Pup with pano ( or OCD / elbow displasia )

[Tipsykisses]

My 11 month old black lab had a limp on his front right leg a few months ago which was put down to pano , he improved after lots TLC & lots of rest and was doing really well but the limp has returned this week and sometimes it looks really pronounced ...other times not so much ?
We had X-rays done 3 months ago which were inconclusive so our vet said to keep a close eye on him as it's possible it may be OCD shoulder & elbow displasia because of his breed and if the problem continued he'd need referring to a specialist .
We are resting him again at the moment & praying it settles down again but he is so unhappy not having his walks &it's breaking my heart(we live next to a park )
He's on glucosamine , he's still trying to behave like a looney but I'm stopping him jumping etc & I've gated every doorway !!
His breeder says this is common in large breed dogs and may take until he's 18 months to settle so I'm really confused as to wether I should wait a week or so or get him seen by the specialist now ???
Everything I've read up about pano says it affects different limbs not just one but if it was OCD & elbow displasia would the symptoms disappear like they did ?
We lost our 2 year old foxhound at Christmas & I was heartbroken & now tend to panic with my furry babies so not sure if I'm worrying over nothing or if it will be ok for a week .
Has anyone experienced anything similar ?
Thanks in advance x

is he insured? If covered by insurance I would take him to specialist now if he were mine - good luck sorry that it is so upsetting for you - our dogs are like family aren't they?

Hi brunette123 thanks for replying .
Yes he is insured but Dh thinks we should wait at least a week incase he's strained it ... I'd be happier to get him seen now but was unsure if I'm over reacting !
They really are members of the family ...we still miss our boy who left for the bridge & Dh doesn't trust the vets much since we lost him so I wanted advice from other owners to help put things in perspective x

Tipsy, just coming to the end of a long haul with my black lab, 7month old.
He started limping about three months ago. First tried 4 weeks rest. Nightmare. Then tried normal walks. Then had X-rays. My vet is brilliant and said that although he could not see anything on the X-rays, he was sending them over as a referral to an ortho specialist. Said specialist, who I may be a little in love with, immediately said he thought it may be elbow dysplasia.
My pup was MRI'd. He had a lathe chip floating free in his left leg, his right looked okay.
He had his operation to remove loose chip and while he was under, they checked his right leg, only to find a piece about to break away, so they removed that too.
We are now 5 weeks on - no walks for 4 weeks, but the limp has gone, we are taking walks again and slowly building up to getting back to normal.
This is a short to mid term solution. He will develop osteo arthritis sooner rather than later, but this can be controlled with medication, and keeping his weight down.

The best way to imaging what they feel is that it like walking/running with a stone in your shoe, so not nice. Labs are nutters, the fact that they are in pain seems to take so long to sink in....they just keep going.

I have a cat and 4 chickens too, so a puppy that has effectively not been able to walk off his bundle of energy for 8 or 9 weeks has been......interesting....to say the least

Assuming you are insured, get him referred and scanned.the sooner you know, the sooner you can start mending him.

Good luck and feel free to pm me if you need to know anything more.

If you are in the north, I might even share my delicious consultant with you

He did not have a lathe chip, he had a large chip.

Fingers faster than brain, sorry!

If you're not happy to wait and he's insured, then go for it now. If you're happy to wait, and you can get pain relief for him through the vet, then wait and see.

My basset has something similar which I personally am putting down to pano - though it's been through every leg so far. Pronounced limp, though little visible pain upon any joint manipulation. He often goes through periods of not eating and lethargy alongside the onset of each pattern of limping. It started, classically, at 6 months.

Codeine based painkillers seemed to do nothing for him. He had a dose of antibiotics last time which seemed to shorten the period of limping by a week or so (usually each limping period is 10-14 days for him) and he was less grumpy with it. It's worth asking your breeder if there is any pano directly in the line - my dog's sire, I discovered, had on again off again limping until 18 months and as such I've been happier to wait and see rather than delve into further treatment as I know there's that family history.

Thanks so much for replying folks !
When it started I was initially happy to wait it out & agreed that it could be pano .
All seemed to be going well until the beginning of this week & as he'd had no limp at all for a good few weeks we thought he was better , then he started limping a bit after swimming In The lake .
it's gone up and down over the last few days but my gut is uneasy about it tbh .
As I said I know I'm a bit over cautious with my babies but I'm worried that the "wait & see" approach may cause damage that can't be fixed !
I've read up on pano , OCD & displasia and seeing as it's still the same leg I really don't think it's pano.
I feel reassured from your replies that I'm not over reacting so I will call our vet In the morning & ask for the referral to be sent x

Tooold, unfortunately I'm in the south ...I hope your lovely vet has an equally handsome & loveable brother near me !!
Did you have a feeling that your pup needed treatment ?
Im just dreaming of the day my boy can run free happily again !!
Mimsy the breeder has said that 2 of her larger boy labs had limps that carried on intermittently until they were about 18 month old and our vet has said my boy is big even for a lab although he's perfect weight for his size (apparently )
He's on a good food (Millie's ) which we weigh to make sure he stays at a good weight & he's on glucosamine .
He was Prescribed pain relief but he's not had it for a long while now , our breeder said due to him being an extremely energetic "bouncy boy " & us having another pup in the house it would mask the pain and encourage him to over exert himself ?
Arrrrggfhhh !!
I'm sure I didn't even worry this much over the dc!!!

been through this recently with my GSD. i would get him seen sooner rather than later - surgery works best under 1 yr of age apparently.

my boy has had FCP. we also put it down to pano initially but it was really hampering him - my vet suspected FCP and sent us to an ortho specialist who confirmed not only FCP but athritis and other problems with the entire joint.

we are waiting to find out if he will need another operation - the first one hasnt made the blindest bit of differnce to his limp.

oh and my boy started to show symptoms at around 5 months of age - same leg all the time - pronounced limp that never seems to improve with any pain killers, anti inflammatory pills etc.

his elbow is completely knackered though. im loathed to keep putting him through surgical procedures that are not making any difference but am waiting to see otho vet again as he had his surgery in June. he was on total rest for 6 weeks. he is in himself as happy as larry - but still limping. no improvement at all but like i say - there are other problems with the joint - not just the FCP. (fragmented coronoid process) he is a year old in september.

My gorgeous black lab developed a limp at 6 months and was diagnosed with OCD in both elbows :( we had a great consultant (NW though) who operated on him.

5 years later he is daft as anything. He goes to daycare but seems to know his limitations and snoozes on the sofas when he's had enough. Walks are limited to a couple of miles at a time, and he goes for hydrotherapy. We did do once a week initially, but now more like once a month. We also have a supply of anti inflammatories just in case he does something silly and ends up with a limp.

I would certainly not wait. Get it checked out. Good luck.

I would ask for referral sooner rather than later. I had a large breed that did develop Pano, but it was classic shifting lameness that was eventually self-limiting and he had no further osteo problems throughout his life. If it had been confined to one leg I would have had him thoroughly checked out by a specialist right from the get-go.

My staffie boy whos 6 developed a limp when he was nearly 5 after walks/runs i too just thought it was a sprain/strain but it didnt go away so off to the vets for x-rays, to then be passed on to a specialist for CT scans and it turns out it was elbow dysplasia. He had the op, cleaned out his elbows, no walks/jumping for a few weeks and long terms meds (glucosamine/cold liver oil) and he is now all good. He only limps if he really over does it which we try to not let him do.

I felt really guilty that i left it as long as i did when they explained it all to me (crunching elbows where the bones dont all fit together properly) so go and get it checked out now.

Effing don't feel guilty - we would all just assume it was a strain/ muscle pull to start with, I certainly did.
We had a break of a fortnight between diagnosis and operation, because we were going on a walking holiday! Our consultant said it would make absolutely no difference, just to give him painkillers and not to walk too far. I don't think you can make it worse by delaying, but obviously discomfort wise, the sooner the better.
Elbow dysplasia is a difficult subject. I researched it in depth before committing mine to the operation, but there is an opinion that keeping a dog immobile for 4-6 weeks may be just as effective, should the dysplasia not be too bad. With mine, there was a large floating chip, so no brainer really.
We were back yesterday and have been signed off . Now just building back up and keeping everything crossed!

Tipsy sorry, missed your question, but yes, there was a niggle there that something was just not right. To be honest, it was a relief that they found something wrong with him and could take some action. The preceding 7 or 8 weeks were a pita, not knowing if it was ever going to end!
I have had labs and golden retrievers for years and had never even heard of elbow dysplasia - sharp learning curve

And I am sure my man could never have an equally wonderful brother, so, you miss out there!

Hi everyone sorry it's been a while but it's been chaos here with family illness & lots of stress , Always seems to happen together !!
Just a quick update on our boy, bit of a hoo ha with the vet who thinks because he recovered so well on pain relief , rest & then limited exercise we should follow the same route again and wait at least another few weeks , we've said that we would rather the specialist at least view the X-rays now so that we can find out what their opinion is & then we can decide on all the advice together .
Hopefully it won't be much longer !!

Thanks for sharing your experiences with me , I'm feeling a lot better now that I've heard the positive outcomes as when we started looking into things it really worried me !
I've not got the emoticon for flowers as I'm on my phone but if I did I would post one to you all for your advice & also for replying xxx