Results

Ross

Finally we had a call from vets yesterday as they had received Ross' results. The orthopedic specialist concludes that there is no apparent abnormality on Ross' elbow Xrays. They suggest that if symptoms persist or worsen we should consider a CT scan in future to our rule Elbow Dysplasia but considering his age and breed they suggest pano is the likely cause of lameness.
Just a reminder" ...Panosteitis (Pano) refers to a short-lived (self-limiting) and painful condition characterized by limping and lameness. ... The inflammation can affect one or more of the dog's limbs, making it challenging and painful to move around. .."
I must admit I thought this Xray would out rule E.D, but as I read on it seems a very complicated condition to diagnose. Now of course I'm over the moon with these results, I'm hopeful that if an orthopedic specialist can not see the tiniest bit of abnormality than there shouldn't be any. If he had the slightest concern then they would have been calling him in for further tests. My vet thought she could see something, but was honest enough to say it needed a specialist to clarify if there was a problem, or not! My only disappointment here is that she did not Xray the long bones individually as I requested as this could have shown if pano was present. But, it only shows when it's resolving, so doesn't give a definite diagnosis I'm told.

Lia

So the diagnosis of Pano still leaves me a little baffled. I've seen Pano before, as have friends in their dogs. Everyone agrees it is excruciatingly painful for the dogs, at times they can hardly move .. but Ross is jumping off the furniture and climbing the walls! Though of course he could have a higher pain threshold than dear Lia had and it could explain his total over reaction to his hind legs been manipulated by the vet. At that time they could have been horrendously painful.
So what of the elbow pain? There is no doubt there has been pain in that area, hopefully just caused by the fact his accident prone? The knock he had when he ran into the rock before Xmas was without doubt very painful for him and that was on the upper arm, so hitting into that could well have jarred the elbow and caused the pain? Maybe he damaged a ligament or had soft tissue damage? Maybe he had this pain and mild pano in the front right? (I presume they can get mild pano?)
Anyway, onward and forward, I'll keep him on the turmeric and fish oil until he's at least 12 months old and at 13-15 months as finances allow I'll have his hips and elbows screened for scoring ...
Now I need to get ready to go to the vet with Loki .. one thing after another here but to be fair he's not been since he was a pup! Update on his personal problem later  ...