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by Keef on 29 January 2009 - 16:01
My GSD male Viggo began to show signs of pano when he was about a year old. In fact other people noticed he would occasionally limp when he was about 6 mths. I never noticed these earlier symptoms as obviously when you walk your own dog you dont see them from the same perspective as people who may be behind you, your dog is (or should be ) at your side. At about a year he became to limp occasionally.......only for a day or two......and it would often be on different legs. He was taken to the vets and given a series of x-rays. The vet showed me these and pointed out the tell-tale blemishes on the bones.....hard to see for my untrained eyes......and told me that they were classic symptoms of pano. The vet had also taken precautionary x-rays of his hips and and assured me that they are generally very good and should we ever decide to get him hip scored he would get a very good score with the left hip and marginally less with the right.
We have had GSD's for over thirty years and our vet has known and treated all of them. She also owns two GSD's herself and we have grown to trust her judgement. She told us that he is absolutely fine, is a magnificent dog (always nice to hear) and that pano symptoms,dependent on the individual animal, can last up to two years but it will eventually stop.
The advice she gave us was give him gentle exercise for a few weeks, discourage any activity which would put strain on his legs,particularly the rear legs as pano often effects the femur. No going up stairs if possible......worst thing for him. Use a common sense approach really. She proscribed mild anti-inflammatory medication which contained a mild analgesic.
She told us that pano is extremely common, is not particularly serious but does need to be watched and managed.
She had no real views on supplements.......she has the old fashioned idea that there is no substitute for a good well balanced diet but had no problems if we decided to give him some. She said that they might work for some dogs and not for others dependent once again on the individual dog and the severity of the condition. She told us that there is no real independent medical evidence available in the UK regarding the efficacy of some of these supplements on which to base an informed opinion. Most research is done by the manufacturers who, after all, wish to promote their product. However, if other people have used supplements and have had good results then give them a try by all means. Just dont overdo them.
I hope this has been of some help to you. We had exactly the same worries and concerns as yourself particularly with regard to hip dysplasia. We lost our first GSD to hip problems. We finally had to have him put to sleep when it all got too much for dear old chap. Mind you he was 14 yrs old so he had a good innings. It's just a sad trait of the breed I'm afraid but then of course you obviously know that.
Good luck....don't worry too much.
Keef
We have had GSD's for over thirty years and our vet has known and treated all of them. She also owns two GSD's herself and we have grown to trust her judgement. She told us that he is absolutely fine, is a magnificent dog (always nice to hear) and that pano symptoms,dependent on the individual animal, can last up to two years but it will eventually stop.
The advice she gave us was give him gentle exercise for a few weeks, discourage any activity which would put strain on his legs,particularly the rear legs as pano often effects the femur. No going up stairs if possible......worst thing for him. Use a common sense approach really. She proscribed mild anti-inflammatory medication which contained a mild analgesic.
She told us that pano is extremely common, is not particularly serious but does need to be watched and managed.
She had no real views on supplements.......she has the old fashioned idea that there is no substitute for a good well balanced diet but had no problems if we decided to give him some. She said that they might work for some dogs and not for others dependent once again on the individual dog and the severity of the condition. She told us that there is no real independent medical evidence available in the UK regarding the efficacy of some of these supplements on which to base an informed opinion. Most research is done by the manufacturers who, after all, wish to promote their product. However, if other people have used supplements and have had good results then give them a try by all means. Just dont overdo them.
I hope this has been of some help to you. We had exactly the same worries and concerns as yourself particularly with regard to hip dysplasia. We lost our first GSD to hip problems. We finally had to have him put to sleep when it all got too much for dear old chap. Mind you he was 14 yrs old so he had a good innings. It's just a sad trait of the breed I'm afraid but then of course you obviously know that.
Good luck....don't worry too much.
Keef
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