Another Pano Question!! Sorry - Page 1

Hi hope you can help me a little,

I have a lovely GSD Bitch who is 12 Months now. She first started to limp on her front left leg at around 6 months of age. We took her to the vets after it hadnt cleared up 10 days later the vet confirmed Pano, only by feeling and pulling and prodding!!!

We got to 7 months and the limp hadnt changed any or gotten any better, it was still the same (front left) so we took her back the vets - after another go at pucshing pulling and prodding, second vet said Pano again, supplement with calcium and glucosamine and she will be fine in a few months.

We are now at 11 and half months and she is still limping on her front left leg. she is also in season, i think i read somewhere that during a females first heat pano is made worse. (correct me if i am wrong on taht one) She is booked  in for her hips and elbows to be done at beginning of December when she wil be 14 months old i am also going to get them to check for pano in that front left too,. as its never been confirmed by xray or even had one offered to us!

She is on a food that has a protein content of 25% and has been crate rested for 4 weeks now with minimal leash excercise, which has not made any difference.

Any advice on what we can try between now and december woudl be greatfully apprieciated.

Thank you

Wondering where you are because the first thing I had checked on my boy was 5way lyme if you are in northeast US

also pano comes and goes max seems to be two weeks??? Ok correct me if Im wrong

and yes heat cycles can bring it on in females

Yes Walkies that's what I have read too, and my male has been pretty consistently around 2 weeks then it seems to resolve. As I mentioned before he has had it 4X since he was about 6 month now he's 13 months and just got over the last bout. Hopefully his last. I would look for another opinion.There is a terrific article on Pano I'll try to use all my skills and post it here if I can.

Also just to add,

Her leg is warm at the top end of her bone near to elbow - but there is no swelling or tenderness of the elbow, however the bone does curve out and back in slightly, as you feel down the bone from the elbow.

oh and one last thing that may be relevant is that she is a big girl standing at 62ish cm - and she grew from normal size 4 month old to big girl in less than 2 months

From what you have described I would be leaning more towards Ebow Dysplasia instead of Pano. Paon comes and goes, usually skipps around from leg to leg,  would show up on xrays and they usually have a fever with Pano. I would take her to your vet now and rule out ED. Why wait until she is 14 months?  I would also take her off the calicum supplement and lower her protein level to 22% or less. If it is Pano you want to slow the growth rate. JMO

I had the same problem with a male.  Symptoms began at 4-1/2 months of age.  We had 3 different sets of x-rays, 2 different vets, all said pano but symptoms were only in the right forelimb.  At 7 months we saw an orthopedic specialist who performed MRI.  Results were the right shoulder was torn in two places, with type 1 elbow dysplasia.  The shoulder muscles probably tore due to the weakness in the elbow.  Only alternative now was repair the dysplasia by removing the bone chip that was floating, sever the biceps muscle completely without reattachment, and allow the supraspinatous muscle to heal.  Since torn biceps muscles in dogs are not repairable with any degree of consistency , my once VP4 male now has a permanent limp of the right forelimb.  Also, at 12 months was diagnosed with mild hip dysplasia as well.  Bad luck all around for me.  And yes, without mentioning any names, he is from VA/Sieger lines with "A" hips  and normal elbows.  No bad breeding here, just bad luck. 

So, take your dog in to an imaging center for MRI.  It is expensive.  My total vet bills for that male, inclusive of visits from 4-1/2 months of age and surgery on the shoulder, was close to $7000.  What are you gonna do?  The problem had to be fixed.  Everyone is quick to jump to a presumption of Pano, however, as someone else posted, if the symptoms do not move from limb to limb, you need to quickly start looking for other causes. 

Most dogs outgrown the Pano but it can be an off and on problem until 18 months.

The heat you described in also in the"long bone" -most apt to be still a pano problem,

I would suggest you drop the protein in the diet to a 21-22 %, feed a joint supplement such as Nutro, restrict from forced exercise and rough play with other dogs and give it time.

No Bute.  I f you have to medicate, use a buffered Aspirin on really bad days,

Stop the calcium   bad decision to give any gsd calcium unless she is pregnant....only natural calcium  from cottage cheese , bones and yogurt....

I would think you may  have an elbow problem     Pano corrects with a five day of buffered aspirin......and crate rest for 10 days at least.....it comes back   and goes...but it usually changes to the other leg or other limb....not just stay in one...thats the secret here....Id go get an xray from  vet known in your area for doing gsds   not the vet youve been pulling and prodding with...

Id pull one of his darn legs and tell him thats now how you diagnose after the second visit and all he does it pull and prodd...I hope you didnt pay for the second visit....

Ask the Schutzhund people in your area who they use for xrays.......

my boy has dealt with pano on and off since he was roughly 4 months. he is now 17 months. sadly, he also has mild hd and had surgery at 11 months for a bone fragment in his left elbow. his latest bout w/pano was about a month ago and we had another set of xrays taken by the surgical specialist  at that time - luckily, it was just pano. however, the surgeon said the pano shouldn't last more than a couple to 3 weeks. if longer, have xrays or c scan or something else done - it may be something else. i wish i'd known when my pup was very young about the protein thing (altho we thought we were ok w/food we were feeding); next time around i'm feeding mostly raw - it seems the ones who feed that have the least probs. get your pup in for more (xrays, catscan,mri or whatever) tests and good luck...k  o, and just use the buffered aspirin, no rimadyl.