Lameness in young GSD...panosteitis?

[MissCapitalSplash]

My lovely 8 month old GSD, HarleyQuinn, has been on and off lame for the past 3 weeks.
Harley is the best barn dog, and my best pal.
I first noticed it on July 1st when I was walking him. He was slightly off on his left front. No one else saw it, but the next day he was visibly lame on it. No pain to palpation, full rotation/range of motion of all the joints, nothing in his footpads etc.
Called the vet, she said it was likely Pano/growing pains and to wait it out and give him rimadyl on the bad days.
It seemed to resolve for a few days and then came back. It is most noticeable at the walk and to me it looks like his shoulder.

Because of his age and breed, everyone is telling me it is pano and not to worry. But I've read that pano is a shifting leg lameness and the dogs seem painful. He does not appear to be in any pain and still tries to run and jump and be a wild pup. I've been keeping him on cage rest with handwalking (hehe).

Last night he was being naughty and put his front paws on the counter. I told him off and he jumped down and then was very lame for a few minutes.

He's my first GSD and I have no experience with Pano. Does this sound like it to those of you that know of it?
I am calling the vet at 830 when they open, but I just want some opinions. I'm trying to think of it as...if he WASN'T an 8 month old GSD...what would we think this was?

The only thing I can think of is that the morning before the initial onset, we were sitting in the living room and all of a sudden he had a "mad dog" moment and went tail tucked running like nuts all over the house, slipping and sliding on the hardwood floor. I'm paranoid about this because of ACL tears, but is it possible he could have hurt something up front?

Thanks for any advice!

[BarbB]

Pano is pretty common in GSD, especially the larger fast growing males.
(Horses and people also get pano)
One simple, non scientific test for pano is to take the dog's foreleg in your hand, spread your hand wide to create equal pressure over as wide an area as possible and gently squeeze. A pain reaction supports the theory of pano. If you can feel excess heat in the leg, ditto. Unfortunately the structure of the hind leg does not allow for this simple test.
Dogs with pano will frequently hold the leg off the ground and will lay with the offending leg not supporting weight. The foot, joints and shoulder will not be sensitive to touch, but the long bones will be. It used to be called 'long bone disease.'
I raised GSD for 35 years and with any male, 6 to about 15 or even 18 months, with off and on lameness, especially changing legs occasionally, I assumed pano. After, of course, examining the dog for any other causes. My females tended to be smaller and rarely suffered from this.

They can be really miserable with this, but it does not cause any long term affects.
I found that when I stopped feeding any "puppy" type foods I had less problem with this. Not 'none', just less. Puppy foods are fomulated to produce fast growth (bigger is better, ya know) when actually the last thing you want in a large breed is fast growth. Given sufficient nutrition they will grow into what their genes dictate, faster is not better. Keeping him slim will help. Difficult with a GSD that age because they can go from fat to skinny and back to fat in a blink, but worth thinking about.
There is considerable research on this subject available on the net.

[MrWinston]

If this post causes you to worry more but I think it's important that you address this ASAP. In the long run it could make a huge difference for your dog and also for you. It is actually pretty common for GSDs to have elbow issues, just as HD is a common issue. I hope that it is just pano but if he was my dog I would want to have his elbows xrayed. A friend of mine had a young GSD that presented with symptoms like those you describe and ended up with surgery, long recovery and sound. The ortho vets believed that without the surgery he would have ended up lame for life. They also felt that waiting decreased the liklihood of a good prognosis.

I hope it's just pano, xrays would eliminate the elbow worry. Good luck, please keep us posted.

[BarbB]

The moral of the story for elbow dysplasia is to buy from a breeder who has genetic testing and certifications done...for a wide variety of heritable problems.
Unlike hip dysplasia, which is multi-gene problem, influenced by environment and causes a wide range of symptoms and many levels of pain and/or lameness, elbow dysplasia (not really the same condition) is relatively easy to eliminate by selective breeding practices.

But, yes, checking all possible causes for lameness is the wise course.

[Loves to ride]

Some of the tick-caused diseases can also cause similar symptoms, Lyme and anaplasmosis. My 8 month old golden retriever had similar symptoms, as well as slight lethargy , heavier breathing, and a temp (which seemed fine at home, 102+ at vet and finally hit 103.8). They tested, he was positive for anaplasmosis so now he's on doxy.

I agree with getting him to the vet....

Good luck!

[JSwan]

My GSD mutt displayed similar symptoms at around 6 months old - vet recommended Rimadyl for a while and said it would probably pass, but to monitor him.

It passed.

[MissCapitalSplash]

Elbows were my concern too. But both parents tested OFA excellent for elbows and hips.
He's from good stock but you never know I guess.
Have not done the 4dx but will definitely be having it done...this doesn't strike me as lyme/anaplasmosis/rmsf but you never know. We've pulled a lot of ticks off of him even with advantix, frontline spray, and preventic collar. In general this boy is a laid back dog. He has bouts and spurts of energy but they are short lived. That's just him.
I just spoke with the vet and I'm bringing him in tomorrow at 3 for an eval and some elbow xrays.
I'm worried. I have such horrid luck. Knowing my luck he will have some rare disease that only 3 dogs have ever had. But hopefully it's just pano. No fun for him, but no long term affects.
He was to be my agility star...showing great promise. We shall see. :(

[FatPalomino]

Save yourself some money and have them run the tick test first.

Just had my 1 yr old, pride of our life, bottle fed, my husband and I treat like our child, GSD x worked up.

After $500 of clean x rays on everything in both front limbs, they found a tick on her.

We rarely have tick borne diseases here.

I was very skeptic, but, she was on/off lame for about 2.5 months (never able to isolate one area). After 2 days of Doxy she was sound, and has been for 2 months now!

Good luck!

[SkipHiLad4me]

I went through a similar experience with my Lab mix when he was a puppy. I found him when he was about 7 months old. After several months, he started showing signs of lameness on his right front and it would come and go based on his activities. I took him to our regular vet to have the issue checked out. Vet thought it could be growing pains, gave me rimadyl, and told me to just wait it out. Well several months later it had not gone away and had in fact gotten worse - to the point where my normally wild, playful pup would shy away from rough-housing with our other dogs because of his discomfort. I couldn't even take him on walks without him hurting too badly to go on. So after speaking with my vet again, I got a referral to an ortho specialist. It turned out to be OCD in his shoulder and it was iffy as to whether the vet could help him at that point. That condition can apparently pass a point of no return if not addressed early enough and he was 14months old at that time. Fortunately for us, the surgery was a success and he's good as new now.

So my advice would be to ask for a referral to a ortho vet just to rule out any additional problems or to give you the opportunity to address any problems before they get too severe. Good luck!

[MrWinston]

The moral of the story for elbow dysplasia is to buy from a breeder who has genetic testing and certifications done...for a wide variety of heritable problems.
Unlike hip dysplasia, which is multi-gene problem, influenced by environment and causes a wide range of symptoms and many levels of pain and/or lameness, elbow dysplasia (not really the same condition) is relatively easy to eliminate by selective breeding practices.

But, yes, checking all possible causes for lameness is the wise course.

Ironically, the dog I mentioned with elbow joint deformity had parents who were both OFAed for hips and elbows. He had elbow surgery and took about 6 months to come sound. He is fine now and has no problems with exercise.

[Loves to ride]

MissCapitalSplash,

Any updates on your pup?

[MissCapitalSplash]

The vet managed to squeeze him in at 4 pm yesterday. She's about 99% sure it's pano. Found a tender spot on the long bone of his L front. He screamed each time she pushed there, but no where else. Stress to elbow etc produced no response.
Unfortunately he panicked about the xrays as they were trying to hold him down forcefully. Had they told him to lay down and stay they would have been fine, but he got scared when they were restraining him. And he couldn't be sedated as he had just eaten. So we have an appt for early next week for a sedated xray of that spot to verify pano.
I feel sooo much better now! :)

[MrWinston]

The vet is probably right, they see lots of pano. Glad to hear this. Thanks for the update.

[MistyBlue]

Good news MCS.
Too bad he got scared at the vets for xrays though...GSD pups aren't always the bravest of things. ;) My boy was two before he stopped peeing on vets and vet techs. It was his best idea of a defense. :lol:
Pano is really common in GSDs and a few other large breeds. Oddly though some other large breeds don't seem as susceptible. Chase had some mild pano growing up. His was alternating lameness over periods of time. Off on one leg for a while, then fine. A few weeks later off on the other front leg. His wasn't really bad thank goodness. Only a little cringe if the long bones were squeezed.
At one point later on he was non-weight bearing on one front leg for a while. But absolutely no signs of pain. Finally did an entire set of xrays...spine, elbows, hips, full legs. Figured since he was being xrayed might as well go whole hog. Turned out to be a pinched nerve in his back from a sliding fall he took into a wall corner chasing the evil housecat. Vet told me (used Chip for this, can't beat him around here for these types of issues) it wasn't unusual for GSDs with the sloped build to pinch a nerve in their back once in a while. Oddly enough what fixed it right up was acupuncture. So keep an eye out for that too, just in case. (Chase is my first GSD too) And 'floppy feet' through the growing puppy stages...vet said some get "floppy feet" for a short time...where their front paws tend to flop over as they trot around. Chip said they grow out of it again. Chase never had that though.
At least the full set of xrays were done when Chase was fully mature and then sent and read by a specialist who was able to give him his own OFA excellent on all joints and spine. :D Just like both his parents...it was happy news because you can't help but worry with certain breeds or large dogs. Specialist said she would have never guessed a GSD from his pictures because he had some of the tightest joints and nicest spine she'd ever seen. Phew!
Is HQ slopey-bred too? Any updated photos? LOVE seeing them grow up. :yes: Have to say my Chase is just aboout the sweetest smartest and easiest-going dog I've had in ages. I'd put him on the level of my past Standard Poodles in temperament and trainability and that's saying a lot.

ETA...ask the vet for a Lyme titer too next time. Even without current signs...this way you can get a baseline for his exposure numbers and this year isn't a good one for avoiding Lyme. Last year was worse but this year still has a higher than average exposure and case rate.

[Brookes]

I had my 8 month old Gordon bitch diagnosed with pano. It was my fault. Totally.

I was feeding up a show pup with way too much protein. A very common cause of pano in larger dogs that are growing quickly. I felt like such a bad mom. I know better!

My vet had me change her diet to a senior feed that had a very low protein content. Her treats were limited to apples and low protein dog treats. She was on Duramax for a couple of weeks with limited exercise. Very very limited exercise.l

The pano cleared up quickly with no lasting damage.

Pano is so common in big pups, unfortunately it can cause lasting damage if not caught and diagnosed quickly.

Check the protein content of your food, if it is over 16% I would lower the protein amount with another food type. Also treats, go to veggies and fruit for the pup.

We never feed puppy food after 6 months of age due to high protein content that can cause pano. But I screwed up and put her onto an adult feed with a super high protein content. Bam, Pano.

Good luck with you pup. Now that you know what the problem is you can treat accordingly. I however do not like Rimydyl (sp). Duramax seems easier on their major organs, liver and kidneys (vet told me that) I haven't read the scientific reports on this.