A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING BONE DISEASE

A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING BONE DISEASE

By Linda Arndt

This is a copy of the guide I offer my puppy buyers as part of my educational packet. I have been asked to share this with other owners and breeders as support information to be used in conjunction with veterinarian care. Feel free to copy and share with others if you find it useful.

INTRODUCTION

Raising a large/giant breed that first year can be somewhat difficult. One of the major stumbling blocks are 3 common bone diseases we often deal with in these breeds. I would like to discuss the facts/myth of these diseases and give you a way to determine which disease you may be dealing with regarding your puppy. This is not meant to take the place of seeing a veterinarians care. If you suspect your puppy is not well, use this as support information for you and your vet in diagnosing the health problem of your puppy.

DISTINGUISHING FACT FROM FICTION

Fact:	The Orthopedic Organization for Animals states HOD, OCD and Pano are nutritionally causes diseases.
Fact:	In the textbook Small Animal Clinical Nutrition, by Mark Morris 1998 these diseases HOD, OCD and Panosteitis (Pano) are listed under Nutritional Diseases, and not genetic in origin.
Fact:	HOD and septicemia, are NOT the same disease, but share the same symptoms, making it difficult to misdiagnose.
Fact:	All growing puppies, if x-rayed, look as if they have HOD due to fast rate of growth. Therefore, x-rays are not that useful in diagnosing HOD.
Fact:	Most research on these diseases has been done in the equine field rather than the companion animal, or giant breed field.
Fact:	These 3 diseases HOD, OCD, Pano are definitely treatable and do not have to be life threatening. Proper diagonsis and change in feeding program is necessary to correct the problem. Euthanasia does not have to be an option with these diseases.
Fact:	If Septicemia (erroneously called pseudo HOD), is misdiagnosed as HOD, yes, then it can be life threatening. Make sure a blood test/culture is run to correctly diagnose Septicemia.

DEFINITION OF THE THREE BONE DISEASES:

HOD - (Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy)

Normally Affects the Large/Giant Breeds
Dogs Grow Too Fast
A Problem of More Food Calories (Energy Eaten Than Expelled in Activity)

Nutritionally Caused By:
- too many calories consumed
- unbalanced diet disrupted by supplementing
Age Range for Disease
- 10 weeks - 6 months (worst time is 3 months - 6 months)
Symptoms
- early stages: large knotty joints, toes turning in or out
- middle stages: large knotty joints, toes turning in or out, roached toplines, pinched rear end assembly
- advanced stages: fever (104-106), refusal to eat, jaw tender, swelling of joint areas often hot to the touch, animals cry in pain, unable to get up, flat feet, bowing of the limbs, lack of mobility, depression, polyarthritis in all limbs.

Why Diagnosing HOD Can Be VERY Confusing!!

In diagnosis this disease, it of very confusing because the symptoms I have listed above are also the same symptoms that your puppy can have when having a response to the following diseases.

Vaccine Reactions or Vaccine Mediated Response

Allergic Reactions to Antibiotics
- Sulfonamide Drugs (Ditrim, TMZ, TMP/SDZ, Bactrim, Primor, trimethoprim sulfa,septra, cotrim, sulfatrim )
- Keflex (Cefa-Tabs, Cephalexin) these in particular can be a problem to many breeds

Septicemia - a “systemic” infection also known as blood poisoning

These three things “mimic” the same symptoms as HOD which is why so many puppies are misdiagnosed.

How To Determine Your Puppy has “True” HOD

Again true HOD is a nutritionally caused disease so in order to determine if this is the problem or not, we must go through a series of questions to draw an educated conclusion as to what is going on with your puppy. Most of the time your puppy will be at stage three (see above) before a veterinarian will be called on for help. Unless your veterinarian has dealt with many large/giant breeds, they may not be sure how to handle this problem. You can give them a copy of this guideline and it will assist them in determining the cause for your puppy’s symptoms (as described in Stage Three).

When I receive phone calls from breeders/owners or veterinarians for guidance in this particular disease (HOD), we go through a series of questions.

STEP 1: DETERMINE IF DIET IS THE PROBLEM.

Diet - Are you feeding a moderate protein/moderate fat diet? (21%-24% max. protein and 12%-18%fat) this is considered moderate.

If so, this means you are feeding a moderate calorie diet which we know is appropriate for the large breeds to grow slow and even. NEVER FEED A LOW PROTEIN AND NEVER FEED A HIGH PROTEIN. One is not enough in calories the other is too much calories for a growing animal. It is too difficult for the owner to regulate the caloric intake necessary when we are not using moderate foods.

Amount to Feed - this is a general guideline for the giant breeds being fed a moderate food. If your puppy is consuming more daily then these recommendations they may be consuming more calories than the need the results will be "true" HOD.

Guidelines
2 months	2-4 cups per day
3 months	3-5 cups per day
4 months	4-6 cups per day
5 months	5-7 cups per day
6 months	6-8 cups per day
7 months	7-9 cups per day
8 months	8-10 cups per day
9 months	9-11 cups per day

This is a general rule, based on moderate caloric foods and for animals that may be crated during a part of their daily routine or less active during extreme weather conditions.

Are You Supplementing? - if you are supplementing with vitamins, minerals, (calcium) and certain people foods such as rice, cottage cheese, eggs, meat, you might be throwing the balance off of your commercial food as well as adding to the extra calories. NEVER SUPPLEMENT CALCIUM WITH TODAY'S FOODS.

This is not to say you should not use real “FOODS”, but during these delicate growing stages, I recommend we go easy on only use fruits, veggies (Copies of my Feed Program for Adults and Puppies are available upon request.)

Using the above guidelines, if you determine that the dog is not being feed to much food daily and/or the diet is being unbalanced by supplementation, then we must look at other factors. If diet is a problem adjust feeding accordingly based on info above.

STEP 2: ALLERGIC REACTIONS TO ANTIBIOTICS

Is your dog on antibiotics, particularly the ones I listed previously?

It is not at all uncommon for their reaction to happen days after they have been on the drugs. In some animals within 24 hours there is a response with others it maybe up to 7-10 days on the therapy before you notice the symptoms of: polyarthritis, lethargy, swelling in joint areas, fever, loss of appetite. (All the same symptoms as in Stage Three of "true" HOD.)

Treatment:
If you determine the “HOD like” symptoms are due to an allergic reaction to antibiotics, generally the animal is treated with Azium or Pred for 2-3 days. Discuss the course of action with your veterinarian.

Once you rule out antibiotic reaction, we go to step 3.

STEP 3: ADVERSE REACTIONS TO VACCINES

If you determine the “HOD like” symptoms are not due to diet, or antibiotics, then we must look at vaccine reactions.

Did your puppy have an inoculation within the past 7 days? Normally this response happens within 24-48 hours but can come on as late as a week or more past the date of inoculations. The symptoms are the same as in Stage Three of "true" HOD. Polyarthritis, lethargy, swelling of the joint area, fever and loss of appetite.

Treatment: We have found two things helpful in cleansing the system due to this kind of response.

MSM - Nutritional Sulfur I prefer the Vita Flex brand. (800-937-1104)
Dosage is 1/4 tsp up to 45 pounds and 1/2 tsp. up to 90 pounds daily increase according to weight. THE FIRST WEEK DOUBLE THE DOSE, then use once a day.

BioPet Nzymes 877-816-6500
A dietary enzyme (not digestive enzyme) that provides food for the body so it can make the chemicals necessary to heal. These are a natural anti-inflammatory and from a food source. The flush toxins I find it useful to prevent vaccine response, to help heal after a vaccine reaction and a must when putting animals under anesthetic. (For details on this product, see Blackwatch Feed Program OR Click here; http://www.nzymes.com).

STEP 4: COULD THIS BE SEPTICEMIA (SEPTIC-ARTHRITIS) ERRONEOUSLY CALLED PSEUDO HOD?

If you have ruled out diet, antibiotic reactions and vaccine response we must take a look at the possibility of a systemic infection. This could be from taping a joint (avoid this at all costs), a puncture wound, from unsterile ear cropping conditions, a bite or a wound that is undetected.

Treatment: Rather than use harsh antibiotic that may not be necessary, HAVE A BLOOD CULTURE DONE TO CHECK FOR A SYSTEMIC INFECTION AND WHAT ANTIBIOTIC WILL WORK BEST. (Avoid the use of Chloremphenical as it suppresses the immune system and is not meant to be used on growing animals/children. There are other antiboitics available for this problem. Discuss this with your veterinarian.)

* Note: Of the 5200 cases of bone diseases reported to the NATIONAL BONE SURVEY, only two cases of “HOD-like” symptoms were the results of veterinarian diagnosed Septicemia.

THE OTHER BONE DISEASES

The last two diseases I will talk about are not as confusing as HOD. These are rather straight forward and easy to assess.

OCD - (Osteochrondritis Dissecans)

The Separation of Joint Cartilage from Bone
Cause is Rapid Growth
Ages 4-12 months of age
Affects Shoulder, Hocks, Stifles
Cause Excessive Calcium or Mineral Imbalance
Nutritionally Caused Disease (as proven in Equine research)
Symptoms

- Lameness. Pain present at flexing the joint. Can happen in more than one joint.

This is defect in the cartilage the overlaying or attaching to the bone does not take place properly and a small piece or flap peels up and acts as an irritant.

Suggestions for Prevention:

Feed a moderate protein/calorie, high quality diet in normal amounts
Feed only a food that has chelated or sequestered minerals in it for proper utilization and making bone and cartilage.
Supplement with Vitamin C (1000-1500 mg) daily. If an animal can not tolerate regular ascorbic acid Vitamin C, then and ESTER - C will work

· MSM - Nutritional Sulfur (800-937-1104)

Course of Action: If this is diagnosed early enough it may be possible to repair the problems with changes in diet and the use of Adequan or products which support joint nutritional supplement. Sometimes surgery to remove the piece of cartilage is the only option. Discuss this with an Orthopedics veterinarian if surgery is a possibility.

* as a note of interest, when I ran the National Bone Survey in this breed, 1991 we had over 3,237 cases of veterinarian diagnosed bone diseases reported to the survey. Of those numbers, 517 were OCD cases. Of those cases all were fed the same 3 commercial dog foods. Interesting isn’t it! Or was that just a coincidental?

*Note : Once in a while an animal has been injured, the trauma to that area will cause OCD in a joint. When it is nutritionally cause is it often in more than one joint. Make sure you don’t excuse your feeding program problems and call the problem “injury” related. Breeders have a tendency to stick their head in the sand.

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PANO - (Panosteitis)

Pano, is what breeders affectionately refer to this disease. It is the least invasive and least threatening of the three bone diseases discussed in this article.

Wandering Lameness (Eosinophilic Panosteitis)
Also Known As Growing Pains in Dogs (and Children)
Rapid Rate of Growth
Spontaneous Recovery/ Self Limiting Disease
Achy Arthritis, if it lasts long periods of time their may be muscle wasting
6 - 14 months (9-12 months being the likely period)

Suggestion for Prevention: Feeding a moderate diet in moderate amounts to keep growth slow and even. Excessive feeding can actually alter the length of bone and shape of muscle making an animal unsound in their development.

Moderate High Quality Food
A Balanced diet
Biopet Nzymes (877-816-6500)

Course of Action:

Look At Diet and Amount Being Fed
MSM- Nutritional Sulfur (800-937-1104) works on the bodies metabolism and electrical system
Biopet Nzymes(877-816-6500)
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IN CONCLUSION:

The previous three diseases are difficult to diagnose at times. It requires looking at a total history of the animal, including feeding, medications, vaccines, injuries, surgeries etc.

I hope this method of discussing these problems makes it a little easier to understand and helps you find a solution, when and if you have these problems.

Remember two heads are better than one, do not hesitate to call me and discuss the problem. Hopefully we can find the cause and treatment for the situation along with help from your veterinarian.

Linda Arndt
Canine Nutritional Consultant

N'zymes donates 3% of all proceeds of sales thru this link to Great Dane Rescue, Inc

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