# 11 year old GSD with pano?



## rebeccagrad (May 15, 2011)

Hello forum - I am sorta new although many of you will remember me as cedarswarm, but it's been years. Caleb is now 11 years old, and he's been having trouble with his rear legs. It started with some lameness in one leg that got progressively worse over a period of a few days, so I took him to the vet. She took x-rays and said that he has pano. Of course my first question was "pano in an 11 year old dog?", to which my vet replied that only in GSD's can pano occur as an adult. She showed it to me on the x-ray, but I'm no vet so I'm taking her word for it. Has anyone else heard that or experienced it? I did some googling and I cannot find anyone seeing pano past like 2 years. 

She put him on some pain meds, which did seem to help, and for about a week he was on the mend. But yesterday he started wobbling again in the rear, and now he is clearly uncomfortable. He won't eat, didn't want to drink. When he pees it's like his whole rear end has collapsed. He has that kind of internally focused/preoccupied thing you see when stoic dogs are uncomfortable. I'm just not sure what to do, if I should take him to the ER today or wait and just call my vet tomorrow, see what she says. 

Any suggestions or thoughts are greatly appreciated!


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## rebeccagrad (May 15, 2011)

and this is my sweet boy recently


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## TheNamesNelson (Apr 4, 2011)

Pano is a growth disorder in the long bones of the legs. It occurs when a dog is still growing and their growth plates are not closed to my knowledge dealing with my pup with Pano. Also when my pup suffers from Pano in his rear legs he does NOT get wobbly ever, its simply painful for him to walk and he limps a little, and if anything he is more stiff on his rear legs rather than wobbly.

If your dog is 11 years old and getting wobbly in the rear it sounds like Canine Degenerative Myelopathy . I have experience with this disease as well, my parents 12 year old GSD has it and it wasn't really noticeable until he became wobbly in the rear end. There were some earlier warning signs like his back nails dragging slightly that caused some wear on the tops, but those could have gone mostly unnoticed until the wobbling came.

I would let him rest and wait until Monday, then call around and find a different vet who is knowledgeable on Canine Degenerative Myelopathy and ask if they could see your dog immediately.

Best wishes!


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## rebeccagrad (May 15, 2011)

Thanks for your quick response! I'm familiar with DM, and asked the vet about it prior to X-Ray as that was my immediate concern. But she said it doesn't look like DM at all. She was also worried it was cancer, but there was no sign of that either. The wobbly rear end does concern me but he seems to be resting comfortably right now. I'm still curious if anyone has heard of pano occurring in such a senior dog. She was thinking that it could be happening because of excess calcium in his diet as a result of the raw I feed. I'm unable to modify his diet, however, because he has EPI and the raw diet is what's keeping him alive. I've been giving a higher percentage of muscle meat in the last 2 weeks but it's gotten bad again. Sigh. I just feel for him and wish I knew what was going on.


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## CaliBoy (Jun 22, 2010)

With Degenerative Myelopathy, they are usually not in pain, because of the progressive paralysis from the back legs on. It sounds like the poor thing is in pain and is uncomfortable, so I'm thinking it would be different than DM.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

If the vet is seeing changes in the bone of some sort, I would wonder if this isn't the beginning of osteosarc. Your dog is the right age. But if both legs are affected, I would be looking at something wrong in the spine. Call the vet. Ok, call a different vet as adult dogs do not get pano.


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

I've only heard of one adult GSD (or any breed for that matter) who had Pano. Joel was 7 when I met him and had been treated for a chronic Pano condition since he was a pup. 

If the vet's treatment is working, that's great. But if your dog is still having difficulty I'd get a second opinion.


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## Zoeys mom (Jan 23, 2010)

Not pano it's ONLY a growing disorder. Arthritis, HD, pinched spinal nerves, and other aging disorders should be ruled out, but pano...not a chance.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

did the vet xray his spine?


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## TheNamesNelson (Apr 4, 2011)

My parents dog with DM looks uncomfortable at time and he doesnt have the same appetite. DM isnt painful but its frustrating and mentally exhausting for the dog because they cannot do so many things they want to and could do before. Does your dog cry out in pain?

Also, I don't buy pano in older adults who are done growing, also your vets opinion that pano only happens in adult GSDs further concerns me. Pano is a growing disorder, if it was at all possible to get as an adult why would it also be breed restrictive? Being contractible at an adult age seems fishy enough, only in GSDs just makes it an outrageous sounding claim.


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## rebeccagrad (May 15, 2011)

Arycrest, Im very interested to hear that you have experience with a 7 year old with pano. The important difference though is Caleb has never had chronic pano - he had it as a pup and it ended when he reached full size. But still interesting to know. 

The vet initially palpated his leg, and he cried when she squeezed it in a certain area. Then in the X-rays, the long bones of his leg showed a density or opaqueness that one would associate with pano. I found this excellent article here:
PANOSTEITIS

which says "Almost always, the dog will yelp with pain if you pinch the affected bone in the limb it has been favoring. Try to squeeze where there is very little muscle covering the bone, but only in the middle, not at  the ends. Pain upon pinching near the joints can possibly lead you to suspect HOD or joint disorders, but possibly other than bone cancer, there is nothing that gives the same response to pinching the middle of the diaphysis (shaft) as pano does."

so I think this is what she is basing this on. This article also mentioned though that the oldest dog he was aware of with diagnosed pano was 4. 

You've all convinced me that I need a second opinion, so I am going to set that up tomorrow. I'll let everyone know what happens! The good news is Caleb ate and drank today, and seems to be in slightly better spirits. He's laying here next to me on the couch relaxing and getting ear scritchies.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

i have no advice for you than what you've already been given in regards to getting a second opinion. I just wanted to say that he's a handsome guy and i hope you're able to figure out whats going on. please keep up updated on him.


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

I would look to chiropractic, acupuncture, a trial run of doxycycline in case it's a tick disease as rule outs. If something goofy is showing up on an xray, I would get a second opinion.

Doctors, worldwide, certified in animal chiropractic by the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association


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