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I have a middle-aged overweight female lab with a chronic right front limb lameness . When she walks, she flips her front feet with a little varus rotation that appears to come from the carpus but the elbows could be contributory. The only discomfort that I consistently detected was in her flexor tendons above the accessory carpal bone on the affected (R) side. The owner , who likes to take things in baby steps, allowed me to take xrays of the forelimbs and I found osteophytes near the medial epicondyle of both humerus(i?) and a little bony reaction on the dorsum of the anconeus as well as hint of bony change on the accessory carpal bones. She is tight in traps, rhomboids, triceps, and possibly pectorals with a decreased PROM on shoulder /elbow extension. There could be some rear limb contribution although i only detected a slight decrease in left glutes.
So far I have emphasized weight loss as well as gentle stretching and strengthening exercises but I also wondered if her repetitive motions have given her a tendonitis and a brace of some kind might be in order. I have a laser but she has declined this for now.
I tried to send xrays and video but have been unsuccessful at this point. All criticisms and suggestions are welcome. Im a newbie to CCRT and am flying by the seat of my pants.

Hi Beverly,

So, I would be inclined to think about this the other way around. The gait pattern (flinging) is a compensation for the elbow. As well, the rear end stuff is either 'bonus' (there but not contributing to the front end lameness) or secondary to a gait compensation (but still there, and needing to be addressed, i.e. SIJ dysfunction). Oh, and the proximal stuff is compensation for the lameness.

I've had a few high energy athletic dogs with elbow issues who have compensated by altering their gait. A bit of a circumduction from the shoulder, excessive loading through the carpus, a whole limb (from the shoulder) internal rotation, making the carpi have to fling in order to accommodate.

So from that standpoint, I'd address the elbow(s). Talk her into laser (hopefully you can reason with her), joint supplements, chondroprotective injectables, do some manual therapy for the tightness in the proximal structures. Acupuncture or shockwave might help if you have access to these. This is also likely a case where the owner will need to reduce / modify the dog's activity level in order to let the joint recover a bit. And the weight loss as you have already recommended.

I hope this helps... and I hope the owner lets you help the dog too!!!

Best of luck,

Laurie

Thank you very much.I think I was overthinking the rads because I hadn't seen a radiographic appearance quite like that before. Your site is very helpful -thanks again.