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Panosteitis Dog Bone Disease
By Hannah Serrano
As dog grows, owners should specifically
observe some changes and possible diseases
that may occur in their fast growing dogs. One
of most common sign is limping, and it can be
caused by several problems associated with
bones and bone growth. One of most common dog
bone disease is Panosteitis or "Pano".
Panosteitis is also referred to as growing
pains and wandering leg lameness. This
lameness can last a day to a few weeks. Pano
is characterized by shifting leg lameness; one
leg will heal, then another may be affected.
There are no long-term ill-effects from pano,
but still needs enough attention and proper petsafe
and care to prevent such diseases.
Panosteitis is commonly associated with large
breed dogs and usually occurs in dogs 5 to 12
months of age, although it has been found in
dogs as old as 5 years. Pano most commonly
affects males by a ratio of 4:1. Females are
most often affected around their first heat.
These disease can be considered partially
genetic since so many German Shepherd Dogs are
prone to it. However, many other factors have
been associated with pano: diet, viral
diseases, autoimmune problems, hyperestrogen,
and vascular problems. Other possible causes
include nutritional derangements, immunologic
disease, metabolic disease, and other viruses.
In other words, no one knows what causes it.
Some clinical signs were long bone pain,
shifting leg lameness, fever, anorexia,
lethargy. The common symptoms of Pano are
Lameness that may shift from limb to limb,
pain, fever, and loss of appetite.
Like many problems, pano may be difficult to
diagnose. The dark patches may not appear on
the x-rays. The lameness may not shift to
another leg. It can be extremely frustrating
with many bouts of radiographs. Assuming that
the limping is caused by pano can help delay
diagnosis of other more severe problems. Never
assume that limping is caused by pano without
having it properly diagnosed. This can be very
scary to an owner who up until this point has
had an agile giant puppy who loves to lope
about the house at a full run! Pano is an
inflammation of the bone itself and through
radiographs (x-rays) a vet can often determine
if this is indeed the problem a dog is
experiencing. The dog normally limps on the
affected limb and only rarely holds the limb
to prevent any weight from being placed on it.
It is often easily diagnosed with an x-ray;
the lesion shows as the tell-tale dark patch
on the bone. Pressure applied on the bone
elicits a pain response. Currently, treatment
consists of reduction of the percentage of
protein in the dog's diet and pain management
through the use of buffered aspirin,
Ascriptin, or Rimadyl, or steroids in severe
cases. Restricting the dog's activity has not
been shown to have an effect on the healing
process. Panosteitis is treated
symptomatically. Rest on comfortable dog
crates, exercise restriction, and pain
medication are prescribed. Pain medication is
usually a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory
drug, or NSAID, such as aspirin, etodolac, or
carprofen. Rarely, severely affected dogs may
need more potent pain relief such as narcotic
drugs.
Panosteitis is treated symptomatically. Rest,
exercise restriction, and pain medication are
prescribed. Pain medication is usually a
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or
NSAID, such as aspirin, etodolac, or
carprofen. Rarely, severely affected dogs may
need more potent pain relief such as narcotic
drugs. Currently, a common rumor is that low
protein, low calcium diets may prevent this
condition. It should be noted that the energy
level of low protein/calcium diets is often
lower as well. If this is the case, a puppy
will eat much more of the diet in order to
meet its energy needs, resulting in higher
total calcium consumption. It may be
preferable to feed a puppy diet and restrict
total quantity to keep the dog lean than to
use a low protein/low calcium adult dog food.
Some vets recommend supplementing dogs with
high doses of MSM, glucosamine and vitamin C,
others provide anti-inflammatories to keep
them comfortable. Whatever route you go, keep
exercise to a minimum and know that if it is
indeed Pano, your dog will grow out of it and
will soon be back to his limber self again!
Because of the potential genetic link,
breeding animals should be screened to ensure
that they are not potential carriers of the
disease. Despite the numerous puppy foods
catering to large breed dogs, there is no
current evidence that confirms that these
foods will lower the incidence of the disease
when compared to standard commercial puppy
food. If an animal shows symptoms of the
disease, they should be promptly diagnosed and
treated and exercise and activity should be
reduced until the symptoms have gone away.
There is also known method of preventing
Panosteitis; however, many veterinarians
believe the disease is made worse by
calorie-dense diets and over-supplementation
with calcium and phosphorus. Thus, a diet
change to an adult formula, or a large breed
growth formula, is recommended. The dog should
be fed an amount that does not promote obesity
or overly rapid growth. Calcium and vitamin
supplements should also be avoided.
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