Who is competent?

 

Just before Christmas 2002 I noticed my Rottweiler puppy (then 4 months old) had problems rising up from a horizontal position.

After a short while she started walking strangely, limping on her left hind leg and curving her back. It was obvious that she was in pain.

I went to the veterinarian, where her hips were x-rayed. These provided no obvious answers to the puppy.s troubles, and we assumed she must have fallen and hurt herself on the ice. But when her condition got worse, I contacted the veterinarian again. This time we x-rayed her from the neck and down both her hind legs. This was as futile as the first time - the vet was not able to see anything abnormal on the x-rays pictures. I then started treatment with Rimadyl (anti-inflammatory painkillers) and food supplement, supposedly beneficiary for joints.

Rimadyl did not give the expected effect, the dog.s condition appeared to be the same whether I gave her Rimadyl or not. Finally, my veterinarian contacted The Norwegian School of Veterinary Science (NVH), and reported my puppy.s symptoms. He then sent in the x-rays for evaluation. It took two long weeks until the diagnosis came: fractures in talus (ankle joint) on both hind legs.

I was told that this was a condition that could not be operated on or fixed in any way, and was recommended to put her to sleep. I then talked to one of Sweden.s most recognized Rottweiler breeders, who told me that operations of talus were indeed done in Sweden with good results. Again I contacted the veterinary I earlier talked to at NVH, who again confirmed that the condition could not be operated and that no one in Norway performed this kind of surgery. He did not know of anyone in Sweden who did this either. I.m sure many dog owners can relate to the sorrow and pain I felt after I got this message. I was inconsolable.

In my desperate search for more information, I went to the Internet and found two Norwegian articles about Osteochondrose in joints[1]. I contacted the writer of the articles, physiotherapist Åse Birkhaug in Bergen, and told her the tragic story about my puppy. I described the symptoms as best I could, and ask her if she knew anything I could do for my puppy. The morning after I got an email from her, saying: Stop! Let.s try something else! Do not put her to sleep!

She asked if she could contact Ulf Erlandsen at Tertnes Animal Hospital[2] in Bergen, and tell him about the symptoms my little puppy had. She contacted me again, and asked me to call Ulf Erlandsen. Again I described the symptoms and events at my vet and the diagnosis from NVH. He then felt sure that this was Osteochondritis Dissecans, i.e. that parts of cartilage had loosened from the talus joint. This could look like fractures. He also told me that he had performed surgery on similar conditions several times.

With mixed feelings of fear and hope, I went to Tertnes Animal Hospital in Bergen with my little puppy. It seemed too good to be true that anything could be done with her condition, after all the negative feedback I had gotten earlier. Ulf Erlandsen used considerable time to explain to me what the condition Osteochondrose is, and he was also very realistic concerning the prognosis for my puppy after the surgery. He didn.t wanted to operate on her, unless he was pretty sure that this would turn out well. This was a decision he had to make during the operation, when he had seen the extent of the disease.

After 4-5 hours on the operating table, Ulf called me and told me that the operation was successful. His opinion was that my puppy would live a normal pain-free life.

During the conversation with Ulf after the operation, he showed me two books referring to how corresponding surgeries should be performed[3].

When I came home with my puppy, I started to check more about OCD, the causes and treatments.

The causes of this disease are debated, and most likely they are multi factional: combination of heritage, malnutrition, rapid growth, lack of blood supply to the joints etc. There are many articles about Osteochondrose on the Internet, and if you are interested I recommend searching on Osteochondrose, or Osteochondritis Dissecans in Dogs/Canine i.e. on http://www.google.com.

In one article[4], it is not recommended to breed affected dogs, neither the parents of the affected dogs, nor the parents. siblings or the siblings of the affected dog. Even if these dogs do not show any signs of OCD.

The thing that hit me was that it was a lot of information about OCD, also about OCD in talus, and treatments for this disease. Generally, early treatment/surgery should be performed, in order to give a best possible result.

So, why did I get the horrifying message from The Norwegian School of Veterinary Science that this disease could not be treated? And, that they did not know about anyone who could do this kind of operations in Norway?

I.ve always believed that NVH is Norway.s stronghold when it comes to competence on animal diseases, and they have always had my respect.

Today I.m not sure. If I, in my despair, hadn.t started to search for alternative solutions, I.m afraid my puppy would have been put to sleep.

17. February 2003, Liv Wallentinsen