Osteochondritis Dessicans

[paytongold]

I have a 6 month old Golden retriver who is a very big boy. He is not fat at all. He actually is very lean but he is very tall and already weighs 73#. The past month he has a limp ...looks like front shoulder..My vet manipulated his leg and shoulder and everything felt fine and she said to just watch him. I am a nurse which is always dangerous. Anyway what are your thoughts on prevention of this going any further if it were to be OCD. I have heard from friends that DGP helps with pain but he doesn't really act like he is pain. he just limps.
any thoughts?

[bigkawhona]

HI! OMG I am so happy to join this forum tonight! You & me have too much in common! I am a RN myself & my poor lit ole black lab: Miss Maddie has been DX with OCD ALSO! MI State university Vet School has even reviewed her xrays of R & L shoulder & they say she needs surgery WHICH I MUST ADD comes at no surprise since it is a #1 Vet TEACHING Univ! I have refused to have her go thru such massive surgery x her young age once I have read alot x OCD & heard from a lady that has went thru what we are going thru! her name is: Lyn I have copied for you her info & what her reply was back to me:
Call the Vet phone #s on my OCD site and get them to refer to your own vet the proper info so you can get your baby treated... Adequan works great! No need for surgery at such a young age, you have time to try the Adequan before resorting to that!
Lyn Richards / www.doglogic.com

I wish you the best of luck & please let me know what you have found out since you posted this post! THANK YOU! One Nurse to another :)
Mrs. Litz, RN

[Packleader]

I feel left out being I'm not a nurse, but have been working with animals for over 20yrs. I have owned Goldens my whole life and this is my first experience with OCD. I have a 4month old Golden who I actually purchased to be shown, something I have never done before. Well my pup (Dallas) came up limping. I thought at first it might just be a sprain from playing with the other Goldens. So I gave it some time. That didn't didn't work, still limping off and on. I took him in and he got manipulated and his right shoulder is said to be OCD. I have researched all over internet to avoid surgery. Then I read your blog. I'm going to the website of doglogic to see what this Adequan is. Any other suggestions from anyone.

[Daveyo]

Folks this is a disease here, and rubbing will not make it go away. What this does is the cartilage is being destroyed, and turning into bone, thus causing cracks to develop and in some cases literally break.

The body will make an attempt to fix itself up. The dog needs to have REST.. Best prescription, and pain killers.

If you read to my left here, look for this title. Study it, and learn. Then get as much knowledge as you can.

Unfortunately at the very moment of time I am not aware of a cure. However I will check to see if there is something that can correct this problem.

Strange as this might be in humans this is called osteoarthritis. Interesting. Same thing the human begins to lose their cartilage as well, but nothing is being done by the body to replace it. This is the only difference.

Again this is all cell structure and genetics.

[mnelson219]

We also have a six month old golden, who has been diagnosed with ocd of the hocks,we have taken her to an ortho specialists xrays taken and waiting for the results. We live in rural South Dakota so the xrays had to be sent to the university of colorado. It seems the hardest thing right now is how do you keep a young pup from wanting to play. All the things we have read say 4-8 weeks of rest can help, with just 10-15 min walks a day, we have changed food to Royal Canin, and are giving 1500mg of glyco w/ msm in it. It is hard to believe how attached you can become to a pet in such a short time, but she is our baby and we just want her healthy and to beable to enjoy life. She loves to go on walks and go on hikes and play, also my son was training her to go hunting and it just seems all of this is on the back burner until we recieve the results of the xrays.