I am looking for some advice from those who have had experience with Pano. I have a nine month old yellow female who was diagnosed with Pano in July of this year. This diagnosis was made by my vet who did this through several x-rays and an examination. She for obvious reasons has missed her first shows due to the lameness but I feel as if her symptoms are not showing any progress. I have her on Nupro Joint supplement and have recently started her on a joint medication with Glucosamine, Chondroitin, Vitamin C and Manganese. Everything I have read states Pano maybe gentic (link below)but my concern is with Pano I read that they have intermittent lamness. This has primarily been her front left leg and never the right. I am wondering if it could potentially be ED so am considering having her films done again and mail away to the OFA.

What I am looking for assistance with is this?

With the fear of this being genetic I am considering at this point just having her spayed and placed in a pet home under guidelines that the medication be maintained over time to assist her until the Pano subsides. If it is ED again we would have to spay her and place her in a Pet Home under given restrictions and limitations.

Do I make the assumption either way just to spay and place her?

What would you do?

Link I have found for Pano.

http://www.peteducation.com:80/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1561&articleid=466

Please relax. Take a breath. Everything is going to be alright. Do not spay your beautiful girl for this reason. Have you tried Rimadyl? It works wonders for many dogs affected by pano, mine included I'm sure that others more wise than me will offer many other sound suggestions. Remember the old adage - don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Let's just resolve the pano issue - it may take awhile but it will pass.

My female who is now almost 2 and 1/2 developed pano at 6 months. Please do not use rimadyl on such a young dog. We tried vitamin C, adequan shots, and the best thing was just resting her and not letting her run or play alot. That of course was very hard. She did eventually get better with the lameness (her right front leg), but it took till she was almost two. She still, if excercised alot, will limp slightly on that leg. I've just started her on glyco-flex to see if that helps. My vet also told me it was inherited. Her breeder disagrees. Who knows, but it hard to watch them limping. It nearly drove me mad.

Stop the supplements and treat her pain as she outgrows this.

Hang in there. I know you are concerned as everyone is when they have a puppy with Pano. I would suggest seeing an Orthopedic DVM and get their opinion. They are always up on the latest, and in general great to learn from too. Make sure you lower the protein content in the food. The following is from www.vetcontact.com ~>

NEW HYPOTHESIS CONCERNING PATHOGENESIS OF CANINE PANOSTEITIS
Bayer 2218.jpg © Bayer Animal HealthPanosteitis is an idiopathic bone disease of young dogs, mostly affecting large or giant breeds. Investigators of the University of Bern, Switzerland, developed a plausible, empirically based hypothesis governing its pathogenesis.
Extensive clinical observations suggest a close relationship between the incidence of this disease and the commercialization of various protein-rich, high-caloric dog foods. The theory of an ``osseous compartment syndrome`` provides a hypothetical pathogenesis, which corroborates this finding.

An excessive accumulation of protein causes intraosseous edema due to its osmotic effects. Because bone is a rigid compartment, this leads to an increase in intramedullary pressure and compression of blood vessels. Subsequent osseous ischemia leads to a deficient metabolic state (decreased oxygenation, inadequate influx of nutritive substances, local acidosis, decreased removal of metabolites, disruption of local biochemical processes, etc.), and a vicious circle is created due to the resulting local inflammation.The disease is aggravated by increased metabolism due to excessive physical activity.

Within the context of a pilot study, clinical, radiographic, scintigraphic and thermographic examinations and a therapeutic trial with benzopyron were carried out. In addition, more modern investigative tools, including osteomyelography, magnetic resonance tomography and intraosseous pressure measurements were used to provide objective data concerning the pathogenesis of panosteitis.

In most cases, clinical remission was seen within days of monotherapy with the proteolytic substance, benzopyron (Cumartrin(R)). This finding appears to corroborate our hypothesis.

Source: P Schawalder, HU Andres, K Jutzi, C Stoupis, C Bosch (2002): Canine panosteitis: an idiopathic bone disease investigated in the light of a new hypothesis concerning pathogenesis. Part 1: Clinical diagnostic aspects. In: Schweizer Archiv Fur Tierheilkunde, 2002, Vol 144, Iss 3, pp 115-130

Yes please take a deep breath....I know that Pano is painful for the dog but it will pass without lingering problems. Crate rest helps a great deal as do MSM supplements. Also vitamin C. I know of several pedigrees that have pano show up intermitently in pups - these are pedigrees of stunning dogs....I do think that pano is truly one of the lesser problems we can have in our Labs.

First experience and I have 3 generations here. I have 7 month male that last month started with a limp hind right leg, gave it two days of crate rest then after two days off to see our primary care vet because he was still limping on the leg. Vet palpated joints, nothing unusual, but was able to illicit pain applying pressure on the long bone in the left hind leg. He felt confident it was pano, I asked about xrays, said it was up to me, but sometimes it doesn't show up on xray in the early stages. So I opted for no xrays at that time.
I asked about crate rest, any pain meds, he didn't encourage either, not even buffered aspirin. Pup had been on a 24% protein adult food, so didn't see any need to change his diet. No vitamin/mineral or oil supplements had ever been given. The lameness lasted a couple days in that leg, then he limped a couple days in the front right leg for a couple days, then the left rear leg a day or so. Then a week or so totally fine. When I increased his exercise to longer walks on a flex-lead through neiboring fields, I might see a slight limp in one leg, then we back off on the exercise, and know to ust let him self exercise in the yard, he seems to limit himself.
At this point, I'm not overly concerned.

Do as they are all telling you. Just relax. As long as your
vet knows for sure there are no joint issues along with the pano
you are good. I had a male that developed pano; he grew so fast with
heavy heavy bone. We crated him a lot and walked him with a lead. It can
last for a while, so be patient. I had a female (completely different pedigree)
that had pano but also had a severe hip.(same leg) So just make sure
it is only pano and just baby your girl. She will be ok.

rest, rest, rest...keep her on a leash and in an x-pen....we had to do this for our boy for close to 8 mos! We also supplemented him with chondroitin, glucosimine, msm supplement http://www.thewholisticpet.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=549&ParentCat=40

we used yucca & arnica to ease his pain.....we also swam him each day for stress free exercise...one day he woke up sound and has been playing hard and staying sound...it is worth the patience...he now has 6 CH points at 14 mos old!

Thanks everyone.. I have truly been trying to remain calm but in the end want to do the best for her no matter what that is. My long term concern is has anyone eventually breed their male/female who had Pano as a youngster only to find themselves with a litter of one or two that have Pano. If my girl proves herself in the ring I would consider breeding her down the line to the right boy but would never want to produce pups that may have Pano as well.

At this point we are at 10 weeks of rest, and only potty's on a leash so she is not intrigued by the other's and decides to run and play. I have a ton of crate/x-pen toys for her and have put her in the house on the first floor so she doesn't even have to do steps. My vet is monitoring this closely and has done 3 sets of films (R vs L) so we can track this during the course of diagnosis. (so we can see progress-if any)

My vet has also offered me Rimadyl but I have just heard to many other things about it that I am not willing to go that route since she is otherwise a happy little girl.

You can try to feed a food low in protein. I had a pup develop this@9 months. Its very frightening. It went from one leg to the other. We had it comfirmed by xray along with a ununited anconeal process.We gave it few months with no pain relever, just crate rest and mild exercise and it stop at about 10 months. I did do a study online and came up with the low protein diet( the food was lo fat with gluc and chondr in it.)We spay her and found her a good home.

My girl had pano at 6 months. It hit each bone in each leg. The best thing you can do is plenty of crate rest and switching to a lower protein food. Be careful giving any kind of pain reliever. Pano is also very self limiting, so your pup will probably not overdo it. Good luck and know that it will pass with time.

i changed foods from 32% protein to 21% protein as my vet suggested and problem solved.at least in my case.

be positive- you just don't have the diagnosis of any dysplasia- so until then- wait it out and you may be surprised.

I have watched a young pup grow up. by 6 months of age,she was limping, and it did not move around from leg to leg- was always her one front. she got to 2 shows- and went RWB each time- and by 8 months- prelims were done on her elbows, shoulders and wrists to ensure she was worth running on still. Pano was diagnosed. I started second guessing if there was a limp, a gaiting issue, or maybe her rear was the issue- rather than front. her limp up and disappeared when she was 17 months old. was on Cal-Mag as the only supplement. she turned 18 months in June- just had her final hips/elbow clearances- and all passed with ortho comments that her hips and elbows looked "great".

After a year away from the show ring- time to get her back into shape and get out there for some serious winning

Just to keep a piece of hope in this for you! have faith! when you hear the word dysplasia, then you can be bummed.

My male had pano as a youngster. Started at about 5 months and stopped by 11 months. It moved all around.

I now have a daughter from him who is 5 months and just started with the Pano last week.

Some days she is fine, others she is not.

I know she will be fine.

Now she is the only one so far from him that has had Pano.

It's not the end of the world.

My vet said 1 reg adult aspirin when there is pain.

Thanks again everyone.. When I purchased her she was on lower quality dog food and after reading here about some of the better puppy/adult foods I swiched her to a high quality food. I did switch her over to the adult when this diagnosis was made. The analysis of the food is below:

Crude Protein (min) 8.50%
Crude Fat (min) 8.00%
Crude Fiber (max) 1.50%
Moisture (max) 78.00%
Omega 6 Fatty Acids* (min) 0.79%
Omega 3 Fatty Acids* (min) 0.36%

I just want to make sure I do the right thing as this is our first experience of this after all these years of loving labs.

Are you SURE that's the protein and fat??? 8% protein??? That's REALLY low. What food is it?

I switched to Avoderm.. The above analysis is for the Lamb and Rice and below is the ingredients for the regular Adult Chicken and Rice Dog food. As a side note the Avocado Oils makes great coats on my kids..(four legged)

Select Ingredients
Chicken, Chicken Broth, Ground Whole Rice, Chicken Liver, Ocean Fish, Flax Seed, Lecithin, Kelp, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Guar Gum, Avocado Oil, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (Source of Vitamin B Complex), Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Choline Chloride, Folic Acid, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source of Vitamin B6), Thiamine Mononitrate (Source of Vitamin B1), Biotin, Ascorbic Acid (Source of Vitamin C), Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Carbonate, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Copper Carbonate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite.


Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (min) 8.00%
Crude Fat (min) 7.00%
Crude Fiber (max) 1.50%
Moisture (max) 78.00%
Omega 6 Fatty Acids* (min) 1.38%
Omega 3 Fatty Acids* (min) 0.30%
Caloric Content
Metabolizable Energy (calculated) 464 kcal/can


Here is the website as well:
http://www.breeders-choice.com/dog_products/avodermdog_cr.htm

I went through this many years ago - Dog limping after being body slammed by an older dog (I was sitting on the floor right next to the accident site and could not stop it in time),Vet took x-ray - said it was Pano and dog needed crate rest. After 6 weeks and no improvement another x-ray - still Pano and 6 more weeks of crate rest. Another x-ray and was finally referred to A&M. They took several different views of the elbow and found a joint mouse. The bone was obviously chipped during the body slamming accident.

So, if your vet is only doing the standard OFA view of the elbow ask for different views to be taken or take the dog to a specialists.

Better safe than sorry.

That analysis doesn't look right to me either.

That is for the canned Avoderm

The dry chick and rice is 26%/16%
The dry lamb and rice is 20%/11%

Oh my goodness! I think you are getting waaaay carried away. Pano has been around for ages and has been likened to "growing pains." I had those as a kid. Though you are finding pano terribly frustrating, they do outgrow it. It is way down on the list of problems.

If it's the canned Avoderm I would get off that and onto the dry. Protein level of 8% just isn't enough to develop/maintain the muscle mass she's going to need to get through this pano. Everything others have said is true - just cool your jets and don't do anything stupid! If it's in fact pano and not something else, she'll simply grown out of it. All it is is growing pains. Children have them, and we don't place them.... Well, then again, that's a thought...

Pano is a very common ailment in German Shepherds and large breed dogs. This is due to their very quick growth spurts and it usually works itself out eventually. It can last until the age of 2yrs, which is at a time where the dog has usually reached its maximum height.

If you are concerned it may be something other than Pano, have the leg/elbow/shoulder x-rayed(as others have suggested) from different angles to rule out any other ailment.

Pano is not the end of the world and I wouldn't remove the dog from your breeding program because of it.

JMO

I am sorry.. I did post the wrong thing she is on Adult Avoderm Baked Original:

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (min) 20.00%
Crude Fat (min) 8.00%
Crude Fiber (max) 4.00%
Moisture (max) 10.00%
Omega 6 Fatty Acids* (min) 2.30%
Omega 3 Fatty Acids* (min) 0.87%
Caloric Content
Metabolizable Energy (calculated) 3558 kcal/kg
Metabolizable Energy (calculated) 430 kcal/cup

I posted about this once before and everyone told me I was crazy. I am so I will try again......

My vet told me that he had read about some researchers who were doing studies with Albon. They noticed that pups on Albon had much lower incidences of Pano. They could not explain why.

My wife and some of her friends have tried this with their GSD's who get Pano relatively frequently. The Albon seems to work. The thing they believe is that it not only works in the short term, but the pano does not come back.

I can not explain this. I don't know any more details. I am wondering if anyone has also heard about this?

I remember reading a long time ago that some researchers were hypothesizing that Bacteria had something to do with Pano. Maybe Albon does something to the way pups metabolize protein (we know there is a protein/pano link. I am just brainstorming ...... including considering that the results my wife and her friends have experienced are simply coincidence.

We have had 2 cases of Pano and both times the orth. vet has given us low doses of Rimadyl or Deramax (Deramax would probably be the drug of choice today) and told us not to limit exercise - that the condition is self-limiting and if the dog is in pain - will stop playing and rest. With Pano there is a loss of circulation to the bone and he felt that moderate excercise was good for the circulation. We also switched from puppy food to adult. Within 2 to 3 weeks one of them was much better and the other took about 2 months, or so, to recover.