows how I'l get through the next 4-6 weeks.

I wondered (for those who went for the osteotomy) how long it was until you saw in improvement in lameness? It might be my imagination, but in the last couple of days his limp seems to have slightly worsened. I am paranoid that we are going to go through all this and that it won't work.