my st bernard/limping when getting up for a couple months at least????

[Slinkytoys]

The brown spotting is called ticking. It is not considered a fault in the breed. If you would have gotten her from a reputable breeder, you would have had more insight as to the quality of her parentage. Do you know if her sire and dam have any health clearances? Neither clearances nor AKC registration is a guarantee of quality. Champions behind grandparents would be rather far back in the pedigree. Usually vets have no clue as to a show quality dog; if there is a breed club in your area, you might consider having one of the members look at your dog.
Slinky

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Quote:
You can have OFA prelims done at 12 months.

 

[arabianequine]

Quote:
Not sure what clearances are or what to look for? I heard it was called ticking but someone also said she could develope another spot there but I don't think she will and I don't really like the looks of it.

The regional person to contact is not very responsive to my emails.....but I will try.

I know that non of those guarantee show quality my vet never really said much about that.

I know that about the primarily at a year the instructor told me that.

I will get some pics in a bit hopefully.

 

[arabianequine]

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s85/ronnysplymouth/hipsymphony.jpg

Here are some pictures from tonight....she did really good when trying to get her to stack. There is some of her standing and of the ticking.

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

I am no St. Bernard confromation expert. However I would say she is quite well put together compared to what I am used to seeing. She's got a lovely head and expression, nice tight feet, good bone for her age. I am not sure about the standard for her angulation on her hind legs but I will tell you it could be MUCH worse. She looks to have more angulation in her hocks than 85% of the Saints I have had physical contact with. With all that said I have no clue if she would be considered show quality, but I do think she's high quality for a pet dog for sure.

 

[arabianequine]

Great thank you....I still am concerned out the food thing....I am gonna ask my vet today. I got a hold of the regional person for saints with akc in washington it is over on the coast actually and she said take her off puppy food asap and the vet should have told me not to have her on that....the first vet visit was not with my normal vet but I asked over and over the the vet I went to and she could not tell me anything about feed for her. She just went to the vet at 6 months because she has not needed to before this. We were there for shots.

 

[arabianequine]

I am so confused. Some say to excercise her more some say don't, some say to get her xrayed some say don't, some say change her feed some say don't, some of this is conflicting info from two different vets at the same office.....help. I do trust my vet he says he won't be in office till Monday he is on vacation. He is as old as time lol and the best in town....what will I do with out him. I am taking her into the vet on Monday.

This is what the regional person for saints said to me by email......

Hi terina
Your puppy symphony looks cute. I can see you are very excited and proud of her. She looks very small that doesn't mean weight wise..but structurally. With any saint it is very important to always keep them lean. He rear does look very straight stiffled. She has a long neck and small head..long muzzle and no stop. You can on saint bernard club of america and look up breed standards. Just love her and continue to take good care of her.

Sorry....I accidently sent last email before ending...
Just fyi. Id be happy to give other suggestions for her. We always feed ours vit c and you could start her on yucca or glucosamine. For the limping ? Prob panosteitis. I would not xray it won't change anything at this point. Just the most important thing right is get her on an adult food.

I talked to my vet today while he is on the san juan islands on vacation. He said to start with bringing her in for a visit. Then kept saying he does not think I should switch from large breed puppy food but thinks it is a lack of calcuim and vit d something else start with an F or sounded like it to big of a word for me lol....kept saying she would probably be put on this stuff? about 1/4 cup a day that will replace that....did not seem to think xrays would really do much good except give a base he says you won't see much on the first xray you have done.

The other vet in his office a new one I have not meet yet....I talked to her on the phone today and she said I would not change foods any health concerns she should be brought in for a visit and xray.

I talked to another lady that has raised them for 37 years or been involved with them some how from spokane area and she says she has always feed her saints pedigree or purina but also gave them calcuim with vit d and vit c daily with yogurt.....she did agree with the adult food too. She has yet to respond to my pics on her hips she is on dial up and kinda slower at getting around to it.

So I have an appt for monday and will see....I just bought a new bag of dog food so I guess we will finish it out then switch if the meds don't help? I did not want to open it but she is hungry now and we are out.

 

[mekasmom]

DON"T exercise her more. If her hips are weak, and she is still young without all the muscle being well formed yet, it will make the situation worse.

I would see your vet and let her walk for him. He can tell where the pain is coming from.

And especially, get her on a lower protein food. You don't want the bones to grow too fast and cause pano. You need to give the muscles a chance to fill out.

The main thing is to see a vet who knows a lot about giant breed dogs.

 

[arabianequine]

Took her to the vet today....they said her muscle mass was good and right for her age and size and everything. They did put her on some "clovite" this has phosphorous, vit D, calcuim.....2 tablespoons a day for a few weeks then 1 tablespoon for the other days for 6 months....just put it on her dry food and she eats it right up. The vet said she should start to feel better in about a month I should see results. They said if she has other issues with her hips or something else this won't make it better it will continue to get worse. The vet said to keep her on puppy food and not to change it. The vet said he did not care what food she was on but said not reason to change. There were two vets in the room and they both said too high protein has nothing to do with her getting or having pano or hip problems but a lack of the above vitamins/minerals.....which they denied this being they said no xrays cause a waste of money and not gonna show you anything cause she is not fully developed. Vet said she does not need any extra exercise right now she hurts and when she is mature and done growing then can start doing extra exercise vet said she will need more exercise then for now just let her finish growing and be a puppy.

 

[Frosty]

I am not an expert but wanted to mention that most vets do not really have much training on diets, and what they do get usually comes from a representative from Science Diet. I learned this while treating a diabetic cat, and belonged to FDMB. And that information came from TWO vets who also belonged to the group. In all honesty, I would take diet advice from experienced people before I would from the vet. Just my opinion...