Reg: 07-13-2005
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I should add that I personally keep tramadol (Ultram) on hand. This is an opioid of less strength than morphine, etc., and is (IMO) a good fallback pain reliever when inflammation is not a major concern.
This is something to talk to one's vet about, and it's not an OTC med.
I'm not a health professional. This is just something that I have decided to keep on hand for a dog in pain who should not get (or does not need) NSAID properties.
Pain relief is a major concern for me; I think that unrelieved pain can be a serious detriment to healing, as well as a trigger for depression. It can cause bunching/clenching of muscles, restricting the flow of healing blood cells and synovial fluid, and can cause altered gait that can damage the muscles/joints trying to make up for the injured one.
OTOH, pain relief can also cause the dog to overuse an injured body part.
So pain relief and careful restriction of movement along with range-of-motion passive exercises can often be the best way to go.
And back to the O.P.: I would definitely get a vet diagnosis.
Hi Megan:
I concur with Connie. I have had direct experience with Pano with my GSD who is now 17 months. As you know, it is common in large breed dogs and apparently in shepherds. But, to start off you should confirm diagnosis with your vet. Barring anything you have not mentioned or noticed, what you describe sounds like Pano. My GSD developed it when he was around 10-11 months (or atleast, that is when he showed symptoms). He is now limp-free and it appears to have run its course. It is my understanding that it generally resolves itself by 18 months, but it can also apparently go to 2 years depending on growth of dog.
Here is what the vet will likely do: Palpitate long bones and joints and based on discussion with you, will determine whether or not xrays are something you want to do at this stage. It is my understanding that Pano will not actually show itself radiographically until about 2-3 weeks after symptoms, then the marrow changes will confirm a diagnosis. So, you can't do x-rays too soon, and initially he may just prescribe Metacam or similar (we used Metacam) to take the edge off and help with inflamation. If the limping doesn't seem to improve, he may also give you Tramadol (just pain killer, not anti inflamatory). If you feel that the pain management is not working, or you notice that he is limping more or continuously, you will probably want you to do xrays to confirm the diagnosis and rule out any other cause. My GSD would limp on and off, then it gave us a break for about 1 month, and then limped on the other foot again...so I took him back to the vet to do x-rays and confirm the diagnosis. I wanted to be sure he did not have a soft tissue injury because he is very active and loves to high-tail it up and down our sloped property, jumping over bushes and what not chasing his ball and tire toy... We did the xrays and confirmed the diagnosis. Because he is quite active (and did I mention super friendly?) he won't stay still enough for xrays, so they put him under to get good views. While we were at it, we took hips, elbows, shoulders. It was all worth it because I also confirmed how clean his joints are and I now have a good baseline in case of any degeneration or issues in the future.
In terms of using the meds and what happened with my pup: I only gave the Metacam to my dog when he was quite sore/holding up that foot and noticeably ouchy. I did not just give it to him continuously or for very minimal limping (esp if he was acting happy and energetic) primarily because there are potential side effects as Connie mentioned - vet said that was OK. It worked well for us. At the one point when it "came back" after I thought we were past it, the vet gave me the Tramadol as a secondary. I only gave him the 3 pills a day twice in the entire timeframe because he just didn't need it.
If you have not seen this article on Pano (Leerburg article) it may be helpful to you. He discusses OTC meds in here as well as diet. I agree fully with him that diet has a great deal to do with this. My pup was on a partial raw diet - we used Evo + Raw. My mistake was in using the Evo - with all that he grew too fast...thus the Pano (growing pains).
thank you all very much for this. mel your situation sounds like my situation as far as dogs/environment. when/if your dogs get soft
tissue injuries, how do you tell and how do you treat?
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