I have a German shepherd who was diagnosed with bilateral elbow dysplasia at the age of 12 months. The evaluating vet (who is a surgeon himself) told me that I *really* want to speak with orthopedic specialist Dr. Russ Gurevitch, DVM about my dog's condition. How right he was. On our first visit, Dr. Gurevitch spent almost an entire hour with me explaining exactly what kind of condition my dog has and what treatment options are available. It was pretty amazing to see him sit down right on the floor next to my (large 100 pound) dog who was obviously uncomfortable with being at a vet's office. It was even more amazing to see that he managed to almost completely calm him down. I decided to have Dr. Gurevitch perform surgery on my dog (both elbow bones were cut and bone fragments were removed from his right elbow joint). Three months later, my dog is doing very well and his recovery went almost exactly as Dr. Gurevitch predicted.
I have spent countless hours online to research my dog's condition, potential treatment methods and who are the experts in this field. I am sure that turned me into a pretty complicated customer. Dr. Gurevitch always took the time to answer all my questions extensively and he even discussed the pro's and con's of experimental treatment options with me. I now know that he is one of only a very few orthopedic specialists in northern California with an incredible amount of hands-on surgery experience. The surgery price tag was not a consideration for me going into this with my dog. However, by discussing his treatment with other members of a local dog club, I learned that I actually paid less than half of what some of them paid for the same treatment at surgery clinics in the bay area. Wow. I hope I never have to put any of my dogs through surgery again, but if I need to, Dr. Gurevitch would be first choice. read more