Growing too fast? - Page 1

My male GSD is 4 months old. He has grown very fast in the short time I've owned him. My Vet has him on Cosequin DS 1 twice daily and more recently Rimadyl because he has started to limp on his front legs and sometimes seems stiff in his rear. He is lean and not heavy only heavy boned. He is eating Royal Canin Maxi large breed puppy. He is active, happily running, jumping & playing. Is there anything I should or shouldn't be doing? What is the earliest age an Xray can determine a problem?

Well I am no expert on Pano but maybe you should change foods to something with less protein. Not sure what the content in the RC your feeding is, but switching foods might help. I also do not like to think of a 4 month old pup (or any dog) taking Rimadyl. I have read alot of adverse reactions happening caused from it and he is so young.... Good luck, its no fun when your buddy hurts!

I wouldn't let him jump or run too much right now, especially if he's limping.  You should abstain from too much heavy activity while he's going thru his growth spurts.

I had the same problem with my puppy when he was on RC Maxi large breed puppy. I changed his food to RC German Shepherd 24. I switched quite late to the adult food but my male is improving slowly. He used to limp a lot and after x rays we found out he had Pano and he is now 16months. He is much better but u should switch the food. Read some of the posts here about proper nutrition for puppies, it really helped me. I also started my puppy on glucosamine and chondrontin when he was about 5 months. hope this helps

Rimadyl for a young puppy? That might not  the greatest idea. It is a very potent drug. Rather than making this pup too comfortable with the use of Rimadyl, I think I'd tend to just give him somehting like a buffered asprin as needed to take the edge off. If he's too painfree he will be too active and might cause some permanent damge to those joints. I would not be enocouraging his to run and jump either. Cage rest is usually indicated for pano.

Hi had a 5 month old pup with a limp and a lump on his elbow the size of an egg. I took him to a specialist who said it was E.D.. He said he needed an operation because it would never improve on it's own. Even with the operation he would have problems in his old age. The operation was $2000.00. He would cut one of the two leg bones to make it shorter so more weight would be placed on the other leg bone. I decided to wait and watch. He's two now and no sign at all there was ever a problem.

If you are looking for a great over the counter aspirin...try Ascriptin.  Its aspirin buffered with Maalox.  You can purchase it a a local drug store.  Thats what my vet recommended.  Good luck

It is ussually common in gsd puppies growing too fast and presenting that limp. It happens also to people at young age between 14-17 yaers old. There is a belief that high protein level cause this however, there is contraversial data on the subject. Other think it is ecxess carbonhydrate that causes this.

The limp does not exhibbit signs of pain that show up easily. Glucosamine & chondroitin generally help the lubrication of the joints and work also anti-inflammatory however this is something else. The above mentioned supplements tend to reduce the irritation from the limp and thus could lead to worse problems, in my opinion.

So, for the time being I would suggest: switching to an adult food and supplementing calcium (but not a lot just enough to make up for the generally lower calcium in the adult food compared with the puppy food), no glucosamine or chondoitin but some other supplement such as Biogesan or GAG Forte.

This, from my experiences...

Good luck

I second the suggestion of Ascriptin. That's the only aspirin I'd ever give to a dog. It's pricy compared to the unbuffered version, but well worth the additional cost.

Many times you can elicit pain from a dog with pano by grasping the long bone of the bad leg in both hands and sort of bending it very gently. It normally doesn't take much pressure for the dog to tell you it's uncomfortable.

Petros...you feel glucosamine & chondroitin supplements could worsen the probelm? Or did you mean the Rimadyl masking the pain making it worse? 

I will discontinue the Rimadyl and pick up some Ascriptin. I do not care about cost. I care about my puppy. Should he have the Ascriptin once or twice a day?  

I'd also love to give him beding in his crate but he distroys everything I give him. He prefers to lay on the metal tray. I've heard Pano can last from 2 weeks to 8 months. Any thoughts on this?