[ginnie5]

I'm really afraid that Bandit has it. Right now there is NO money for the vet either. Dh is still out of work (on an interview today though) and we just don't have any extra $. Here's what has me concerned. In June Bandit had a problem while playing and could not get up. It didn't last long and in a few days he was fine. He's been fine till yesterday when it happened again. The episode didn't last long and he was back up and moving soon. Sometimes when he runs he has the bunny hop thing going on and sometimes not. I've also noticed that when this thing happens he grows really fast around that time. In the last week he has passed our golden in height and probably weight. That alone makes me think that this may just be a growing issue (hoping)? so until we can get back on our feet I need to do whatever is possible to help him along. I've been reading about glucosamine, msm, vit c, chrondroitin sulfate, and msm as help for this. anyone have dogs that successfully live with this?
And it may be just normal growing for a pyr and me being paranoid. All my experience is with labs and I know how clumsy they are so this may be normal?
I'm going to do the best I can for him and as soon as our financial situation straightens out the first thing that happens is a vet visit.....I just don't know any that will do this on a payment plan.

 

[cricket]

It's possible that he does have it. I can't remember though, what breed is he? I'm thinking he's something rather large like a pyr though....

Vit c and fish oil are your best bets. You can use the Glucosimine but it has to be over 1500mg/day to do anything. Much of what happens later is going to be determined by what you feed him now. I know money is tight so I'm not going to preach at you...Just when you can, I would seriously look at raw or a raw formula food or a really good premium like Eagle Pack.

He's probably "dislocating" that femur during these episodes... Try to keep him from running. I know, easier said than done.

 

[ginnie5]

He's on nutro natural for large breeds......I stocked up before $ got tight. Yes he's a pyr. I'm going to try and keep him on that if at all possible. I have coupons for $2 a bag and found it $2 cheaper at another store. I did just find a local dealer for eagle pack too so I need to check their prices as I've never been in their store. I was led to believe that Nutro naturals is a good brand.

 

[GoatsRus]

Hip Dysplasia happens alot when dogs are inbreed. I know, I have a chow that has severe hip dysplasia. We found out about it when she was 6 months old. The vet x-rayed her hips and both are bad - needed surgery (approx $3K back then). They were going to do one leg at a time. Before we went through with the surgery, they found out her knees were also bad so they couldn't operate on her. She turned 14 this past June. We started her on Glyco-Flex at 6 months per the vets instructions. She's done really well (just no jumping down from any where) until this year. She's going down fast. We carry her up and down the stairs and put her in the yard to do her business. She kid of hops to get around. We only leave her outside long enough to go and bring her back in. She just sleeps all day. We still give her the glyco-flex, but also give her bute for the pain (she doesn't complain so we just assume there might be pain) and inflammation. Right now it's just a wait to see if she'll make it through this year.

 

[Selena]

Our golden retriever was the next to worst on the scale (3 out of 4 which was the scale at the time). Nothing better than a hunting dog that had to be lifted over the fence but had a mouth so soft she could retrieve clay pigeons without breaking them. My spouse kept her weight down (easier when we did not live on the farm) and took her swimming for exercise (weather permitting here in IL). She went for walks but we did very little jumping/running, she just could not do much of it. But she seemed to know her limitation and tended to conserve energy - she would find a spot outside where she could see us and keep cool thus she did not have to get up and down a lot. I wish we had A/C when we had her, hot weather was tough on her. But at least out basement stairs were only 4-5 carpeted down, then a landing then 3-4 carpeted down.

 

[cricket]

Nutro Naturals is a very good food but it does have grain...(Just had to say that since I'm a raw kinda gal...) I'd add the fish oil and garlic.....

 

[Maura]

Growing dogs sometimes don't have all parts growing at the same rate, so they are little clumsy. Nutro Natural is one of the good foods, perhaps not the best. Give your dog raw meaty bones to chew on. He will get all the bone growing nutrition he needs from bones (correct balance of calcium, chondroitin, potassium, etc). You don't have to go raw if you don't want to, but bones are a wise investment.

 

[bluefish]

Just have to second the raw and vit C if you're ever able. Did wonders for my dog! She's been living with hip dysplasia for 5 years so far.

 

[Selena]

With proper care, your dog should be ok. Our vet at the time we had the golden, bred goldens. He had put down puppies of less than 1 year due to bad hips/pain but had others that lived to 12-13 years old. He did not expect ours to live past 5, she was 13 when we PTS (for a gamut of health problems besides the dysplasia).

 

[ginnie5]

we have three dogs and if one has a bone they will all expect them.....and one will fight over them (our golden). Also Bandit has growled at the other dogs over a chewie before. They're all inside/outside (lately with this heat inside as they don't want to be out long and trying to limit what Bandit is doing)so how do you avoid aggression? Once deer season hits I'll have plenty of bones for them I hope. Usually in season they get all they want and I freeze the extras till they need them. Other than hunting where is a good source to get bones cheaply?

 

[Rogo]

Sounds like a good candidate for food (codex) grade diatomaceous earth (DE).

 

[busybee870]

you can ask at the meat department at your local grocer, we ask and they give us as much as we want, packaged and free

 

[cricket]

Local proccessors, butchers, small grocery store butchers, freecycle...and I'm trying to think of some more.

 

[Vanne]

Google "pano" It's a painful problem for growing dogs. But they grow out of it with no treatment. Best thing for it is the raw meat and raw bone diet with salmon oil and vitamin E.

 

[HOTW]

I agree on Pano, it is pretty common in Pyrs esp if they are doing a huge growth at one time. Seen it more than a few times int he breed. Go with the suggestions, funny thing is I've never heard any raw feeders talk about experiencing it.

 

[cricket]

All large and giant breeds are prone to pano. The wonderful thing is that they usually grow out of it...But it can be debillitating. The only thing is...I've never heard of one having it in the hind legs though.

And no, usually raw fed dogs don't suffer from pano. If raw is fed correctly (pay attention to ratios and vitamins, etc) the growth is slow and even and so there aren't any problems. Raw fed dogs also rarely bloat...

 

[Maura]

You can buy enough bones for everyone to have one, or isolate Bandit with his treasure. You don't want to keep bones for more than three days at a time as they will dry out.