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Renoto · 03-12-2013, 02:38 PM

Almost feels like my rush of posts is making up for months of absence...anyways;

My 13 mo. old GSD Xena has just Saturday evening (after our show) started limping. I checked her paws, pads, rubbed her muscles and moved the joints around and she didnt react to anything (besides licking my hands at her paws...which she does for every paw because she hates getting her nails done). The limp was hardly noticeable, and happened for a short time - my mom swore I was making it up - but came back on and off. It was not noticeable when trotting, and she puts weight on it, but every so often she would hover it barely off the ground before putting it back if she moved at all. Only a couple times did she sit with any difficulty (eased down before the sit).

That limp went away. Now today she is limping on her RIGHT hind leg instead, and a little more noticeable than the left. It honestly just started at 12 noon (I visit her at lunch to take her out, my step dad is home with her every day but he sometimes doesnt wake up til 12 - unemployed - so she'll be in the crate for 3-4 hours before that) I noticed her trotting funny, and then when she slowed down the limp became a bit more obvious. She still puts weight on it though, and has only hovered it once off the ground, but she is sitting fine and folding her legs normally. Did a check with the left leg and again no pain and no reaction.

From what I've read it seems like just Pano. She is in no obvious pain though. Though HD terrifies me I'm not sure that's the problem either. Her parents and grandparents are all OFA Fair - Excellent, and she doesnt bunny-hop, or even budge if I push on her croup. When I moved her legs around there was no looseness in the joints either. Right now she is also in the 2nd week of being in heat (full standing heat right now, a lot of swelling) and I read that sometimes Pano flares near the heat cycle.

We contacted our Vet to ask about it, and she didnt seem concerned. Since their closed tomorrow she ordered kennel-rest and a check-in on Thursday. I was also thinking of getting her another Snap 4 test done (we had one done once when she was little and bit by a tick despite being on Advantix). I havent seen any ticks on her or the cat or elsewhere though. Xena is also still on puppy food, and another article I read said that they should be switched over to adult food earlier than most dogs (as young as 4 months?). So I plan on exchanging the last of her canned puppy food for adult food later today.

Is there anything else I could check for? Opinions on what this might be? Thanks in advance for help and putting up with my VERY wordy posts.

03-12-2013, 02:38 PM	#1 (permalink)
Renoto Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 82	Limping opinions? Almost feels like my rush of posts is making up for months of absence...anyways; My 13 mo. old GSD Xena has just Saturday evening (after our show) started limping. I checked her paws, pads, rubbed her muscles and moved the joints around and she didnt react to anything (besides licking my hands at her paws...which she does for every paw because she hates getting her nails done). The limp was hardly noticeable, and happened for a short time - my mom swore I was making it up - but came back on and off. It was not noticeable when trotting, and she puts weight on it, but every so often she would hover it barely off the ground before putting it back if she moved at all. Only a couple times did she sit with any difficulty (eased down before the sit). That limp went away. Now today she is limping on her RIGHT hind leg instead, and a little more noticeable than the left. It honestly just started at 12 noon (I visit her at lunch to take her out, my step dad is home with her every day but he sometimes doesnt wake up til 12 - unemployed - so she'll be in the crate for 3-4 hours before that) I noticed her trotting funny, and then when she slowed down the limp became a bit more obvious. She still puts weight on it though, and has only hovered it once off the ground, but she is sitting fine and folding her legs normally. Did a check with the left leg and again no pain and no reaction. From what I've read it seems like just Pano. She is in no obvious pain though. Though HD terrifies me I'm not sure that's the problem either. Her parents and grandparents are all OFA Fair - Excellent, and she doesnt bunny-hop, or even budge if I push on her croup. When I moved her legs around there was no looseness in the joints either. Right now she is also in the 2nd week of being in heat (full standing heat right now, a lot of swelling) and I read that sometimes Pano flares near the heat cycle. We contacted our Vet to ask about it, and she didnt seem concerned. Since their closed tomorrow she ordered kennel-rest and a check-in on Thursday. I was also thinking of getting her another Snap 4 test done (we had one done once when she was little and bit by a tick despite being on Advantix). I havent seen any ticks on her or the cat or elsewhere though. Xena is also still on puppy food, and another article I read said that they should be switched over to adult food earlier than most dogs (as young as 4 months?). So I plan on exchanging the last of her canned puppy food for adult food later today. Is there anything else I could check for? Opinions on what this might be? Thanks in advance for help and putting up with my VERY wordy posts.