Frodo's Hips/Wrists (X-rays included)

So I feel like I have most of Chaz on my FB feed, so most of you already know, but last week Frodo went in for a dental and I had him X-rayed while he was under to see if we could find a cause for his recent exercise intolerance. X-rays show significant hip dysplasia and bone/bone in the wrists (or at least, that's what I was told, I don't know how people can read x-rays ).

He's been on Carprofen for the past month and a half-ish with no visible results. He's on an anti-inflammatory dosage of fish oil for the past couple of months as well, and we will continue that. I'm researching hip/joint supplements as well, most of them he can't have due to allergies, but I've received some good recommendations from people. Next week I'm going to talk to one of the other vets about her suggestions for pain management, as well as whether she thinks he would be a good candidate for acupuncture and/or laser. Have I mentioned lately how glad I am that I decided to take the position at the vet office?

Anyway, I can't see a whole bunch in these stupid things, but here's some screenshots of some of the x-rays as I couldn't figure out how to save the actual x-rays.

Frodo Wrists by laurenscoombs, on Flickr

Frodo Hips by laurenscoombs, on Flickr

Ouchie. Those hips do look unpleasant. The wrists are really interesting actually. Not good interesting, but I haven't seen anything like that before. I wonder if it's a common problem in corgis.

The hip positioning isn't perfect, but now that that's out of the way... the hips are still pretty obviously dysplastic especially on the right side. Having said that, though, his muscling is good and symmetrical. Is he limping in the back legs or front? I can't remember. Corgi joints are hard to read but it almost looks like there might be some changes in the knees, on the lateral side of each. But corgi bones and not being able to get up close and peer at them can confuse that, don't read too much into that.

Wrists are ewwwww to read, especially stumpy dog wrists. They don't look that awful to me honestly, except maybe right at/past the articulation with the radius/ulna where there is some white scurffy stuff, but there are so many things that can stack up in wrists that they can be really confounding.

Thanks guys

He isn't limping at all, he's just way less willing to be active. A couple months ago I could take him on a flexi walk and he would run and run and run. Now we make it halfway around the block and he's slow and walking and just obviously not having a good time. Which, if his front AND his back end are hurting, doesn't surprise me at all. He has only ever lifted his left leg to mark, never ever his right leg. Like if he sniffs and approached on his right side, he will turn all the way around to lift his left leg. I'm guessing that is because lifting that worse right leg is too painful? He squats for the most part now though, again I'm assuming due to pain?

And yeah, I don't even know about his front wrists. He HATES having them touched, with the passion of a thousand burning suns. Again, I'm assuming because they hurt? It sucks because he is such an odd dog, that pretty much any handling can result in him throwing a temper tantrum, and I have no idea if it is because pain, or because Frodo. With it being so hard to tell whether he is in pain, I feel like all the pain management stuff is going to be difficult as far as telling what is working and what is not.

I hope all would be well for Frodo....

The other thing to think about is, if he is having some pain in both the front and back and he's been trying to shift his weight around (especially over time) that could really mess his back up and make things worse. Think about a chiro evaluation and/or some acupuncture or PT for his back.

You should post his elbow views as well, even if they're not flexed. I thought I saw something in there but I'm not used to looking at them unless they're flexed.

These elbow ones Megan?

Right elbow by laurenscoombs, on Flickr

Left elbow by laurenscoombs, on Flickr

Yeah, I thought there was a difference/change in the left elbow. But, I'm not a vet and I only look at xrays for funsies!

Awwww...poor fella. I hope some trial and error with some different meds or some other treatment will help him feel better. I wonder if there's any point to a surgery. Sometimes that can wind up making things worse...complications etc. Maybe something like swimming would be more comfortable for him. (?) Sending my best for Frodo.

Swimming is a great idea! Any up for a trip to the Paw?!

Poor Frodo. I can't read xrays at all, but I know hip and wrist pain is horrible.

And I agree...as far as exercising goes, swimming sounds like a good place to go.

You might look into something like Adequan injections. I've seen them help a TON of dogs. And of course a regular joint supplement, too, when you find one. What is he allergic to in most of the supplements? We use Cosequin capsules at the zoo because it's not flavored, and also shark cartilage (since we can't feed bovine-sourced supplements to other ruminants per USDA) and hyaluronic acid. I think Dasuquin is available in an unflavored powder/capsule, too.

Thanks doberluv, even if he was a candidate for surgery I wouldn't put him through it. Physically or mentally.

Sael, I talked to one vet about adequan, he didn't think it was serious enough for that, but I will be talking to my other trusted vet when I work with her tomorrow. She has seen Frodo more, and I feel like might understand my issues of not knowing what amount of pain he is in, because he is Frodo, not a normal dog :/

Sara, what kind of pool setup do they have? He is more of a wade into swimming guy, not a jump in kind of guy.

I put Kiba on GlycoFlex II and Duralactin (milk based anti-inflammatory) for her knee back when she reluctant to go down the stairs at potty time and it worked wonders for her.

Wading/walking in water would likely be more beneficial for him than swimming. Swimming works different muscle groups than walking.

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I would think the underwater treadmill would be awesome. I've thought about buying one myself just because, I think the nice steady pace of walking or trotting with benefit of removing some weight with water, but still having that resistance would be great for any dog, especially one that risks further damage by doing that on dry land.

That would really give some good musculature to support those joints.

I would love to do the underwater treadmill with him, unfortunately I need to dig myself out of the hole that my dear animals have put me in over the past couple months. I really can't add anything that financially devastating to my plate at the moment.

This of course happened in the dead of winter, or I could at least walk him through chest high water at one of the 10,000 lakes here, lol.

Definitely talk to your other vet! It's not JUST for dogs that are so bad they can barely move. If he's slowing down because of joint pain, it'll likely help him. There aren't a ton of side effects, either. It's basically injectable joint supplement.

Yeah absolutely. We used to give it regularly to the horses during show season, just to keep them feeling their best and support their joints during a fairly strenuous time. They were sound and none had injuries or degenerative disease (that we knew of) at the time, and they still benefited from it.