A short update on our poor pup Italy. I didn´t post straight away, because the outcome is way worse than we could have possibly imagined. The elbow joints were evaluated arthroscopically. on Both sides the Coronoid Processes were removed, plus a few extra small lose bone fragments.The main worry is, that there´s hardly any joint cartilage left. This is so incredibly abnormal for an 11 month old pup and it´s not fully clear what happened here. I can´t believe how she still managed to go for walks with us. The prognose is very poor, because once cartilage is gone, it won´t come back. This means the bone surfaces in the joint are touching during walking and are already getting damaged too.

The only possible further surgery would be cutting fully through her ulna, first one, than the other side, to hopefully let the bones heal in a position where the pressure on the joint surfaces is better balanced out. The outcome of these surgeries is questionable, because there´s hardly any bone incongruency between the radius and ulna. It would mean up to 6 months rest and not playing, with one absolute certainty... that the arthrosis will progress.

So, at this stage, we´re more at ease with letting her recover from this surgery over the next 6 weeks. After that she can play and come with us, as long as she wants to, is not in too much pain and looks like she´s enjoying life... She´ll get all the medicine and food supplements to help her with that.

For now, she has to rest in her recovery pen and enjoy the sunshine during short outside times.

For anyone who wants to contribute with late birthday gifts, last day today... ;-)