# Help please on how to treat panosteitis.



## starlightlc (Feb 4, 2010)

My Aunt and Uncle have a White GSD called Rocco who is almost 10 months old and has been diagnosed as having panosteitis ("pano"for short). He was diagnosed this about 4 months ago now and has been confined for most of that time. 

However as you can imagine, a puppy being confined and not able to do normal 'doggy' things like having walks, running and playing,or socialising with other dogs etc..has accumulated quite a lot of excess energy. In order to alleviate this excess energy we have tried to give him lots of mental stimulation and also have taken him to a hydrotherapy pool to help treat his condition. I would be interested to hear if anyone has experienced a gsd with "pano" and how they dealt with it. Any advice would be gratefully received.
I thank you in advance.


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## DinoBlue (Apr 11, 2007)

Two of my dogs had pano growing up. My vet suggested to let them do as much as they wanted, not to limited them in any way. On very bad days I would give them some anti-inflammatory and pain meds but other then that, we did nothing special at all. 

Do you know why the were recommended to confine him?? That was never suggested to me for either of my dogs.


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## starlightlc (Feb 4, 2010)

Thank you for your comments, I found them really interesting. I guess Vets in USA have differing views to our Vets here in UK. However i do tend to favour the views of your vet as it does seem such a shame to restrict a dog in such a way, especially as Rocco is so young. However our vet has prescribed steroids to be given when Rocco's condition flares up. 

I have to admit though, I do think the hydrotherapy treatments have been beneficial in allowing Rocco to get rid of some of his excess energy as well as benefiting his overall condition and building up muscle tissue in his legs which are probably not as toned as they should be due to the length of time he's been without normal exercise.

I appreciate your comments, thank you once again.


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## kshort (Jun 4, 2004)

My Max had pano - for a long time. I didn't think it was ever going to go away. I got to the point where I could tell when it was really painful for him, so we definitely restricted his activity (based on vet and trainer advice). He was in obedience at the time (two different classes) and the trainer would not let him work on the nights where he was visibly limping. 

We did not treat with anything other than Ascriptin (coasted aspirin) and I only gave that to him when he appeared uncomfortable.

Linda - is he on adult dog food? 

The good news - pano will go away!!


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## shilohsmom (Jul 14, 2003)

I don't think its necessary to confine a dog with Pano. Its my understanding that Pano is not made worse by excercise unlike an injury would. With Pano I believe the dog is less likely to excercise because of the pain it causes, so it kind of regulates itself. I wouldn't go overboard with the excercise but I wouldn't crate them for it. 

Like Kris said, the good thing is they do grow out of it. Its also important to not have the dog on puppy food as your not trying to promote growth-the dog will grow just fine without it. 

Good luck and welcome to the boards.


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## starlightlc (Feb 4, 2010)

Thanks Kris for your comments. When you said your Max had pano for a long time, how long did it stay with him and at what age was he diagnosed? 
It is a releif though to know that pano will eventually go away. Its just in the meantime we feel so sad for Rocco not being able to behave like a 'normal' dog. All he wants to do is play and is itching to be let free to run up and down the garden, as well as being taken out of his own environment so he can socialise with other dogs too. My aunt and uncle are so afraid to let him do these things for fear of exhasberating his condition. However, like you, they do restrict him moreso when his pano flares up and he starts to show signs of limping. They try to keep him more clam during these times, which I guess is the only thing they can do for him. 

My uncle has put a lot of hours into training him at home and training him to walk nicely on a leash without pulling. (My uncle is 73 and partially disabled himself, and not too steady on his feet) so it is important to him that he has Rocco under control before he allows him outside his own environment. Maybe taking him to an obedience class would be of benefit and also allow him to socialise with other dogs too. (The Dog, not my Uncle - LOL)!!!!


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## starlightlc (Feb 4, 2010)

Thank you Rosa for the welcome and your comments. I agree with you and think the dog will decide if he feels ok with exercising, if not he will avoid it and rest more. After all in the wild that is what they would probably do. I will of course pass all these comments on to my aunt and uncle and maybe they will feel better about allowing him a little more freedom. As far as I know he is now on junior food.


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## kshort (Jun 4, 2004)

It's been a long time ago, but I think he was around six months and it lasted for about 10 months.

I think the socializing is really important at his age. As long as he's not limping and is kept on a leash, I would definitely get him out and about or in an obedience class. The hydrotherapy is great - at least he gets to burn some energy - particularly on the days where it appears that he might be in some pain.

It sounds like he has a wonderful family looking after him!!

I'm not sure what junior food is, but I would definitely recommend getting him on adult food.


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

My Otto is 20 months now. He was diagnosed with pano at 4 or 5 months. When he hit the 18 month mark I sighed with relief, whesh everything says it should be gone by then. Bam, he got hit with a short lived pano attack a few weeks ago - that one lasted a week, maybe. The others were about 3 weeks.

If it was really bad, I'd limit him to a 15 minute ball session and no walks. Other than that, I'd try to make him take it easy, no walks longer than 15 minutes - he's a powerwalker and it's all hard surface around here. 

We never did special treatments or much medication - I had a bottle with 20 rymadil for him, there's one left. 

One of the things that I think helped him was installing a foam floor in my basement so he could have some soft surface to play around on. 

I'm not a vet but I really don't see any reason why Rocco couldn't run around in the garden for short periods of time every day. Maybe goto a fenced in ball field and play catch for 15/20 minutes. 

Otto was rarely medicated for it so he'd lay down when it started to hurt. I used to take him a couple times a week with my older dog to a field to run around. He'd play and a few minutes after the limping got a little worse, he'd lay down. LOL he'd leave my 8 year old female standing there looking at him like 'You are a wussy!'


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## starlightlc (Feb 4, 2010)

Thanks again Kris, I will pass on your advice to my aunt and uncle and hopefully Rocco can get on the road to being a 'normal' dog







He certainly has a great character and is always making us laugh at the mischeif he gets into. I will also mention about the adult food too so thank you again for your comments.


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

Restricted activity in our case didn't mean no activity. No fence running, no long walks - just short stuff.


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## Raziel (Sep 29, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: shilohsmomI don't think its necessary to confine a dog with Pano. Its my understanding that Pano is not made worse by excercise unlike an injury would. With Pano I believe the dog is less likely to excercise because of the pain it causes, so it kind of regulates itself. I wouldn't go overboard with the excercise but I wouldn't crate them for it.
> 
> Like Kris said, the good thing is they do grow out of it. Its also important to not have the dog on puppy food as your not trying to promote growth-the dog will grow just fine without it.
> 
> Good luck and welcome to the boards.


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