Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Al Dogs New Pup Diagnosed with HOD

So it's Sunday morning and I open the back door for Charlie to go out. He jumps down a step then stumbles onto his stomach and yelps. He sits up and holds his right front paw up and shakes it and cries. My wife is behind me and yells "OMG whats wrong!" I tell he I think he broke his leg. We watch him for an hour and it doesn't seem to be getting better so I take him to the 24 hour vet in town.

After waiting 2 hours for some X-rays the vet on call tells me that Charlie has a bone disease called Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy. She puts him on NSAIDs and tells me to change his food from puppy food to adult food to slow his growth. I see the X-rays and I see a black line across the joints. Researching with Google and I see that is the typical characteristic of HOD on X-rays.

Anyway, I pay them $562 and take him home. My wife and I are in tears over this and really down. We're sitting on the sofa that evening watching our TV with Charlie lying down between us and I start rubbing that right front paw. Lo and behold I get stuck ... by a bristle from a wire brush that is stuck between his toes!

Granted my wife and I should have known to check his paws for thorns and such but shouldn't the vet have found this?

I don't know, maybe he does have HOD and this event gave us an early heads up about it ...

Taking the X-rays for a second opinion on Tuesday

North Alabama Emergency Clinic I assume? Who was the vet on call?

It was Animal Emergency Clinic of N Alabama
Dawn Tucker, DVM

The place right next to The Rock on N Parkway just south of Governors dr

seems like that should of showed up on the Xray....

Dr. Tucker is a very knowledgeable vet and knows her stuff. Hopefully it is just from the grill brush wire though.

Thats good to know, thanks

Hope he gets better soon. $562.00 Dayum

I had a pup die of parvo at the vet and my bill was over $600. The vet knocked off a $40 cremation fee because I went and picked the pup up. It ended up costing me $576.

Second opinion : "you could potentially make a case for a mild case of HOD but ... A wire bristle would make him act the same way"

Always get a second opinion from any kind of doctor. That's good news though, hope it works out to be the case.

Is that something like hip dysplasia that would be guaranteed by the breeder?

No health guarantee will cover that

No HOD isn't covered, it hasn't been proven to be genetically passed

I would suggest taking him to gurley animal hospital near Backwater outdoors for any other issues he may have. Dr. Magee is a great guy and I believe an avid duck hunter. We took our yellow lab that had epilepsy there regularly and they always treated us right.

Good deal, I was hoping it was just the wire bristle. The emergency clinics see so many strange things that they jump to worst case scenario, when a lot of times it can be very simple. I would still probably keep him on adult food or a mix of puppy food just to slow down bone growth.

His front paw is doing well but now he's limping off his rear leg. I don't know what is causing it or if its related. I took him to Hampton Cove AC this AM and picked him up at lunch. The vet can't find anything so we're gonna have to do more x-rays. We're going to have him fixed and that requires that they anesthetize him so we're gonna have it done next week. While he's under they can take the x-rays with him immobilized.

Ok here's a question for you experienced dog trainers. Am I working him too hard? Typically I walk him 20-30 mins in the AM and in the PM I work him retrieving on land or in water for 30-60 mins. He is 21 weeks old

I would back off the training for now. Walking should be fine, but cut the serious working in half for right now.