My boy isnt walking (X-rays inside) - Page 1

My boy never was really energetic for a puppy (does not run or jump in any matter I always thought there was a problem) and then one day he just woke up in pain and limping on his back hind leg. Well I figured I would give it a day and it didn't get better, so I took him in for x-rays. Here are the results, if you could give your opinions I would greatly appreciate it, the vet seems to think that maybe mild HD at most but is more concerned with his elbows.

I don't know how to read elbow x-rays, but his right hind hip is partially out of the socket.

Is that the leg he is lame on?

Sunsilver, yes his right side is the lame side. My biggest concern is the muscle atrophy that is going on in his hind quarters. His elbows are working properly now but if he becomes exclusively reliant upon his front limbs I am worried about the added stress that he is putting on his elbows. He is a big boy also, weighed in at 87 lbs at 7 months not due to overfeeding just genetics

I've seen some big ones but 87 pounds indicates poor condition, super rapid growth, or a bad diet with too many carbohydrates. He probably has a world class case of Pano or an injury to the hip or both .. Feed a natural meat and fat diet .. if you have been feeding this puppy kibble stop that and feed meat, fat, and fresh foods .. nothing from a bag. Some dogs do better on a high carbohydrate diet than others .. with high carbohydrate kibble based diet you can and often do get uneven and mis-shapen puppies due to strange growth spurts. The hips are not malformed however so I would expect he will be OK if you can get him into better physical condition with better diet and exercise. An underwater treadmill or swimming would be a good exercise for this puppy.

Bubba, I feed him diamond naturals as recommended by the breeder and no more than the recommended amount each day and most days now he won't even eat. Anyways, you suggest going with a raw diet could you provide me some links and since my boy is rather large how would you go about determining the proper amount I should feed him or at least give me a starting point.

Nick3981 ... I would feed 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of raw chicken, beef, or pork per day. I feed raw chicken leg quarters primarily, also some pork ribs or pork roast, and beef ribs ( for clean teeth ). Every week I feed each dog 1/2 pound of raw or lightly cooked beef or chicken livers as an appetizer and I reduce their other food to compensate on those days. I have fed Diamond Naturals Beef and it is a good medium quality filler dog food .. the analysis on dog food labels tell you nothing about the quality of the protein, fat, and carbohydrates contained in the bag. Cheerios have a terrific analysis as a food ( with milk ) but I would not raise a child on Cheerios alone. I have fed puppies all that they care to eat of human grade meats with few problems other than Pano which they eventually outgrow if you leave them alone. There is also no reason not to supplement for water soluble vitamins as any excess is excreted in the urine. Fat soluble vitamins are however potentially toxic if over fed or over supplemented. Pano can last for 2 or three months and it can be severe .. It tends to be much worse in large males such as yours which have grown to a large size quickly .. but they do outgrow it. Your puppies hips do not look bad to me and although the hip on the right side was partially out of the socket I think that may be due to the dog being restrained and I suspect the puppy was held down for the x-rays without sedation which means he was struggling which likely caused the hip to be out of the socket when the x-ray was taken.

Bubba, thanks for the advice I'm headed to the butcher after work for some chicken to start with, I will keep you up dated. As for the x-rays he was sedated, the vet isn't really worried about his hips either and suggested that it might be minor pano, my boy is a big baby and cries about everything. I already supplement with human grade vitamins, since he wont eat.

Bubba, thanks for the advice I'm headed to the butcher after work for some chicken to start with, I will keep you up dated. As for the x-rays he was sedated, the vet isn't really worried about his hips either and suggested that it might be minor pano, my boy is a big baby and cries about everything. I already supplement with human grade vitamins, since he wont eat.

Nick, does he not want to eat because he is sick, or does he not want to eat because he simply doesn´t need more calories?
A healthy dog should always be hungry...

The hips don´t look good ( right side ) but they don´t look bad enough to make him feel that uncomfortable yet.

On the other hand there must be a reason for the muscle atrophy you mentioned - that´s not something developing all of a sudden, any atrophy needs some time. Something is wrong.

I doubt your statement "87 lbs at 7 months not due to overfeeding just genetics". Are you willing to share current pics? A lot of vets don´t know about the correct weight of working dog breeds. Not your fault, people just don´t know.

I´d check for pano, hip or back injury, even for lime desease.

Off topic right now, but did you get any results in case of his paperwork yet?

Forgot to mention: Although it´s still the best food, like Bubba mentioned, don´t change to 100% raw at once, your dog is not used to it.