OCD

[mja]

I am looking for advice and or experience anyone might have with OCD and or surgery to repair problem. My 8th old BC just diagnosed with OCD in one shoulder and the reconmendation is surgery however, vet did say she knew of two cases of dogs that recovered with rest. Thank you in advance.

[gcv-border]

I am looking for advice and or experience anyone might have with OCD and or surgery to repair problem. My 8th old BC just diagnosed with OCD in one shoulder and the reconmendation is surgery however, vet did say she knew of two cases of dogs that recovered with rest. Thank you in advance.

Just to clarify - is it an 8 month old?

 

From my personal experience, please be certain it is OCD - 2nd opinion or opinion from experienced ortho vet. My dog was diagnosed with OCD in both the left shoulder and right hock at 15 months of age by my general vet - who was an experienced surgeon (but not an ortho vet). He recommended 2 surgeries: the first surgery was for the left shoulder, followed by ~6 months of rehab, then the 2nd surgery on the right hock, another 6 months of rehab. And this was not laparoscopic surgery. It would have been the more invasive (normal) surgery). And each surgery would have been about $3K when all was said and done.

 

I sought out a 2nd opinion from an ortho surgeon who said that the 'mice' that the general vet was seeing within the joints (usually indicative of OCD) were actually an artifact of the angle of the X-ray. My boy had a little degeneration in his shoulder joint, but NOT OCD. No surgery necessary.

 

Yes, I know of one dog personally that had OCD surgery, followed by rest and rehab (rehab is VERY IMPORTANT), and is still running fairly high level agility. I have heard of others, but don't know the specific details.

 

Good Luck.

[CMP]

I recently ran the gamut with several vets and several opinions on a mysterious lameness in my FOUR month old. There was concern that it was OCD in her hind legs by one vet. Her age, her gender, her genetic predisposition and the history of her life really contraindicated this diagnosis but I did consider it for a while, to be safe. Xrays and MRIs were inconclusive.

 

I was lucky enough to be able to get a consultation with an ortho surgeon who works a lot with Border Collies (and has operated on several of our farm dogs over the years) who essentially pooh-poohed the notion of OCD without any solid evidence - and at four months, short of exploratory surgery, there is really no way to be sure.

 

So, first thing, make as sure as you can that you are actually dealing with OCD.

 

If it is OCD, conservative treatment (rest, rehab, therapy) is not really super successful (but has been known to work, depending upon the severity of the infirmity) but if the dog is young enough and the OCD not terribly advanced, rest and rehab could definitely work and at 8 months, I would try that first, to be frank.

 

Good luck and I would like to know what happens, if you wouldn't mind keeping us posted.

[Chip&Reese]

My pup was diagnosed with OCD at 9 months after limping on and off for 3-4 months even with rest. The X-Rays were sent off to be read by a specialist at UPEI. It was confirmed he had OCD in both shoulders ( only the left was bothering him) and Degenerative Joint Disease. He had surgery at 10 months on his left shoulder and was put on glucosamine, msm, and chondroitin. He was able to walk on the leg the next day.We had to keep him quiet for about 8 weeks. Then he was back to regular activity with no problems. He is almost 5 years now and has had no issues.

[CMP]

Wow. That's young. So - yeah - it's definitely possible.

 

Glad to hear your good-luck story.

[emilyfalk]

I owned a dog who had bilateral surgery done with her previous owner. It was not arthroscopic, but traditional repair. She has never had a problem in either shoulder and has been a very successful sheepdog. At age 6.5 I ran her in the USBCHA Finals last year (so, she trained and trialed hard), and she's still active as can be in her new home, running, hiking, working sheep. I know many successful Open sheepdogs who have had surgery and performed well into old age with no shoulder related problems. Surgery is my recommendation as a vet, too.

[Alchemist]

I have a 5-year-old dog who was diagnosed with bilateral shoulder OCD at age 6 months after being lame for about a month. Said diagnosis was made by an ortho vet (and I'd strongly recommend taking your dog to an ortho vet). He had bilateral arthroscopic surgery the next day, followed by several months of rehab. He's very active now - regular off-leash hikes, has been working sheep (on hiatus now, but that has nothing to do with his shoulders). Yes, the surgery is expensive, and yes, the rehab is important and is time-consuming. I don't think he'd have recovered with conservative treatment (no surgery) - even though his lameness at age 5 months was VERY subtle (the regular vet couldn't spot it at first), and we put him on crate rest immediately for the next month (up until his diagnosis), the "mouse" (flap of cartilage) had completely detached in one shoulder by the time he had surgery. These "mice" just tend to grow on their own. It was already bigger than a quarter when he had the surgery. Not something that does your shoulder joint any good.

 

I'll echo what Emily said - I've known several Open (and even Nursery) dogs who have had the surgery and who have run in the Finals. In fact an older brother of my dog, who had OCD surgery as a pup, is running in the Finals this year. Although some may say "try conservative therapy", I also know one dog who was put on conservative therapy, and ended up having surgery in the end. From the reading I did, the risk is that if you don't remove the "mouse", you can end up having it irritate the shoulder joint, making it more prone to subsequent problems (such as arthritis). In my dog's case, the area where the mouse had detached had also become necrotic. On the other hand - I've heard of a couple of people who have claimed that conservative therapy worked for their dogs. All I'm saying, I guess, is that you really can't guess the severity of the damage based on the symptoms - these dogs are such stoics...

 

There are worse things than shoulder OCD. It's highly curable, with surgery, as Emily says. That being said - I certainly sympatize with what you're going through!!!

[mum24dog]

Three friends have all had dogs with OCD of the shoulder that was repaired surgically as adolescents. All compete at high level in agility with no ill effects.

 

One is now 10 years old and in as good condition as any dog that has not had the condition. They got him free from a farm but were aware that there was some OCD in the dogs in the breeding. They satisfied themselves that it was fixable and made sure he was insured.

[G. Festerling]

My old man Flash had it before a year of age. One shoulder, with the second not bothering him too much. Did bilateral surgery, kept him quiet for two months, build him up slow. No more issues. He lived to be 12 when I lost him to a heart attack. And although he did show some arthritis in his older years....I never regretted it.

[Marlaina]

I thought I couldn't be the only one dealing with OCD with my pup, Penny. She had an Osteochondral autograft transfer on her left hind knee five weeks ago. She developed a limp at four months old and had the surgery at 6mos. It was diagnosed by a vet orthopaedic specialist with a bunch of x rays and performed by him and a people ortho surgeon. I live in the Chicago area and still had to travel far for all her appointments. The Dr. says she is recovering nicely. Restricted activity is the real hard part. Border collie puppies do not want to stay still for long. I have her on sedatives (acepromazine) but even so she is still pretty wiggely. I like this board forum because it helps me come up with quiet mind activites for her. She needs constant supervision so its been a long summer and she still has several more weeks of recovery. But so far she is doing well and the Dr.s say she'll do well in the long run. There is hope. This is the link that describes the surgery called OATS. horses go through this too, apparently.

 

http://www.arthrexvetsystems.com/en/products/techniques/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&pageid=6746

[mja]

Thanks everyone for your answers, don't know where this topic was hiding as when I first posted, could not find it but it showed up with the 'search' tool. Also wondering if a change in feed is in order. Thanks again.