[PivothePuppy]

Pivo is a seven month golden we've had since he was 10 weeks. About three weeks ago after 10 days living and playing hard with another puppy he start exhibiting stiffness in his back legs, and rarely, slight limping. One day he would limp on one back leg, the next nothing, the next on the other back, then the front, and so on. He'll get up after lying down for a while and walk without bending his front legs at all.

He gets stiff and walks very odd after only a little exercise now, yet doesn't whine or show any pain, and acts normal when another dog is around. He was neutered about 12 days ago, which was about a week after this began, and x-rays show no signs of hip dysplasia. He has been on Dematrexx before and after the neutering and it has not noticably helped.

Is this normal? Vet said growing pains, could it be a pull/tear or something? Would the vet have seen other issues off hip dysplasia x-rays?

 

[Willow52]

Sounds like panno, which is basically growing pains. He'll outgrow it.

 

[BeauShel]

It might be Pano. Here are some threads that talk about it and maybe some other things to look for. Since you have got the xrays you got the best news that it isnt HD.
http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/showthread.php?t=61379&highlight=Pano
http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/showthread.php?t=69980&highlight=Pano

 

[IowaGold]

Sounds a little like what my puppy is experiencing, except it's just her fronts. She's 6 months old and this has been going on for a bit over a month now. Two weeks ago I decided I'd cure her with radiation and took every possible radiograph of her front legs (9 different views, plus one of the hips for fun). I didn't see anything wrong with them, so sent them to a radiologist to look at. She didn't see anything either (didn't see evidence of pano, but couldn't fully rule it out either). She's been on Rimadyl and Metacam (at different times) and I don't think either have helped.

So...I'm left with growing pains. I have the pup's aunt and I remember her limping on the front end at about this age, too, but I had always assumed she hurt herself since she was such a hard charger (Piper isn't that way, so I don't think she's hurt herself).

Hope your pup feels better soon (and my pup too!).

 

[Gus'sMom]

Hi there - I've been scouring the internet trying to find info on limpness in our (now) 8 month old golden retriever. The same as Pivo, Gus began to exhibit symptoms around 6-7 months. He was neutered in late May and we began noticing it more this past month. We took him in for x-rays and he doesn't have dyplasia. We've also noticed it switching from back to front legs. Was panosteitis the culprit of what occurred in Pivo? We're trying to get answers and I'd appreciate if you could tell me what happened in your case. Thanks!

 

[w00f]

toxoplasmosis or neospora would be two rule outs if this doesn't look like pano.

 

[Popefamily430]

Ugh this will sound terrible but I'm so glad to see someone else dealing with this. My six 1/2 month old puppy has been doing exactly the same thing. About a week ago we noticed that after sleeping once in a while he'd get up and his back legs would be a little stiff. Then nothing. Tonight when I took him for a walk he seemed to be limping a little on his front legs. I thought maybe something was stuck in his paw and did find a foxtail had made it's way between his two front toes but that was it. I was debating on taking him to the vet but was was on the fence seeing as how he doesn't seem to be in any pain and it's not at all a regular occurrence. So now I'm left to wonder how will I know what signs to watch for that it IS something more serious than growing pains, and when do they grow out of the..growing pains stage??

 

[Gus'sMom]

Update on Gus: its been about 4 weeks since I posted and we've seen a HUGE improvement. He doesn't wake up stiff and he'll maybe limp (favor the front/back legs) only after playing rough with another dog at the dog park. Per our vet's advice, we started feeding him glucosamine tablets twice a day (which he loves - this dog will eat anything). She also gave us pills to help relieve his joints if he had any "bad days" which thankfully we haven't had to give yet. We think it is the puppy growing pains and that is also what our vet believes since she didn't find any signs of hip dysplasia. Also, when the x-rays came back - they showed very large growth plates that are still so wide they looked like fractures. This seems to have been the culprit. Good luck to everyone else facing the same symptoms.