Arthritis in elbow.

Dr. Marie replied:

This is a tough question to answer without being able to examine Cartamil, but I will give you some of my thoughts.

Sometimes arthritis in the elbows can be very difficult to grade by looking at xrays. Sometimes dogs can have extreme pain with only minor changes on xray. (I have seen the opposite where dogs have horrible looking elbows on their xray but are not terribly painful.)

So, this definitely could be all due to arthritis.

If she's still limping then I don't like the idea of waiting.

Here are a few options. You could ask your vet for a different type of NSAID. Metacam is an excellent arthritis drug but some dogs do get stomach upset when they are on it. I have found that some dogs do better on a drug called Previcox. Another alternative is to use a drug that is called Tramadol. It works in a different way but can be quite effective.

I have also had good success with treating arthritis with Cartrophen (also called Adequan) injections. I'll often do this along with the other medications mentioned above.

If you have the budget for it, it would be great to ask your vet for a referral to a veterinary orthopedic surgeon. A surgeon can give you their opinion on the xrays. Often they will see things that a regular vet can't see.

My orthopedic surgeon does a surgical procedure called a SHO (sliding humeral osteotomy) for dogs with elbow problems. It has quite a good success rate at relieving pain, but it can be expensive.

I really hope she is feeling better soon!

Dr. Marie.
Related: Can you give a dog Advil?



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