OCD

[galaxybears]

Does anyone have any experience of OCD?

Kitten, my 10 month old Newfie, has been diagnoised with it today, and we are now being referred to an orthopaedic vet.

Kit has had an on off limp for 4-5 months, it was put down to growing pains as it went within a few days of him being on metacam. But it has since come back and the metacam doesn't seem to be doing much, although when he is walking he seems fine. But at the weekend we took him to a show and he limped all the way around the ring.

Now we know that we need to keep him relatively quiet, which is going to be hard with us having his completely nutty litter sister. But is there anything else we should be doing? We don't even know if he should be going for short walks or not.

He has never been allowed up stair, walked on uneven ground, and he has always been lifted into our van.... He puts his front legs in these days, but waits for the back end to be lifted! He does jump out of the van himself, but it isn't far from the floor. I keep wondering if it is something we have done, or not done that has caused this?

I have had Newfies for nearly 10 years but have never experienced this before, so any advice is gratefully recieved.

[paharts]

I'm going to send this to my mom. I remember we had a top show mastiff develop OCD on his left shoulder and she had it operated on. I was pretty young at the time so do not remember much. Hopefully she will post her experience (hint, hint)

[galaxybears]

That would be great thanks

Oh and I forgot to say before, he has it in his elbow joints.

[paharts]

Well, I talked to my mom.  She said she can't remember.  Either it was too long ago or she's too old
But I did find this at www.mastiff.or g: Osteochrondritis Dissecans (OCD) - A nutritionally based developmental disease. It is separation of joint cartilage caused by too rapid growth. It is known to occur in elbows, shoulders, hocks and stifles but it can occur anywhere in the body. It is a defect in the cartilage overlaying or attaching to the bone.

[The Brindle Pack]

Sorry to hear about Kit.  I don't know anything about OCD but my Tucker does have HD and we limit his play and only walk him in sand or grass.  We also purchased a ramp that has worked out great for us.  It is very sturdy and can hold the weight of even our dane Tyra.  Most of the other ramps couldn't even hold Tucker who is 80lbs.  Here is the link to the place we got our ramp.  http://dogramp.com/

[paharts]

Oh my ... then I followed a link to www.canineheal thinfo.org which took me to http://www.offa.org/shouldergeninfo.html which says:

Osteochondrosis (OCD) of the Shoulder - While the exact mode of inheritance is unknown, osteochondrosi s is considered to be an inherited disease.  In affected individuals there is a disruption in ossification of the cartilage mold beneath the articular cartilage of the joint.  This results in aseptic necrosis and when the weakened area collapses, the articular cartilage fractures resulting in lameness.

OCD has been reported to occur in the shoulder, elbow, stifle, hock, and spine, and can be unilateral or bilateral.  Most affected dogs that develop clinical signs are less than one year of age.

OCD is seen in many breeds but appears to be more common in the larger body type breeds.  It is also seen more frequently in males than females.

The fact that it is tested for & inherited agrees with what Mom was saying.
On the OFFA site, you can look up the results of dogs who have been tested to various things.

[patrick]

IAMs has a wonderful article on OCD and other growth disorders on their website.  There is a reason why all your major dog food companies now have a large breed puppy line of food.  There have been multiple studies here and in Europe that have identified nutrition as a critical factor in these bone disorders.  In one study the researchers deliberately bred two severely dysplastic dogs to get dysplastic puppies.  They split the puppies into 2 groups - one was fed normally - nice plump healthy puppies and they ALL developed hip dysplasia.  The second group was fed 30% less - kept very lean through their growing time and they did NOT develop hip dysplasia yet their parents were severely dysplastic.  You can presume that all large breed dogs have a pre-disposition to develop a skeletal growth problem just by the nature of their very rapid growth and absolutely 'clean' genetics can still produce these problems. 

[galaxybears]

Thanks for the links I will take a look at them . Because we always lift Kit into the van we have never thought about a ramp, but I guess it would be a good idea.

He has always been fed on puppy large breed complete food, but he has grown big and fast, though there isn't any fat there, he is solid. We have also always given him glucosamine.

You know the gap in the joint? Well instead of it being black on the x-rays it is a milky colour, so I imagine thats the bits floating around in his joints . So I am sure he will be needing an op.

Oh well I don't know if it is our fault or just one of those things, but we will just take it as it comes and hope he isn't in too much pain . I'm just glad he is insured!

[paharts]

insuring is something i've talked about doing but have never done. who do you use? is it costly?

[galaxybears]

I'm in the UK, so you probably wouldn't have them over there... I'm presuming you are not in the UK?

We looked for a company which didn't have hereditary, or breed exclusions, and we also don't have to pay any excess, the insurance company pays everything

It isn't expensive either we pay £22 for both of our pups. Most insurance companies would be more than that for one pup. And *touch wood* up to now we haven't had any problems claiming from them.