[Dailydrool] Pano

[Kay, Nancy K *HS]

Sharon,

Welcome to the Drool and basset ownership (the basset owns you, not the other way around;)

Our basset Sweet Sarah (ATB) had pano when she was about a year old, or maybe 18 months old. I called her breeder, who agreed that's probably what she had. Sarah was limping, and her breeder told us the best "treatment" was resting the joints, and to keep her off any stairs and anything she might jump off. Sarah slept upstairs with us, so we limited her stair trips to one trip up at bedtime, and one trip down in the morning, and we used baby gates to keep her off the stairs the rest of the time. We gave her an occasional buffered aspirin when she looked like she could use one.  I think it only lasted a couple of weeks. That was 13 years ago, so I don't remember for sure!

I've read since then that pano can travel around the 4 limbs, and that it can last a while, or not. It's related to growing, so once they're finished growing, it pretty much disappears. Vets who don't know a lot about bassets can misdiagnose the problem as a torn ligament or a joint misalignment, and sometimes want to do surgery when in fact, that would not be necessary.

Hope that helps,

Nancy, owned by Uncle Frank the Tank
And Sweet Sarah, ATB