If the breeder has had relatives of your pup that have had pano, the chances for your pup having it increase. The breeder is correct that it is more common in males than females; the ages where it occurs follow a bell curve, appearing as early as 6 mos. and tapering off around 18 mos, tho cases have occurred as old as 5 yrs. It does only occur in the long bones, it doesn't involve the joints, and it is self-limiting. There are three stages to pano, and the second stage (if I remember right), which is the painful one, always shows up on xray, so you don't have to guess if it's pano or not - a vet who's good with xrays can always pinpoint it. While Ascriptin does help to relieve the pain, Piroxicam is showing a remarkable ability to eliminate clinical symptoms, altho the changes to the bony matrix will still take months to complete.

Jeannette,

Is your dog still lame? Is he still walking on only three legs or is he using four with a limp? I had two dogs with Pano, mom and son. They were effected in the front legs and when I had my males elbows sent into to OFA they said Elbows were clear but marked other as Pano. If your dog is walking around with the leg tucked up under him then I would say it's something different than pano but only x-rays will be able to make that diagnosis. I'm sure the vet will palpate all joints including the spine. Keep us posted.

Jeannette,
I am sorry that you do not have a supportive breeder. I have learned alot from my pups breeder and my current pup is a replacement for the previous GSD from her. Once he was diagnosed with HD all she asked was that he be neuthered and to send the vets statement. I would then keep the GSD and she would send me another pup whever I was ready. The new pup was also covered by the guarante. I have never had her lecture me or make arrogant statements to me , even when having to tell her that one of her pups had not only HD in both hips but also ED in the front left elbow (however the GSD never acted like it and played as if nothing was wrong).
As far as Pano all my GSDs (never had any females) have had pano at one time or another. Once I switched to adult food the pano went away. So what I have learned is that perhaps I had waited to long before switching to adult food. If I had listened to the breeder I would have switched to adult food earlier but wanted to finish the puppy food before switching. I do hope that in your case it is just panno and nothing more

Thanks for the replies!!!

Nero's breeder is a nut case, as you can see by her response to me. I take great offense to having my intelligence insulted, but given where it is coming from, I shouldn't care!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> She is obviously a legend in her own mind!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Anyway, Nero is not lame at all now. He shows no signs of discomfort.He just had that 1 episode of tucking the leg up under him. I did notice that he does that" bunny hop" type gait on occasion, but not alot, only for a few strides, like if he is rushing to get to his peeing spot etc.

I wish I could say I think it must be pano, but I can't help but have a nagging sense that it is not. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

OK, here is the outcome of our visit to see Dr. Whitefield:

Assessment: Pano, rt hind leg.
Clinical/physical exam: Neg for dysplasia.
Conclusion: Dog needs more conditioning excersise to build muscle mass, suggests swimming,walking, running.OFA prelim to be done at 1 year of age and
f/u w/Dr. at that time unless any developments happen before then.

Thanks to all of you for being so informative and supportive. The past few weeks have been worrisome for me and I feel much better now, but without all of the feedback from everyone on this board I probably would have lost my mind <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I have been learning so much from you all and I am grateful.... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Thank again!!

Jeannette

Glad to hear it was just pano!

another thing to keep in mind-patellar luxation (kneecap 'out of joint'). My pup just had surgery last week. She sporadically limped several months ago then it went away. Two weeks ago it came back and we got her fixed up.

I don't know how common it is in GSD's, but something to consider if it comes back in the future. One of the strong indications is when the dog limps, his foot will be turned in while his hock points out.

Adam, thanks, but his knees are fine.He had a VERY thorough exam by Dr. Whitefield and he was confident in saying that he has no other problems at this time, and also credited my strict dieting (barf and kibble, adult food)as the reason why his problem was very minimal.

I truly appreciate all of the helpful thoughts from everyone!!!

The only thing that Dr. Whitefield said I needed to do was to get him more conditioned muscularly.He wants me to bulk him up w/walking, swimming or jogging on a regular basis.He said playing w/ Bella isn't the kind of exercise that he means either! He wants him to build up muscle mass in his shoulders( he said he was slab sided, and that he should be more built!! Too bad I can't take him to a gym for some weight training!!)and hind quarters!!

That is great for me too, it will help me to lose the extra baby weight!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Glad to see things will be ok.

I'm pretty sure that I'd search for a new future breeder also. They had no right to blast you for your concerns for the dog. In fact, they should have been very interested in what the xrays showed and be glad you didn't blow off what could have been a serious problem.