Bad news from the vet for our 1.5 year old choc lab

[chuckster]

Well early spring my chocolate lab started to show signs of back right leg trouble. So I took him into the vet they thought it was muscle damage, told me to take it easy on him for a few weeks and he was good to go. A couple mouths later he was not better took him back in and they said the same thing take it easier for a few weeks and he will be fine. And in fact by duck season he seemed ok, so I hunted him. Hunting him made him a little sore but not bad. All of the water froze in the area that I hunt and I have not hunted him in about a month and a half. In about the last two weeks I started to notice that his legs where doing worse then before. So I took him to the vet again only this time it was a new vet since I had moved to a new town since the last visit. Without even seeing any x rays they said it was not muscle damage as the first two vet visits thought. They did many x rays and found what the first vets did not find. A ligament that holds his left knee together is almost torn completely through, and his right knee is also torn but not as bad. To top it off they found mild hip dysplasia in his left hip. Not sure how you can have so much wrong with one dog at one time but he has it. The vet is hoping by keeping him on house arrest that he may be healthy enough to make to age 8 or so. If this works for the next four mouths then that is the best case scenario. If it works his knees should build up certain calcium deposits that will support his knees and he may be able to duck hunt but he will never upland bird hunt which is his favorite type of hunting. If he does not get better soon he will need surgery in order for us to not have to make the decision to put him down for good for the fact that he would no longer be able to walk. The only problem is this surgery is a bit over $1,600 per knee and due to the fact that my wife and I are college students that kind of money will be extremely difficult to come by. All around this was a horrible day. We have no children but really he is our child. 

[carpsniperg2]

Very sorry to hear that. I hate to hear stuff like this it breaks my heart.

[buglebuster]

  really sorry to hear 

[pens fan]

My old chocolate had same issues at about a year
The vet said the large bteed puppy food is the problem
Causes the bones to grow faster than the ligaments
Surgery was 700 then
He was fine after but went down at 7 years for going psycho
Hope all works out for you

[quadrafire]

Chuckster
The reason that he was not diagnosed early is that ligament (most likley the ACL) may have just been strained or partially torn. There is not a good test to prove this until the tear is complete. It is an extremely common problem in athletic dogs. The hip dysplasia was likely just an incidental finding after taking x-rays. He would have been born with that condition. (It may or may not be a problem for him in the long run--depends on how bad it is)
Anyway it is a sucky deal. Good luck with him.

[Camp David]

My older lab (now chasing roosters in Heaven) had the same issue. Surgery for each leg was $4500. My younger lab has had one leg done and other $4500…ching ching . The procedure is called a TPLO. If your going to have a sporting dog...this is the only way to go. Man we love our dogs.
Sorry about your pup.

[Happy Gilmore]

Sorry to hear. Usually, dogs will tear the second knee shortly after the first because they start compensating on it. Mild dysplasia isn't likely a big deal. Not good sign with all the other problems.

If you got the dog from a breeder I'd certainly make some phone calls to discuss the health issues with the dog. If for nothing else, hopefully, they wouldn't breed the same parents again. Even though it might be a "work related" injury, these tendencies run in lines of breeding and the mild dysplasia isn't a good thing or, something a breeder wants to see popping up in a line either.

Crate rest. Serious crate rest. Only let him out on lead and walking. No free running. A friends lab did the same and he never had it fixed. You can hardly tell he was ever injured. It will come later in life but, for now he's still running field trials.

[YellowDog]

There are two types of surgery to fix the torn legiment.  TPLO (Tibia Plateau Leveling Osteo___ ) where they cut off the top of the lower leg bone at the knee and rotate the cut off part making it more horizontal and screw it in place with screws and a plate.  The other is where they use a clip and a synthetic thread to make a false legimate to support the knee in place of the torn legiment.  My 7 year old lab has mild hip displaysia and tore both knee legiments a couple years ago.  Had TPLO done on one knee in August 2010 and the other December 2010 ($2,500 per leg at WSU Vet center).  She was never really hunted but loves to run, swim and play frisbee/fetch.  She does just fine with those activities and I would think that if not for the financial impact on you your pup could likely return to mild upland hunting, all waterfowl hunting and mostly normal activity.  My brother's lab had one knee done with the synthetic thread and the other knee done with TPLO at WSU.  She is a bit overweight and doesn't get run regularly and when she does run a bunch the synthetic thread replacement causes her a bit of discomfort but the TPLO knee is good to go.  If the $1,600 you were quoted for TPLO that is a good price assuming the vet knows what they are doing.  If that is for the synthetic thread surgery, PM me because the price is too high IMO.  My brother had his dog's knee done for about $700 and the fact of the matter is that the synthetic thread usually breaks at some point but the dog usually develops enough scar tissue and basically arthritis and calcium deposits to help stabalize the joint before the thread breaks.   

Sorry to hear about your pup and situation though.  I know all too well how difficult it is to see this happen to your dog.  I will say this, if you can't afford the surgeries, don't put the dog down right away.  Crate him, keep him calm, give him time for the inflamation and irritation to go down and he will still make a good pet. 

[buckfvr]

I had a Yellow with the same problem 17 years ago.  We opted to just keep him as a pet, surgery was not in the budget, and he made it to 8.  His last couple years he had more pain, but he was happy.

The vet was a specialist in sporting/hunting dogs.  Even back then he told me if I wanted to get another Lab,  go to Montana or Nebraska, and avoid any dogs from Wa. state......his opinion, way too many people breeding them and there were way too many of them with similar backgrounds from same lineage.  My first yellow,  I got at 24 yrs old......next yellow ( there were a few blacks in there as well)  I got at 40 yrs old.......AKC papers showed 3 same dogs in the  ancestry.....and they were not from breeders who even knew each other existed.   Not saying the vet is right or wrong, just that it is an old ongoing problem.  I now have a shorthair and a yellow lab, both fine dogs, at 57, cant say whether or not Ill ever get more, but if I do,  there sure are some great looking dogs on the internet from Idaho and Montana breeders/kennels.....beauties for sure, just spendy....but I believe thats where Ill buy if I get another. 

[JLS]

Yes, choose breeders wisely.  I you ask them why they chose the stud and they tell you so they could get more yellows and chocolates in the litter, I'd keep looking.

Unfortunately, irresponsible breeding has created a myriad of problems in labs.  I wish you the best with your dog.

[bearpaw]

Sorry to hear, a good dog is just like a close family member....

[elkinrutdrivemenuts]

Let him take it easy and hopefully it will get better.  Mine was diagnosed with dysplasia at a you age but you couldn't tell it now, I tries to minimize the running and let him swim a lot, it's lower impact so he didn't get fat or continue to agrivate his joints.  Hope he comes out on top!

[doyourtime89]

Sorry to hear, a good dog is just like a close family member....

 

I agree they do become a family member.....really sorry to hear this.

[chuckster]

Thank you for all the information everyone. Its really great to hear that there is hope for him. 

[johnnyaustin44]

ive had a black lab that had a tree fall down on the middle of his back and he made it back to the house by himself before he wouldnt walk any more. vet said that he was just hurting and would be ok in a few days. took him a week later and he told me the same thing. after a week i went to a different vet who sent me straight to an emergency vet who told me he had a broken back that could have been fixed a few days after the incident and 4000$ to do it now and a 25% chance it would work.  Frustrating to have been told he was gonna be fine and later find out he wasn't and never would walk again.  He made it two more years in two wheel drive before he gave up at 11 years old. tough thing to go through because he was still a happy dog up until his last days.