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To the vet we go...

3K views 20 replies 14 participants last post by  pyratemom 
#1 ·
Jax is going to the vet. He's been sore and holding his left front paw off the ground for about 18 hours, moreso than his usual "I played too hard, now I'm sore" soreness. He also shows pain when his elbow is pressed. Not sure what we're looking at, I would have thought he'd have outgrown Pano by now, but maybe not? off to see what the doc says...
 
#2 ·
saving time quoting from "sore front leg" thread "google PANOSTEITIS - aka pano aka long bone disease

self limiting - will go away all on its own

vet should have considered this , MALE, age , breed

in future it may shift to another limb , hind or fore , may disappear for a period , then come back , could last till the dog is 2 years. May disappear for long period , months, and then some trauma , over exertion, bump , will bring back inflammation."
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the healing thoughts guys...



Carmen- Jax was diagnosed with Pano as a younger pup. He's now almost two and a half, and this sore is different than his typical pano sore. The vet thinks he probably has a bone chip in his shoulder, and aggravated it to the point where it caused inflammation and soreness. He likes to jump on and off the couch and beds and jumps a lot when chasing his Kong ball. He was given a Cortisone shot and put on prednazone (sp?) once a day for five days then every other day til they're gone, twenty pills total. His hope is the chip will 'settle' and the meds will manage the pain until it does. We're going to see how it goes and when the pills run out if he isn't better we'll take him for an xray to see if it IS actually a bone chip and not something like elbow dysplasia or bone cancer.
 
#6 ·
Well... Was the chip seen on some sort of x-ray?
That is some powerful medication he is taking, and it will not cure the problem.
Why on earth would a vet give a dog meds that have so many bad side effects, and after twenty pillls, then look for a cause?
It could be as simple as a shoulder strain that could be cured with rest.
 
#7 ·
I wasn't in the room during the exam, my mom took him in because I'd been waiting on hold for an hour with some financial issues that needed taken care of. She told me that he said he thought it was a chip and that he didn't feel an xray was needed at that time. He palipated the shoulder muscles and had no reaction and got a reaction when manipulating the elbow and shoulder joints. If I'd been in the room I probably would have asked for the xray anyway...but hindsight is 20/20. For now he's on pills and rest, although he hates rest most of the time.
 
#8 ·
Update:

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. The Dr drugged him and xrayed his scapula from the lateral view. He says he see's no bone chips, although it could be cartilage and he can't see that on the xray. He perscribed Rimadyl, once a day with food for possibly more than a month. Saying he'll have 'good days and sore days' and we'll see how it goes....All without giving me an actual diagnosis! I asked about OCD, and his reply is "yeah, that's what it is". Well sorry! I will not accept this any longer. We gave this practice another try after our previous visit (which my mom sat in on) because my dad used it for his K9's years ago, when the original doctors, who the clinic is named for, ran it. With the new guys, it's changed, for the worse. Jax will only go there for vaccinations from now on, (as they're the cheapest in the area), and somewhere else for any 'issues'.

So, he is still not putting any weight on the left front, and let's you know its painful when you press above his elbow. He's been on restriction and rest, we haven't been letting him get crazy and he go's out to potty and mosey around the yard for a sniff if he want's, but that's about it. He is getting the Rimadyl, and it's helped a little bit, to the point he's not limping AS badly, but he's still limping. I know there's a whole nother list of side effects with that drug, but he's going to stay on it until at least monday when we take him to another vet who specializes in arthroscopic surgery for a consult and second opinion. I don't think the rest has helped him at all, and I'm unwilling to accept that my not even 2.5 year old dog is going to be off and on lame his whole life, and live it on drugs. Crossing my fingers and playing the waiting game....
 
#14 ·
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.
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.
 
#9 ·
Good for you for firing the vet and looking for a better one. I had to do that to get my old senior's arthritis dealt with competently.

When you go to the new vet, they ought to do a full ortho exam -- it sounds like that hasn't happened yet.

Did they also xray the elbow?
 
#10 ·
I just glanced over this, but Rimadyl and prednisone can be deadly together, please don't give them both concurrently. You could wind up with a dog with ulcers very easily.

Has elbow dysplasia been ruled out??
 
#11 ·
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!!!
 
#12 ·
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.
 
#15 ·
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.
 
#16 ·
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.
 
#17 ·
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.
 
#18 ·
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.
 
#21 ·
Pyrate when through having pano when he was young. I used to heat a towel in the microwave and massage his legs with it. I also used fish oil and glucosamine as supplements. He did get Rimadyl later in life for HD but that was much later.
 
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