Osteochondritis dissecans in hocks

[mandasand]

Hi all,
First time poster. We just rescued a 14-month old female chocolate lab, Molly. They did not disclose that she was diagnosed with bilateral OCD in her hocks. We are going to go ahead and talk to the orthopedic specialist in the next couple of weeks because I can tell she is struggling. She prefers to sit or lay on her side most of the time, and only shows her active puppy energy sporadically. Both hocks are pretty swollen and I feel so stupid for not noticing it. We also have a 10 year old female lab, Maya, but she is much more petite than Molly and we have never had any medical issues with her.

We live in San Diego and I called around to some specialists. They charge $150 just to see the doctor and then the surgery is estimated to run between $3500-4000 per ankle. Does that sound about right? Does anyone else have experience with this condition?
Thanks!
Manda

[smartrock]

Hi and welcome,

One of our members, who lives in your area, has had her dogs seen and operated on by an orthopedic surgeon out there with whom she was very happy. There are others in Southern California who may be able to give you their experiences also. We cannot give out names of providers in a public thread but people could send you recommendations in a private message. The thing is, you need to have 5 or 10 posts in order to receive private messages from members. You can get your post numbers up quickly by playing some of the games in Fun Stuff or welcoming other new members. I think costs vary regionally so I don't know how those prices measure up. I spent about that for an initial consultation with an orthopedic surgeon in Maryland, I think the surgery here for elbow dysplasia would have been a bit less.

I hope you can find some help for your girl!

[mandasand]

Thanks for the response!

[mandasand]

My husband is retired military and is home all day. He left for 3 hours today and crated her. She destroyed everything in the crate. I think she may have separation anxiety. Our other dog is well behaved in the house and can come and go freely. She originally was not and we crate trained her. After about 2 years old, we could trust her to be in the house without being locked in the crate. I wonder if Maya is taunting her?

[JenC]

Never had an issue with hocks, but we had a dog that needed bilateral elbow surgery. We were living in Mission Viejo at the time...I think we saw someone in Garden Grove...her surgery was $2500. Our old boy needed 2 TPLO's....$3K....EACH.... His ortho was in Irvine.

[windycanyon]

Hate to say this, but I'm not sure how effective surgery is for hock OCD. Can you first try some supplements?

As for nondisclosure of the issue, not many rescues would even know to look for that. Or did you actually mean that you rehomed her from a breeder who maybe should have known the issue existed? Best of luck. Anne

[mandasand]

We did not get her from the breeder but a rescue. The previous owners had taken her to the vet in April, they diagnosed her with bilateral OCD and then we adopted her from rescue organization that only had her AKC paperwork. I was able to talk to the owner when we were looking at her and I was able to get the name of the vet and breeder after some reluctance from the owner. We decided to take her home. We never had any intention of giving her back to anyone involved. I was finally able to get ahold of her vet records. I talked to the vet in length and she said that she was very worried about the dog and glad she found a good home. She is confident that it's OCD. It's a moot point now because we would never give her back or ask for our adoption fee back. It's pointless.

Ive be heard of conservative treatment with anti-inflammatory and supplements. The vet does not recommend that in her case. We are going to consult with the surgeon.

[mandasand]

Our other dog, Maya, came from a very respectable breeder in Northern California. Her father was a grand master field champion and both her grandparents (Dam side) were master champions as well. She was easily trained and is not at all stubborn. I looked into Molly's breeder and he posts online dogs for sale, always chocolate labs, but he moves around a lot, Reno and Sacramento. His number is no longer accepting calls. I have his name and a written letter saying that he will take her back but I would never dream of it. It was like pulling teeth but I was finally able to get all this documentation from the owner. The owner hid it from the rescue, the breeder hid it from them. But instead of getting her the care she needs, the owners surrendered her. It disgusts me. I don't blame the rescue. I volunteered for Lab Rescue in Norcal for 8 years. Sometimes in desperate situations, we had to pull dogs without having all the info. I should probably ask for the adoption fee back but it's just money. Plus I am donating to get other dogs the help they need so I really would not ask for it back. I am hoping that we can do surgery on just one hock and see if we can improve the other one with anti-inflammatory and supplements. I have seen a slight improvement just by giving her two Synovis a day.

[outrag]

I know it's not the same thing, but I've had two surgeries on my ankle for a good sized OCD. At least with human's, there is no perfect solution, but they are making strides with some of the newer technologies. On a young dog like yours it seems like it's more genetic vs. wear and tear from prior injuries??? I would ask the Ortho a lot of questions, specifically what procedures are available, what is the success rate, what is long term outlook, etc...

I'm sure cortisone shots and steroids would lessen the inflammation but may not be a long term approach.

Good luck.

Bob

[Tanya]

We did not get her from the breeder but a rescue. The previous owners had taken her to the vet in April, they diagnosed her with bilateral OCD and then we adopted her from rescue organization that only had her AKC paperwork. I was able to talk to the owner when we were looking at her and I was able to get the name of the vet and breeder after some reluctance from the owner. We decided to take her home. We never had any intention of giving her back to anyone involved. I was finally able to get ahold of her vet records. I talked to the vet in length and she said that she was very worried about the dog and glad she found a good home. She is confident that it's OCD. It's a moot point now because we would never give her back or ask for our adoption fee back. It's pointless.

Ive be heard of conservative treatment with anti-inflammatory and supplements. The vet does not recommend that in her case. We are going to consult with the surgeon.

The organization put you in touch with the previous owner? Or do you mean you rescued her FROM her previous owner? was a legit rescue organization involved (was the dog under the RESCUES care or with the owner? was it a "courtesy post" by the reduce? or did you deal strictly with the previous owner and they didn't dislose?)

Best of luck.