Elbow dysplasia 9 month old male

[zstevens]

I have a nine month old male Fila pup. Lately he has started to limp on his front legs. I have dusty hardwood floors, and didn't realize this would be hard on his joints, as he sometimes slips. Anyone else have experience with this? Is this just a growing phase that will correct itself? The vet told me she would not recommend xraying him until 2 years old, as he is fully developed yet.

Thanks for any help I can attach pics of his elbows.

 

[Smokeycat]

My EM was diagnosed with ED at 15 months and had surgery to stabilize his left elbow when he was 16 months. If it is ED time will not correct it as the problem should have fixed itself by the time he was 5 months old. The only way to diagnose it however is by X-rays. He could also have Pano (growing pains) which they will outgrow in time. However the only way to conclusively diagnose this is also by X-rays. Depending on how long he has been limping and how severe the limp is I would want X-rays just to make sure that there was nothing going on in his joints. Kryten was non-weight bearing which ended up being caused by a loose bone fragment impeding the motion of the joint.
Hope he feels better soon and it's nothing serious.

 

[Hector]

You should check with your breeder and see what they have to say.

 

[zstevens]

You should check with your breeder and see what they have to say.

Thank you both for your advice.

 

[mountainfila]

Smokey knows what shes talking about first hand, I would also if you don't have it already, invest in pet insurance but you need to get it before any vet looks at him because they wont cover existing conditions if it does turn out to be elbow dysplasia , its expensive to have the surgery. And as she mentioned it could be pano, it tends to move from leg to leg, so keep an eye on that , if it turns out to be pano watch his calcium intake, pano is a build up of calcium in the long bone and does go away when the growth plates close. Also did you get a health guarantee from the person or breeder you got him from?

My fingers are crossed for you and hoping that's its just pano.

 

[musicdeb]

Place non-slippable rugs throughout the rooms so he can have some traction and not fall as much. He could have injured himself when he has fallen. At 9 months, his bones are not fully developed.

You can xray the pup before 2 years of age.

 

[girldogue]

at 9 months you can xray and see if the elbows are normal or are dysplastic. You can also see signs of panosteitis in the xrays - you need a better vet if they told you to wait until 2. The only reason to wait until 2 is if you want to have OFA certify them .

Pet insurance is great to have but they don't all cover congenital issues like elbow dysplasia - so read the fine print very carefully !

 

[zebraworks]

could be growing pain what kind of food do you use? I think there is recommendation to limit certain nutrients to try to prevent joint problems while growing/meshing together