Pain in Elbows and Hips

[ferris'_dad]

My 4 month old English Mastiff puppy, Ferris, starting crying out in pain a few days ago at random times. The crying sessions usually last 15 seconds to a minute. I immediately took him to the vet who did x-rays.

They haven't given me a solid answer yet, but suggested it may be one of two things:
- Growth deformity or dysplasia
- An injury sustained while playing

I have posted a video of some of one of his “crying sessions†[video=youtube;9hoKuc4BgXQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hoKuc4BgXQ[/video]

The pain is most predominate in his left elbow and right hip.

Has anyone dealt with something similar?

 

[Wyo- Dogue de Bordeaux]

I have with a Saint Bernard that ended up having hip and elbow displasa. You might want to go see a specialist and have them take x-rays. They can give you a more definite answer and if he does have it they can discuss options on ways to improve it and even surgery.




Wyoming Dogue De Bordeaux

 

[musicdeb]

I feel so bad for Ferris and for you. It appears it's an injury. It's hard to keep the pups from playing hard when they are young. Please keep us posted. He's so precious!

 

[mimismom730]

My pup is around the same age as yours and I can only imagine how you are feeling, I hope everything turns out ok.

 

[musicdeb]

How's Ferris today?

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

Aww poor Ferris. He doesnt like the camera either does he. :-( Wish I could help you and you find an answer soon.

 

[Robtouw]

My last OEM around the same age had a few times where he did the same, but with us it turned out that he was growth related. He played pretty hard and was stubborn about climbing on the couch, chair, steps, and would jump down hard. We did xrays and they were normal. At different points during his rapid growth in the early months he was achey. I'm hoping that your xrays also reveal a healthy growth pattern. Best wishes!

 

[ferris'_dad]

Thank you all for your thoughts and information. At this point we don't have any answers and the attacks have somewhat gotten worse. Today he had one that lasted almost 4 minutes and during the attack as I tried to help him he bit me. I'm sure he wasn't aware of what was going on. We have put him on anti-inflammatory and pain medication but it hasn't stopped...

What's so confusing about them is how they just start randomly without any link to movement, eating or sleep.

 

[mx5055]

I'm so sorry Ferris is in pain. I hope you get some answers soon.

 

[RissyRenee]

Aw, I hope you can get an answer regarding Ferris' pain! Poor babe! It is never easy seeing you dog in pain

 

[ferris'_dad]

Well, Ferris is spending the day at the vet office having a series of tests done. They are now looking at possibly the pain being linked to a pinched nerve or slipped disk in his neck. We have noticed that the attacks are coming on exactly 8 hours after he is given pain medication.

I was able to catch the last 30 seconds of another "attack" last night that occurred around 3am. It hurts me to even share this video, but I am posting this in case anyone has ever had experience with a pinched nerve/slipped disk so they can compare his pain to what their dog experienced.


I warn you the video is somewhat disturbing.

[video=youtube;yVgqOcNHabY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVgqOcNHabY[/video]

 

[Robtouw]

I've had a pinched nerve in my back and from my experience the shooting pain comes out of nowhere and is pretty intense! I would hope between the nerve/disc its the pinched nerve, if so it will heal over time with pain meds & massaging. I hate to see such a sweet boy in pain, hope he gets well soon!

 

[musicdeb]

OMG! Poor baby. I hope they find out what is wrong Ferris. Heartbreaking...

 

[Kelly]

Oh my! Im going thru the same thing he is right now...couldn't get in to see doc til next week but missed 2 days work cus I couldn'tmove! Poor Ferris. Has a determination been made yet?

I could only watch 15 seconds of that vidio....poor little fella.

 

[ferris'_dad]

Thankfully, it seems we have made it thru this and he is doing fine now. After a lot of tests and lab work we discovered the root of the pain was simply growing pains...

We made some changes to his diet including lowering the protein and calcium he was eating and increasing the fat. With 24 hours of changing his diet the attacks stopped and he has been doing great since!

Thanks everyone for your comments, if there is one piece of advice I can take from this experience its this: Work with your vet and/or breeder to make sure you have the correct diet for your dog. Every breed has different dietary needs and its worth the time and money to get them the right food!

 

[silentm]

We have a 6mo CC and he is going through some pain in his shoulder and elbow. We aren't sure if it is growth related or just an injury. Could you tell me what you changed Ferris' diet from/to? This is the second time in two months he has injured himself.

 

[ferris'_dad]

We have a 6mo CC and he is going through some pain in his shoulder and elbow. We aren't sure if it is growth related or just an injury. Could you tell me what you changed Ferris' diet from/to? This is the second time in two months he has injured himself.

We were feeding him Nutro Puppy and adding some plain yogurt to it. We switched him to Nutro Large Adult and stopped supplementing yogurt. As it was explained to me by our breeder, giant breed dogs require higher levels of fat in their food and less protein. Within 1 day of changing Ferris' diet he was noticeably better and his attacks stopped completely. I hope this helps and you find a solution for your puppy.

One more piece of advice, we spoke with 2-3 vets, none of whom really gave us good solutions. It wasn't until we spoke with our breeder, who knew what to do immediately, that we were able to resolve the problem. If you haven't already I would contact your breeder, they may have seen this before in other puppies form the parents.

 

[silentm]

We were feeding him Nutro Puppy and adding some plain yogurt to it. We switched him to Nutro Large Adult and stopped supplementing yogurt. As it was explained to me by our breeder, giant breed dogs require higher levels of fat in their food and less protein. Within 1 day of changing Ferris' diet he was noticeably better and his attacks stopped completely. I hope this helps and you find a solution for your puppy.

One more piece of advice, we spoke with 2-3 vets, none of whom really gave us good solutions. It wasn't until we spoke with our breeder, who knew what to do immediately, that we were able to resolve the problem. If you haven't already I would contact your breeder, they may have seen this before in other puppies form the parents.

We have been feeding Cooper Natural Balance Alpha Dog Trout. He seemed to be allergic to chicken, so the selection is kind of limited. The food has 26% Protein and 11.5% fat. The Nutro Large breed had the same protein content and a little more fat. Do you think it would be beneficial to change if only to gain a little in the fat and not reduce the protein content?

 

[Smart_Family]

It's actually calcium you want to be concerned about not protein.