To the vet we go...

[arycrest]

Sorry you and your pup have been thru a lot due to questionable vet practice, am glad you'll be using another practice for future issues other than vacinations. Hope Jax is feeling better soon!!!

[JakodaCD OA]

so sorry your pup is having issues. IF I wereyou, I'd be looking for a board certified surgeon and skip the vet. Take the xrays with you.

[middleofnowhere]

FYI you need to carefully wean a dog off pred. You do not just quit that drug cold turkey.

[Jax08]

Originally Posted by WannaBeK9

Well, he only got the Prednisone for three days, no improvement at all. He had an accident in the house, which is SO unlike him, that Mom looked up side effects, (what we should have done in the first place) and excessive thirst and urination was listed, along with a ton of others. We pulled him off the meds and took him back for an xray the day after Christmas.

Originally Posted by middleofnowhere

FYI you need to carefully wean a dog off pred. You do not just quit that drug cold turkey.

You are very, very lucky you don't have a serious problem on your hands. You need to wean off of prednisone or you run the risk of shutting down the adrenal glands...permanently.

Yes, excessive thirst and urination are an issue. We had to rip up our kitchen floor and redo it after Banshee was off it.

[WannaBeK9]

He will be getting a full ortho exam, and the new vet is a board certified surgeon. We did not give the prednesone (sorry I can't spell that correctly or consistently) and Rimadyl together. And as far as pulling him off of prednesone, he was given one pill for three days then a half pill then none, on the following two days. I did not know about the adrenal gland issue, and had I, I would have weaned more slowly.

[Mooch]

Let us know what the new Vet finds I hope it's something as "simple" as a chip in his elbow that can be fixed quite easily.
I't odd they took just shoulder x-ray but not elbow ones.
When my pup went in for front leg lameness my vet went to town on x-rays LOL both shoulders, both elbows and the hips. We figured while he was knocked out it was worth while checking everything especially as it's cheaper to do multiple x- rays

Your vet should have also made it VERY clear about the Pred. and that it needs to be weaned off slowly!!! thats a big oversight by the Vet in my books.

[WannaBeK9]

Well, new Doc was very nice. I did have to wait a bit, but as this was a 24 hour emergency hospital, that's understandable (another poor GSD came in with a gunshot wound to his leg... poor guy).The tech came into the room and took my information, then took Jax to the back for examination (which I thought was a tad odd, but went with it.) Jax growled at the tech when he frist walked in...out of character for him, but left with him quietly. He came back about thirty minutes later and dropped Jax back with me, then the doctor came in. He said, "well, Jax is kind of wimpy, because no matter where I press, he cries, and I'm fairly certain his entire body doesn't hurt." He showed and explained that he had good range of motion in the shoulder and elbow, by manipulating the joints in front of me (Jax also growled again at this point, and I'm starting to think when we left him to come out of being drugged at the original vet that someone didn't treat him well because when I picked him up they refused to get him out of the cage and had me get him...okay back to the update). We looked at the Xrays together, on the CD I had brought. Doc pointed out that the joints looked good, no arthritic changes, chips or spurs. The only thing he could see is the cloudy area that was a sign of panostieitis, but he wasn't positive if it was a re-hardening of the bone or a new case of it. He then had the radiologist look at it who confirmed that although it is rare for them to get pano over 18 months, she's seen it in dogs up to 4 years of age. So we're back to rest and Rymadil as needed to help him though it...though Jax doesn't agree with the rest very much. Kind of ticked I had to pay about triple my normal exam fee to find out its pano again, but I am happy that I know what's wrong and am not worrying anymore.

[Magwart]

That's GOOD news! Pano sucks for a short while, but at least they grow out of it without life-long problems.

BTW, when mine was young with pano, a holistic vet recommended a BIG dose of human-grade fish oil during pano flare-ups for its natural anti-inflammatory effect, as well as Ester-C and a glucosamine/msm/chondroitin supplement. That shortened each bout of pano to under 2 weeks, as I recall -- instead of the much longer period it can last. It takes a while to kick in, but once it did, it really seemed to help--and he remained active without Rimadyl once the supplements loaded. Just a thought--I can't remember the fish oil dose, as it was so long ago, but it was more than one or two capsules.

[Mooch]

Well that's good news
Better than having a massive bill for surgery and now you can stop worrying - lol and you know his joints are good

[doggiedad]

i'm glad your dog is going to be ok. when my dog
had pano i use to massage his legs. sometimes i
would take towel and fill it with ice and rub his legs.
i didn't let him run, jump or go for walks.