[Annemarie]

Okay this is for all you experts on here who may be able to point me in the right direction.

Chara , 20 months, has had a limp in her hind left leg off and on for the past six months. The vet suggested that we do some hip x-rays, but they showed that her hips looked good. Our vet thinks that it is probably Pano and just said to keep an eye on her. She does not limp all the time.

This weekend she has been really bad, her foot is turning in when she is walking. When she runs her front end is straight but her hind end is turning to the right. I have tried to keep her pretty quiet for the past few days but it has not made any difference. Our vet will not be in until after 2pm, need to see what we can do for her.

Anyone have any suggestions? Do I need to bring her to a specialist?

 

[chruby]

If this were my dog I would bring her to a specialist. The fact that her hind end is turning to the right is kind of strange. To me, better safe than sorry. Good luck.

 

[BowWowMeow]

Did they x-ray her knee too?

 

[Annemarie]

X-rays were taken of her hips and the leg itself, showed nothing strange.

 

[chruby]

Sometimes it takes more than an x-ray to find problems. I have found that generally if it is nothing really obvious then I go to a specialist. Most likely they want to do their own set of tests so in order to not duplicate like I said, if it is not a straightforward problem, I go to a specialist.

 

[Barb E]

I think I'd ask for a specialist too, the hind end not inline with the front would concern me for spinal.

 

[Annemarie]

Thanks guys.

Talked to vet last night and she has the orthopedic vet that she works with coming to the office next week. We are going to go see him. She is still sticking with the pano diagnosis but I want to go further with this in case it is something else, Pano is such a loose diagnosis.

 

[LandosMom]

maybe i'm not remembering correctly but i thought that pano could only be confirmed with an xray. did the xray show pano? also, your dog seems a bit old for pano.

 

[nitetrane98]

What a great resource this board is. My 6 mo old has been hobbling around for about a week following a very strenuous day romping with his daddy and I kind of chalked it up to a pulled muscle or such. It is much better but he still favors a front leg. I had never heard of pano. I can't seem to isolate any painfulness with probing and manipulation. It really doesn't seem to hurt him but obviously he is limping for some reason.
This is a good little blurb on pano. Comforting to know that if it indeed is pano, it should go away by itself.
http://www.jersey.net/~mountaindog/berner1/lpano.htm

 

[gagsd]

A club member's dog was dx with pano..... Turns out he had some developmental issue where the two legs bones grew at different rates. When they finally went to the ortho specialist, he was NOT happy that they had been assuming it was pano for 6 months. By then it was too late to correct the leg bones.

 

[nitetrane98]

Hindsight is always 20/20. The article was pretty clear that it was a difficult diagnosis.
" Like many problems, pano may be difficult to diagnose. The dark patches may not appear on the x-rays. The lameness may not shift to another leg. It can be extremely frustrating with many bouts of radiographs. Assuming that the limping is caused by pano can help delay diagnosis of other more severe problems. Never assume that limping is caused by pano without having it properly diagnosed."

"Melissa Green's Aylen went lame in one leg at 10 months. One vet took radiographs and diagnosed an injured cruciate ligament. A second vet, a board certified radiologist using the same radiographs, diagnosed pano. The lameness went away in a little over a week. Over the next several months Aylen would occasionally go lame in another leg, and then recover in a little over a week."

One would think that Stevie Wonder could see over the course of 6 months that something was up other than "growing pains".

 

[Annemarie]

Update on Chara's limping.

We went to see an orthopedic specialist today. He found a lump on the joint between the tibia and femur where the tendon attaches. He thinks it may be the tendon that is aggravated. He wants to get more x-rays in order to diagnose what is going on. We can't get in to get x-rays until Thursday next week.

Will keep you posted.

 

[Annemarie]

Well, we finally got to the bottom of Chara's limping, she has been diagnosed with "Gracilis Muscle Contracture".

Not alot of info out there on this condition, surgery does work short term but the problem comes back. No known cause, no know cure and no long term prognosis.

The ortho has suggested we try physical therapy.

 

[LJsMom]

I've heard good things about the rehab place on Rt. 44 in Rehoboth, MA.

 

[Annemarie]

Thanks LJsMom. He has referred us to Dr. Cory in Providence who he believes has dealt with a case like this before. If we have no luck with him I will keep the place in Rehoboth in mind.