Arthur,5 month old setter / Growing pains?

[Howard Glansfield]

 

Arthur is a delightful puppy but my wife and I are a little worried.I am hoping that someone else  may have had a similar experience and can advise.

 Three  weeks before Christmas Arthur suddenly started limping  and not using his right hind leg,it sort of 'dangled '.He was taken to the vet's but the vet could find nothing wrong even though he was limping on this leg.He had restricted walks and was on Metacam which seemed to help.By Christmas his leg was fine,he was walking normally and happily  ran with the other dogs. All was well until Thursday of this week.I was out with him and suddenly he stopped using his right hind leg.Again,like the left one, it just dangled',He was at the vet's yesterday and had x-rays,blood tests and fluid taken from his joints.(£344--Thank God for insurance!)Everything was as it should be and the vet is as mystified as we are.He thinks he may have injured his leg but there was no indication of this. I did not witness anything that could have injured him or see him do anything that would have injured him.The vet also observed that Arthur is a tall  dog for his age and it may be that that is causing the problem.He felt that when he was fully grown the problem will stop.

Today he is using that leg again but every now and then will limp on it.He is back on restricted walks and Metacam.

I will appreciate your opinions.

[Sue and Cash]

My second setter, about 25 years ago, had more than a couple going lame on us episodes.  The vet did all kinds of test and xrays and nothing was found.  They called it growing pains, he said that the bones, ligaments and tendons can grow at different rates and each time the dog recovered within a day or so as if nothing was wrong.  Woke up howling and limping and then rush to the vet....tests and again nothing found and was fine within a few days.  They didn't have large breed dog foods nor did they have calcium levels discussed back then and I never had it with another dog.  I was told that is why controlling the growth rate of larger breeds is so important.  Slow and steady to avoid sudden growth spurts which would cause this. 

[Melinda Auld]

Sounds like panosteitis, to me.  My Labrador had it, and would suddenly limp on any leg, at any time.  Large breeds are more prone to it because they take longer to mature.  What basically happens is that the calcification of the growing bone doesn't happen uniformly, causing "harder" patches.  This causes the dog pain when it walks (my vet described it as the equivalent pain of kicking your shin hard against a table corner!).  They grow out of it once the bone has fully calcified.

[Howard Glansfield]

I thought you'd like an update,Arthur's legs are less problematic.He is filling out and getting better muscle tone.

He came with me to Fred's booster vaccination today.He also received a free examination from his vet which neither I or the dog expected! The vet has now come to the conclusion that it is panosteitis and informs me that it is self limiting so he will 'grow out of it'.

[Sheree Parrish]

Oh that's good news, lets hope he is soon fighting fit...I know my setters pain went as quickly as it had started up.

[Howard Glansfield]

It is now 11 days since I posted and there is no sign at all of any problem with Arthur's legs.His front legs always looked chunky and now his back legs are looking the same.My wife and I are pleased ,to say the least.

[Sheree Parrish]

Brilliant news...fingers crossed it stays that way, no wonder you and your wife are pleased.