africandreams Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 (edited) I have a young dog (9months) who has a 4month history of right fore lameness. We are relocating to Melbourne soon and I am seeking a specialist people can recommend we see? He originally looked a bit tight when moving so we had a Bowen Therapy and he came up lame AFTER the session. With 2 more sessions he didn't improve. He has pain in his neck and won't hold it up all the way. When you apply pressure to certain areas of his neck, his right front leg raises. Chiro, bowen therapist both identified this area as an issue. We have seen our regular vet and a specialist, had xrays, CT scan done of both elbows/shoulders and nothing has been diagnosed. 2months of anti inflammatories , a course of cartrophen and strict rest made no improvement. We also tried acupuncture, massage, and more recently dry needling/manipulation, which is the only thing that has helped. Vet/specialist suspect Elbow Dysplasia mostly based on his breed , however aren't willing to investigate his neck pain. They recommend elbow arthroscopy which I'm hesitant to do with no evidence we will find anything! We will need to see someone when we move to VIC , so recommendations are appreciated! Edited July 27, 2014 by africandreams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 The Melbourne Veterinary Specialist Centre in two locations. One is in Mt Waverley and the other in Essendon. Their specialists are excellent and they have all imaging equipment and machines you would expect of a specialist centre. It really depends on where you will be located in Melbourne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superminty Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Highly recommend Malcolm Ware at The Vet Practice in South Morang and Whittlesea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 (edited) The Vet Practice looks to be very good. I wish we had vets like that near where I live. However they are not specialist vets. Their practice places importance on rehabilitation which is excellent but with a problem such as africandreams has with her dog it seems she needs a specialist veterinary team to find the cause of the neck pain. It sounds suspiciously like there is spinal damage or a spinal/nerve issue which would require a specialist veterinary surgeon. Like human doctors, we have GP's and then there are specialists. It's the same with vets. efs Edited July 28, 2014 by cavNrott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CavsRcute Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 As I don't live in Melbourne can't help with a specialist but the symptoms sound very similar to what my girl was experiencing. Finally she was diagnosed with HD and because she was walking incorrectly she was suffering trigger points in her front left shoulder which in turn affected her neck. No amount of anti inflammatories or pain relief would help. The only thing that did was having trigger point therapy. We have a vet in NSW who specialises in this and was her saviour. Good luck it can be a very frustrating process Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 We have seen our regular vet and a specialist, had xrays, CT scan done of both elbows/shoulders and nothing has been diagnosed. 2months of anti inflammatories , a course of cartrophen and strict rest made no improvement. So no neck X-Rays? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J... Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 (edited) Highly recommend Malcolm Ware at The Vet Practice in South Morang and Whittlesea. Seconded, Malcolm is brilliant. Edited to add: I do a 6 hour round trip for him to see my dogs for most issues, distance is no barrier when you find someone you know is good and that you trust. Edited July 28, 2014 by Jess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
africandreams Posted July 28, 2014 Author Share Posted July 28, 2014 nope distance is not an issue, not in this case!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Did they discuss damage to the radial nerve ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
africandreams Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 (edited) no. After the CT the specialist said we had the green light from ED. 2 weeks later at our revisit (dog still lame) he said we need to start strongly considering ED as possibility. If no improvement by next revisit, he said would need to consider elbow arthroscopy to check if the CT missed something. They have diagnosed him with ED and haven't looked into other possibilities and aren't considering anything else, even though since day 1 I have been mentioning his neck. Edited July 29, 2014 by africandreams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 suggest radial nerve injury - it may not be that at all ... but something else to considerer ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Have they considered Spondylosis of the neck ?? I had a dog with spondo & whilst it wasn't in his neck he suffered greatly from neck tightness,lameness in the front,took alot of convincing to get the vets to consider it . Funnily enough his best treatment was bowen & it took alot of work to sort his neck muscles out & its pianful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
africandreams Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 Showdog- they are not considering anything apart from Elbow Dysplasia. They see he is sore in his neck and I question it but they brush it off or say anything in his neck would be secondary to his elbow. I have queried the neck with the specialist and the vet multiple times but I am wasting my time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Dr Arthur House - CARE Collingwood. Dr Sam Snelling - Advanced Vet Care. Dr Wing Tip Wong - Melbourne Uni Vet Hospital. If you feel it's the neck, ask for an MRI. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 You need to take this dog to a Specialty Centre and have some serious imaging done to find the cause of his problems. A non specialist vet won't have the necessary sophisticated imaging machines available to accurately diagnose the dog. A Specialty Centre is the only way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
africandreams Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 Thanks everyone for your recommendations, much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
africandreams Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 CavNrott: I am going to take him to a Specialist, that is why I am asking for recommendations :)I understand the difference between a specialist and GP vet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VizslaMomma Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Showdog- they are not considering anything apart from Elbow Dysplasia. They see he is sore in his neck and I question it but they brush it off or say anything in his neck would be secondary to his elbow. I have queried the neck with the specialist and the vet multiple times but I am wasting my time. I sure do not feel it is a waste of time IF you as the owner perceive a neck issue. Hope the new specialists help. A dog should be sound in all parts of the body, imo. Hopefully you can get another opinion which resolves all issues for you. Best Wishes for the move and getting better treatment for your boy. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJ Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Sam Snelling at Advanced Vetcare in Kensington is great :) He had performed several surgeries on my Labs and I could not recommend him highly enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 CavNrott: I am going to take him to a Specialist, that is why I am asking for recommendations :)I understand the difference between a specialist and GP vet. I was happy with the service I received at Melbourne Vet Specialists. The consult was expensive but they have happily given out free advice since then so ended up being good value. They used a whiteboard to explain things and gave me a detailed report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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