Bear and his chroninc limping

winnie · Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 1:31 pm Post subject: Bear and his chroninc limping

Bear is my 9 month old golden/lab mix. He has had limping problems for the last 4 months. He will limp for a week or so and then he will be fine, then will start limping agian. He has been to the vets numerous times, we have taken a lot of differnt x rays and found nothing.

I dont know what it causing him to limp and neither do the vets, the weirdest thing is that its on and off limping, so maybe he tweeks it when playing?

I just feel so bad cause i cant take him on walks.

The leg he is limping on is not sensitive to touch, not swollen or anything. Its so weird, any ideas on what it could be?

I also want to add that Bear is a big boy, could that have anything to do with it? I stopped feeding him ppuppy food around 4-5 months old, he has been getting Canidae ever since. I had heard large breed puppys can get some sort of growth problems if on puppy food too long. I switched him to Canidae hoping to avoid any growth problems. Could it be growing pains?lol

Help im lost, dont know what to do for Bear.

hermann muenster · Member Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Posts: 304

Sounds like panno to me! I ran into this with with one of our dogs once.

She was a weekend warrior --- run, play, run, play,.....
and then on Tuesday I was in the vet worried about the limping. This happened several times. When we finally figured out what was going on - it was very easy to avoid - no weekend warrior!

The next large breed we got - we really took it easy on him for the first 9 months. Short walks, easy playing. No frisbee, no chasing, no wild running! We never had a problem with lameness and he grew to be a big strong boy!

Ask your vet about panno!

honeybears · Super Senior Member Plus Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 3627

Hermman, what is Pann? Wylie does the same thing, but she is 9. They think its arhtritis, even though the xrays dont show a signifacant deteriation. She will barely walk one day and the next she is running around like crazy. Its her wrist, when yo pressure test she show no pain whatsoeverThey said oh she soucl have a joint infection and wanted to do a biopsy but I I would wait and see.

honeybears · Super Senior Member Plus Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 3627

Hermman, what is Pann? Wylie does the same thing, but she is 9. They think its arhtritis, even though the xrays dont show a signifacant deteriation. She will barely walk one day and the next she is running around like crazy. Its her wrist, when yo pressure test she show no pain whatsoeverThey said oh she soucl have a joint infection and wanted to do a biopsy but I I would wait and see.

Shineillusion · Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:03 am Post subject:

Pano, or panosteitis, is a condition that effects the long bones of the legs, and causes bone pain. It can be difficult to diagnose because radiographs don't always show any significant changes in the bone density, although the bones often appear more dense than normal.

It typically occurs in large breeds, especially German Shepherds. It usually occurs between the ages of 5 and 12 months, and lameness lasts for a few days to a week. The lameness can be cyclic, and shift from location to another. It's a benign condition that disappears spontaneously, usually by 18 months of age, although in some cases it can last longer. Treatment includes rest and pain medication.

hermann muenster · Member Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Posts: 304

Pano (sorry for the misspelling earlier!) is sort of like growing pains that teenage (especially boys) can have. I know that it is very hard to detect with x-ray. I know, I had a whopping x-ray bill to pay! But I think they like the x-rays to be sure to rule out other conditions.
The best medicine for pano? Rest.

Shine gave a good definition.

hermann muenster · Member Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Posts: 304

Honeybear - what kind of dog is wylie?
At 9 -- it could be an infection or arthritis. Could she have a slight fracture? One that get stressed afer exercising?

I am not a vet (or pretend to be one Very Happy

) but I don't think pano is a problem after the dog is fully grown.

Let me know what your vet says.

honeybears · Super Senior Member Plus Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 3627

Hermann, Wylie had xrays which showed some arthritis. no fractures I have had her on megadoses glucosomine for almost 2 months and I think its really starting to help because she suddenly got so much better these past 2 weeks. I took her to the lake and she swam and swam and I was expecting her to barely walk when we got home and she has been fine.

She is on antibiotics now because she ripped her dewclaw off last week Crying or Very sad

hermann muenster · Member Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Posts: 304

I am a believer in glucosamine too! I think that it gave us a few more years with our very old and arthritic golden.

I buy the commercial kibbles for senior large breeds and they have it already in the chow. I don't have to worry about buying tablets from a health food store or drug store. (That stuff is pretty expensive too!)

And, our golden had been on a thyroid medication for several years and he became an expert at spitting out pills! So, with the glucosamine already in the chow, there was no stress.

One thing about glucosamine --- it takes several weeks to start seeing the effects. (you may be seeing them now!) And, from what I have read, if you discontinue using it, you loose the effects.