Oban went for a chiropractic treatment Oct. 15 to see if we can help the mystery limp in his right front leg.  The limp is intermittent and barely perceptible and has been going on for about two months.  He is on rest and leashed outings to bathroom only.  Anti-inflammatory effect wore off the minute the dose was finished. At the Vet's, where he has not yet displayed his limp, he has been manipulated, rotated, squeezed, poked, prodded and Xrayed to no avail; no reason for the limp can be found.  And no pain response can be elicted.

To bring anyone with a suggestion further up to date, we have Xrayed and found no sign of pano or OCD.  Bursitis, Lyme and E. Canis have all been discounted as being too remote to be possible.  A referral to an ortho. Vet is possible but has not been requested at this point.

Oban had his chiro. appt. on Wed. and the Vet still sees no sign of limping.  I didn't either, while I was there.  Chiro. manipulation did produce a click in Oban's right shoulder, something that has clicked very infrequently since we got him.  Also a flinch in his back so minute as to be almost missed.  Less than the flinch your dog might make to disturb a fly tickling him.  Maybe something, maybe not. 

We are to wait 48 hours, continue the resting and short walks.  Then the Vet wants Oban to be let free to mosey around the backyard at will and in the house.  He knows we have stairs.  No exceptionnally wild and crazy movement is to be allowed.  And, he wants us to take him on longer walks and do some slow jogging, on-leash.

We will all be much happier.  Oban is going stir crazy and his behaviour and training have regressed since his incarceration in the kitchen.  Keeping a pent up pup from going wild and crazy when he is first allowed some freedom will be a trick.   And then, will it all work?  We have another Chiro. appt. for next Wed.

Has anyone else been given such directions?  Rest is what is usually advised but has not accomplished much and maybe is old treatment?  I know people with some back ailments used to be advised to bed rest and that changed to moderate movement when it was found too much resting just causes everything to seize up, and in potentially a wrong position.

How old is Oban? Sorry if I missed it.

oops, sorry, I cut out some stuff from the original post.  He was one on Oct. 15.

We just got back from his first slow jog.  The 48 hours are up.  He is one happy little manpup.  I don't see any worse limping but it may show up more after he wakes up and moves around.  I don't see any limping really.

Ah, the sounds of puppy snoring once again soothe me as I work in my office.  :)

The reason I asked is because it may be Panosteitis, if it is, and I would be inclined to think it is likely, the problem is not easy to diagnose but it is self limiting and will normally go in 6 to 9 months. Intermittent lameness in a large young animal is fairly common and usually turns out to be Panosteitis, you do have to rule out other conditions of course, and if you need a definite diagnosis then ask you vet about the possibility of this condition and ask to see a specialist, very good x-rays are required to get a positive diagnosis and sometimes even then it is impossible to see any changes in the bone.

Nova ...previous post states pano rule out.

I trust chiroprators they seem to notice misalignment at a glance which could completely throw everything out and cause him to limp , puppies fling themselves around and too much exercise early on can cause so many problems .

hope he gets sorted out soon

Roni

Thought that was just from an x-ray your own vet had taken - sorry must have miss read and not realised he had seen a specialist.

Mentioned it as I have been there loads of test at my vet, mega cost, no result. But a different story when I saw a specialist, they even used the x-ray my vet had taken took one look and said to me there it is, see it, typical Pano. To he honest I could not see a thing but within a month or two the problem stopped, dog was on no medication or special treatment and it never returned.

He has only been seen by our own Vet.  A  referral to an ortho. Vet is a possiblity.  I will ask about it at our next chiro. appt.

There was no limping yesterday after the slow jog but I had the little monkey out with me in the backyard, just moseying around, when the OH came home.  Off Oban went in the kind of wild and wooly Labrador puppy antics that are exactly what he is not supposed to do.  Later we saw more pronounced limping that was again intermittent.  By intermittent I mean a couple of seconds limp downstairs.  Back upstairs to visit me and no limp.  It does seem as if the twisting action of that wild kind of running around might exacerbate the limp.

Nova, when your pup had Pano did it move from leg to leg?  Oban's limp has been in the same leg for nearly two months now.

It's the movement Rx I was questionning here, as it did seem contrary to most advice I heard and saw elsewhere.  Is this something new?   Any other comments appreciated as well.

No my pups lameness was on just the one leg, a front one but can't remember which. because sometimes it was not there at all it was difficult for the vet to actually see what I was talking about, think the adrenalin caused by visiting the vets made all lameness go. It did not seem related to exercise either, if I remember correctly it could happen when walking calmly and not when playing the idiot. 

Not sure the chiro. will be of any help if the problem is in the leg as they only deal with backs. An osteopath or orthopaedic surgeon may be of more help.

Well, the boy is limping again and it is more noticeable.  Can't reach the Vet till Monday but will lay off the jogging.  OH thinks he can see swelling in the right shoulder.  Not sure myself.  Oban is a pretty well muscled fellow.  If there is swelling it is not painful to touch.

I thought pano typically moved from one leg to another, but not always evidently.

Typically yes, but I have had in my time 3 dogs suffer with it and only one had the pain move from leg to leg. Sorry to hear your dog is lame again, hope you can soon get to the bottom of the problem, if you think it is in the back have you had an x-ray done of the back and if so what did it show.

We've now had a second chiro appt. and will try two more.  If the limping has not cleared up by then we will discuss as to how to proceed.  An ortho. referral could be made.  In the meantime, since I cut out the jogging he is still limping but not as badly.  And still intermittently.  This was the third time at the Vet's and the Vet still has not actually seen any limp himself. 

The Vet no longer suspects the back.  He is tending toward some kind of miss-alignment in the shoulder, because he felt something move under manipulation.  Or tendonitis or bursitis in that area.  I've had tendonitis and bursitis myself and was prescribed anti-inflammatories (so I could sleep at night) and exercise.  I still do the exercises today as a preventative.

We are continuing with free movement in the house and backyard and leashed walking ( I walk quickly and pup trots along) three times a day for 10 to 20 minutes each time.  Vet has suggested changing to a food with green lipped mussel in it.  I am researching supplements instead.  We are already supplementing with glu/chon/msm.  I could easily add the GLM and not have to change food, which would be easiest and probably less expensive.  Plus most prepared dog food has little of those supplements in, per feeding, anyway.

Always open to ideas and suggestions.

what did the chiropractor say??

The Vet. is the chiropracter.

oh right LOL

Well, I see that I did not specifically say that so there was certainly cause to wonder.  And now I have noticed it is spelled OR at the back, not ER.  Chiropractor.  :) 

This Vet is also a homeopathic Vet.  Homeopathy is something I am not really familiar with so I expect I will learn lots of new things from him.

Your vet does seem to have taken on a lot of different hats, think I would be asking to see a orthopaedic specialist.

I don't know anything about his two specialties, chiro. and homeopathy (better spell that one right out :))  There is an animal chiro. in town, who started out as a human chiro.  I have no idea what it takes to specialize in either discipline, if they can be called that.  Maybe I will look some things up on the net and see what I find.

If you ask your vet to be sent to a specialist they should refer you, or you could ask for a second opinion.

Realised you are not in the UK but in Canada, it may well be that things are different there and you will have to find your own specialist but I would have thought your vet could have helped and given you some names to try, because before you have a sound diagnosis there is not a lot of point in treating as you don't know what it is you are treating.

I think it's pretty well the same here. We have already discussed referral to an ortho. Vet.  This Vet hospital does have an arrangement with an ortho. Vet.  That reassures me that they will not attempt to keep us hanging on with them for fear of losing business.

I did look up accreditation in homeopathic and chiropractic veterinary and found my Vet's name listed in some areas with advanced training.  I also found referrals to him from happy people.  If Vets can specialize in opthamology, dentistry or orthopaedic then I suppose the only difference is the body doing the accreditation which in this case is the AVMA.  For my Vet.

At this point I'm sure he is doing the best he can for my pup and I realize chiro. is not a one time thing, that several manipulations are the norm before results are seen.  I agree though, we don't know what we are treating.  However, I think I will continue with at least one more chiro. appt.  It's on Wednesday and I won't likely get a referral to an ortho. Vet before that anyway.  I don't feel I can honestly say Chiro. is not working till I follow it to conclusion.

In the meantime the limping is not improving.  If anything it is worse with the prescribed 3 x daily, trotting.  It is really hard to tell.  I watched as closely as I could yesterday and the darn pup will limp noticeably for seconds and then not at all.  On one walk.

I have not seen your dog and I am not a vet but everything you describe seems so familiar that I would put money on it being pano, mind you I also have a reputation of being wrong. Thing is if it is pavo you will probably find he will stop limping before you get a diagnoses.

It's gotten worse.  Wednesday Vet/Chiro did another manipulation, dosed him up with Rhus Tox (which is made of poison ivy!).  Reported to Vet that the head bob is now obvious and on the right leg, not the left.  But still intermittent.  Up till now the limp disappeared completely with mild exercise but this morning (Thurs.) it got worse with exercise to the point he would not even put the left front down.  Of course this would all happen the odd day the OH did his morning walk so I didn't see it.   Arrrggghhhh.

Think I am worried about your dog as much as you are; has the Chiro vet x/rayed your dogs back before manipulating it? I would take yourself and your dog off to another vet for an opinion because it would seem the treatment your dog is getting is making matters worse and doing nothing at all to help.

Don't remember if I said in the other thread but Xrays were taken of shoulders, front legs, hips and back before any chiro was done.  Nothing looked amiss.  Vet will call for a phone consult today.  We are not even taking the poor dog out of his own yard for his pooper walk today, in order to limit his walking.  He is going to have to be on-leash for even that because this morning he took off after a squirrel and went "A over A" BANG, SLAM into the corner of a retaining timber on his right shoulder.  Didn't seem to have any effect on him but can't have been good.  I am going to ask if this latest worsening of the limp should change how we proceed.

Manipulation of the spine worries me when no problem was evident from the x-ray, did the chiropractor give you a reason for the manipulation and explain to you on the x-ray what was wrong?