Arthritis Diagnosis

[raineth]

Our dogs were in a kennel for five days while we went away, and when we collected them our dog Digby (five years old) was very lame.

It seemed to us like maybe he was very sore in the back, and in one hind leg. He would take ages to stand and would just lie down again as soon as he could.

So I took him to the vet that same day. The vet did a an examination of him and the only thing she came up with was perhaps he had a little bit of arthritis in his hind knees, but she wasn't sure. She wants me to put him on something like Pernease powder or Sasha's blend, but I am reluctant to do this unless I know he does indeed have arthritis.

The vet did put him on anti-inflammatories, and these have worked very well he is now back to moving normally and seems very much himself again.

The only other thing she could think of was that perhaps he was a bit silly at the kennels and hurt himself. Which is possible, but if you know Digby, he really is not the sort of dog to run around like crazy and be silly.

Digby has never had anything like this happen before; could arthritis come on so suddenly?

He is very fit and not overweight. I take him for twenty-minute run three times a week (he is a very big boy, and a longer run would be unsuitable for him) and he has never showed any lameness at all.

How is arthritis usually diagnosed? Is there some sort of test we can do so we know for sure whether he has it or not?

[noisymina]

Sasha's Blend would do him no harm - and could well prevent or reduce arthritis in the future if it is not there now!

I'd wait for him to recover and see if there is a repeat. Scans or x-rays MIGHT show arthritis but would not prove it was not there. And you are looking at a GA to do them. Quite expensive.

I'd bet he's hurt himself somehow. Maybe an animal physio or chiro would be the next port of call?

[Flick_Mac]

X-rays will show arthritis - ultrasound won't... it only shows soft tissue structures.

Radiographs will show bony changes associated with arthritis, however these changes take time - if it is a recent injury it might not show on xray yet. The other thing about arthritis is that it doesn't necessarily represent how painful the dogs is. E.g I've seen dogs with horrible hips on xray be almost sound at a walk, and conversely dogs with very mild changes on xray who are so lame they can barely walk...

Ideally you'd get a GA, especially for spinal films, but depending on the dog they might be able to do it sedated, especially if he's a sensitive boy. However - if you want his hips done, they have to stretch them into weird positions, so I'd probably go for a GA if I had the option.

[JulesP]

I assume the kennel was concrete? And I assume that you don't normally keep him in a concrete run? It might be that having his movement restricted, not getting his runs and being on the cold concrete has caused the arthritis to become more obvious.

[pebbles]

If you aren't happy with the arthritis diagnosis then get a second opinion. I took a sick dog to a Vet practice, was told it was arthritis on 2 separate trips. I told them it wasn't, so after 2 seizures and $700 later, ended up taking my dog over 400ks to find out it was a spinal virus and he was improving in a week.

[raineth]

Sasha's Blend would do him no harm - and could well prevent or reduce arthritis in the future if it is not there now!

I'd wait for him to recover and see if there is a repeat. Scans or x-rays MIGHT show arthritis but would not prove it was not there. And you are looking at a GA to do them. Quite expensive.

I'd bet he's hurt himself somehow. Maybe an animal physio or chiro would be the next port of call?

thanks Noisy :) while I know that things like Sasha's blend won't do any harm, I'm pretty sure there is no evidence that they prevent the development of arthritis, only that they help it once it is already there, that's why I'm tentative about putting him on a supplement that may not be benefitting him at all (if he doesn't have arthritis).

Thanks for your idea of the physio or chiro, that is a fantastic idea :)

I assume the kennel was concrete? And I assume that you don't normally keep him in a concrete run? It might be that having his movement restricted, not getting his runs and being on the cold concrete has caused the arthritis to become more obvious.

yeah that's right Jules, although they do have trampoline beds in there to use. He has been there four or five times before, but this time he was there for a longer period than he had been before.

If you aren't happy with the arthritis diagnosis then get a second opinion. I took a sick dog to a Vet practice, was told it was arthritis on 2 separate trips. I told them it wasn't, so after 2 seizures and $700 later, ended up taking my dog over 400ks to find out it was a spinal virus and he was improving in a week.

Wow Pebbles, I'm glad you worked out what the real problem was!

It's not that I'm unhappy with the diagnosis - it wasn't even really a diagnosis. The vet said that she thought maybe she could feel arthritis in his knees, but that she wasn't sure. So I'm just reluctant to take action on it when she wasn't really sure that's what the problem is.

After reading what everyone's said I'm more inclined to start him on something because it sounds as though he might have it, its just that his lifestyle here means it hasn't showed up before.

I don't think I'll go down the GA and x-ray route unless things get a bit more complicated or confusing.

For the moment I'm going to see if he goes backwards at all once he's off the anti-inflams. And then probably start him on Sasha's blend or similar after that.

[kayla1]

My older girl Kayla had an unusual hind leg limp and I took her to multiple vets and each one told me it was arthritis. It wasn't until I took her to a specialist chiro vet that she was diagnosed with a spinal problem that was causing the limp, and the arthritis itself was actually quite mild. So I guess if you're not happy with how he goes then a second opinion can't hurt.

[bdierikx]

I have spent the best part of 7 years being told by various vets at various times, starting at 4 months old through to 6 1/2 yrs, that my boy was having an arthritic episode of some sort or other when what was actually happening was he had: ingested tea tree oil; the buckle of his harness was hitting his knee (elbow); he had allergies to grass and "wandering Jew"; he had cuts on his feet; he had swam for nearly 9 hours and was stiff from doing so after a long period of no swimming and; so it goes for years. At no point has he actually had arthritis nor did he require both his hips to be removed before he turned one, as I was told in no uncertain terms, namely "he will be a couch to bowl dog until he is 2 and then you will have to put him down if you don't get both his hips replaced before he is one. He is fully mobile now and happy and healthy and an awesome service dog who's equal I am yet to meet. My point is Vets see arthritis everywhere and nothing else. It is a cop out diagnosis and to answer your earlier question from this position, no arthritis doesn't suddenly flare up out of no where and beset your dog to the point of fundamentally limited movement. In my experience it was tea tree oil that had that effect, nearly killed my boy and Vets were oblivious.

Re preventative or prophylactic treatment for non existent arthritis, both green lipped mussel powder and chondroitin are very good for all animals and humans that are active as they maintain healthy cartilage and joints preventing in most cases the onset of even age related arthritis so the supplements with this are only good for the dog. Glucosamine has a suspected relationship to insulin resistance so use in moderation.

Physio and acupuncture are a great way to get to the bottom of the pain, as the practitioners are well versed and experienced in all manner of injuries and remedies so i would recommend that as a course of action before the x-ray. They are usually very informative in how to keep dogs stretching and so on for maintained good joint etc health.

What you describe above sounds to me like the dog had been hurt and I would be inclined to be cautious about the Kennel if it was me.

Edited October 31, 2012 by bdierikx