12 month old with weakness/pain? - Page 1

I am searching for suggestions about my dog. Here is the background: 12 month old female Tiekerhook dog. I had her prelim'd 5 at months of age because she looked atrophied in the hind legs and was mildly favoring her left leg. She came back OFA good. the vet could not find anything wrong, and said it was probably pano. 2 months later she was no better so I took her to an orthopedic specialist to have her knees looked at. He x-rayed her knees and measured the angles. He said he could find no problem with her knees and the angles were ideal but he agreed that she had atrophy in her left leg more than her right. He said there was no evidence of pano. She is now 12 months old. Her muscle tone in the rear legs is poor, but the rest of her body is strong and powerful. She always prefers to sit slouched to the side, and uses much more power in her front end when getting up. She also is now slightly favoring her right leg. Never has she shown any discomfort with with having her legs manipulated. I'm sorry for the very long post, but I am at a loss of what could be wrong. Please offer me any suggestions to explore. Candy

I would love to see a picture of this dog in a stacked or semi stacked position to get an appreciation for what you described as, "muscle tone poor". Any chance of you posting a current picture on the database, or is one already posted? Thanks. Stephen

Candy, I don't want to sound like an alarmist, but I am very sure that your veterinarian examined the spine by x-ray, and he could have seen some of it in the O.F.A. x-rays. Since this female is still very young, I really doubt that it is DM. It could still be Pano, as it can come and go a couple of times. It's just that females tend to have a lower frequency of Pano than do males. A slouchy sitting position (puppy sit) usually means nothing other than it does not look good. Maybe Pano has caused her to develop some bad posture and movement habits? A longshot, I know. Does she trot, run, and jump well? Bob-O

SORRY, BUT PANO IS IN THE FRONT LEGS ! AND THIS MAINLY OCCURS IN LARGE MALES FROM GROWING QUICKLY. DOES YOUR VET THAT TOOK THE HIP X-RAYS NORMALY DO HIP X RAYS ?? DID YOU SEND THE X RAYS TO OFA ?? COULD HE HAVE A FRACTURE INL HIS LEG ? HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON ?

someone mentioned about the spine; i would double check on it; spinal stenosis might be an issue to consider, k.

LOVETHYSHEPHERD, Pano can occur anywhere in the body that there is a bone and I have had dogs that have had it in the rear..have even seen it in ribs and shoulders and the back!! Have also seen it in Shelties!! And have had females with it as well... I would recommend a chiropracter/sports vet..it could be s simple adjustment and some rehab training!! It could be more also but I like to think positive!! Good luck

Thankyou very much for the responses. I will be sure to have her spine carefully looked at. I have an appointment with a radiologist in about 3 weeks. I wanted to come to the appointment with any and all information and possibilities that I could. To "BOB-O" I had thought about DM, but I don't know much about it so I will read up on it before I go. To "LOVE THY SHEPHERD": I first noticed atrophy at about 4 1/2 months and slight favoring of one leg, but not distinct lameness. She prelim'd "good" with OFA at almost 6 months of age. X-Rays confirmed no pano, but I was told that pano is usually in the front but can also occur in the rear. To "MAKGAS" I will read up on spinal stenosis. Thanks for the responses. Candy

Possibly something like a ruptured disc in spine. My old GSD had something similar she started to favour one of her back legs more then a few months later woke up paralysed on the back end, can't remeber the exact terminology, but the bone particles from the ruptured disc hinder the flow of blood through the spine affecting the nerves. The eminent Dr Clayton Jones saw my bitch & recommended Vit B Complex & L-Carnitine. I combined this with high doses of Vit C (increasing dose very gradually to prevent bowel intolerance) & also did Tellington Touch every night which was really beneficial & rotated & stretched the legs & paws as well. She made a very slow improvement but it worked. I would opt for an MRI scan myself. Good luck

I did not want to bring up spinal fractures or ruptures, LilyDexter, but since you did I will. I have had one (1) incident of a puppy with a compressive fracture of the spine that was difficult to find. The puppy injured himself while running, and was suddenly paralyzed from the "waist" down. I noticed a few days earlier that the puppy seemed to be favouring a rear leg, but did not place much stock in it, as at his age they are very clumsy. I did examine his pads and joints by feel, but found nothing. When he suddenly ran, tumbled, and began to cry, I noticed something was terribly wrong. In the end, I had him euthanized as the prognosis was very poor. It was a very sad day for the beautiful son of a VA-1 dog. Bob-O

I have no idea what is the problem with your dog. However, I found acupuncture to be a remarkable help with various types of lameness. I also combined with chiropractic on one dog. If you can't get a diagnosis or even if you do , I would gather up all Xrays and head for an acupunturist. You can look on the web under holoistic veternarians and usually find one near you that does animal acupuntture. Please post whatever diagnosis you finally decide on as this one seems to be very rare. Judy