Hey folks... my 8.5 month old GSD male was just diagnosed with possible Pano. He's been limping for about a week, and Ascriptin doesn't seem to be doing any good. He whines and moans quite a bit (more than usual, anyway) so I took him up to the vet for a checkup. She did a full workup on his legs, elbows, paws, etc. and suggested that he's in pain due to growing pains.

Anyway, she prescribed an NSAID called Deramaxx, and I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this drug. I have read good things about it, as well as horrible things. The vet took blood to do a workup to be sure he would be ok with the drug, and the test came back fine. After reading some of the negatives though, I'm hesitant to give it to him. I just hate seeing him in pain, even if it is supposed to be temporary.

I read Ed's article on Rimadyl before, so I flat out told my vet that I wouldn't put him on it.

EDIT: Also wanted to note that she though we could try this route for a few days before resorting to an X-Ray, since he's very squirmy and nervous up on the table... we would have to sedate him, which I am quite fearful of. If he doesn't show signs of improvement soon, I guess I will have no choice, however.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!

-Lee

It's hard to watch your pup suffer with Pano. Mine had flareups until he was about three. We managed the worst parts with rest and sometimes Rimadyl or aspirin. The lameness would usually abate in a week or so.

I believe Cindy Rhodes once mentioned that she has not had a case of pano on any of her dogs she had on a raw diet. I wish I had known that then.

Deramaxx and Rimadyl are both powerful drugs and as such should be used with care. Both can be used sucessfully. Both can cause problems in certain dogs.

Deramax is a Cox-2 inhibitor and has virtually the same molecular structure as the popular human arthritis drug, Celebrex. Both drugs are often used to treat arthritis in dogs and people with good results.

With Deramaxx, the lethal side-effects are associated with how fast the dog can metabolize the drug. Dogs that take longer to metabolize the drug will allow it to accumulate in their system. The elevated drug levels can then attack the kidneys, liver and stomach lining.

Dogs that metabolize it quickly will have a shorter period of pain relief. However, they are not likely to have serious side-effects.

If your vet didn't supply the patient label information, here is a copy of the information from Novartis, http://www.deramaxx.com/content/info.asp

Here is another website with a good description of how the drug works and possible problems.
http://home.insightbb.com/~e.murray/Overview/Overview.htm

Briefly, you need to watch for the following :

Vomiting

Change in bowel movements such as diarrhea or change in stool color

Change in drinking or urination

Decrease in appetite

Behavioral change such as depression or restlessness


Your vet should also do a blood screen to rule out any liver or kidney problems prior to prescribing the drug.

An X-ray would conclusively diagnose pano. You will set a kind of mottled appearance on the bone -- scarring actually. Its probably not really worth putting the dog under to do the x-ray unless the vet strongly suspects some other type of problem.

I would strongly suggest you go to Marina Zaccharia's website at http://www.naturalrearing.com order up some pano remedy.. it works terrific..

Thanks so much for you help guys. Apollo is on the raw diet at night, and he gets a mix of kibble and quality canned in the morning (Natural Balance and Canidae). However since he began limping around, he doesn't want anything to do with the kibble/canned food. He still wolfs down his raw though.

I don't think I will risk putting him on the Deramaxx unless he's doing really bad. I'll check out that other remedy as well. Thank you!

-Lee