Meet Izzy the 7 month old Golden Retriever.
Izzy has been diagnosed with Bilateral Humeral Condylar Osteochondrosis, otherwise known as Elbow Dysplasia. This basically means that the cartilage in the elbow joints fails to develop normally and so becomes thickened and damaged.
The condition can lead to chronic arthritis in the joint even in puppies. In Izzy's case, she is only 7 months old.
Elbow Dysplasia is thought to be caused by genetics in 45-77% of cases, particularly in Labradors and Golden Retrievers.
Izzy has undergone Arthroscopy to examine the joints and remove fragments. This is a minimally invasive procedure into the joint through a small skin incision.The image shows up on a screen (as seen in the pictures) to allow the vet to see in detail what they need to do.
We will also harvest some of Izzy's stem cells (seen in the jar in the pictures) so that she can have Stem Cell injections into the joint to encourage the body to repair the damage caused by the condition.