Hi, not been on here for a while, but thought I would put a post on as it may be useful for future reference. If any other members have had a birth defect in their dogs, I would be very interested to know how they dealt with it.
My puppy (9 months) arrived at my house at 15 weeks old. He had quite splayed front feet which were far too big for him, and they gave him a bit of a strange gait. His feet have tightened nicely now but it was obviously a gradual process. Somewhere during this I noticed he was lame on his left leg, no pain, just a limp. I initially thought he'd simply pulled something and rested him for a few days.
Limp still there so took him to my Vet, who thought it was his elbow. X-ray taken and his left elbow was fine, as was the right. Vet didn't think it was anything too serious but I asked if Cooper could be referred for a CT Scan, he was still limping and I wanted to know why.
Specialist appointment 11th December, ECVS Resident Vet also thought elbow. He was as shocked as I was by the results of the scan. As the Scan image shows, Cooper has a serious birth defect. His left shoulder socket is not properly formed, nor is the ball and it's dislocated. Poor little guy! Specialist immediately recommended surgery, but did tell me they had never seen this condition before; it would take 2 weeks to plan the surgery; bone grafts/pins and plates to fuse his shoulder; risk of failure; high risk of infection. If one bone graft or plate moved infection would set in, possible sepsis of the joint.
I initially leant towards surgery, though risky, I thought it would give Cooper the best chance of a normal life. However, I also knew I needed more information before I made a final decision. It's not about money, Cooper's welfare comes first...but even though he has Lifetime Cover with Pet Plan, and is insured for a good amount, the whole thing would cost £2k more than his Insurance, £1k just for planning it.
So I spent almost 2 hours with the Head Vet at my practice who deals with Orthopaedics and has for many years. His advice was do nothing, certainly not surgery. He said Cooper had been born like this, it's not Genetic it's a birth defect. His body may adapt to it and he could feel new bone growth. He again explained the high risks of surgery and even greater risk of infection, Cooper could well need more surgery if anything went wrong. He asked where the bone grafts would be taken from (I wasn't told) but another wound that would need to heal. He said if the surgery went ahead and was successful, Cooper's left shoulder would be fused, he would have more of a limp than he has now and it would have a knock on effect on his spine and other joints. He said he's not in pain, monitor and see how he is over time....If it reaches a stage where he's in constant pain, it's far safer to amputate his Left leg. I would rather he kept all four, but I know dogs adapt well to 3 legs.
This Vet seem to make sense, so that's what I'm doing, careful exercise and monitor him. I have ramps everywhere which were purchased for my last boy who had IVDD...outside back door to cut out the high step, one to the sofa and one to my bed, so Cooper doesn't jump about at all. So far he's fine, happy, lively and into every thing. I hope it stays that way. 😊
Here's a photo of Cooper and a scan image of his shoulder.
