ksmith

Pop is sitting on my lap right now. She doesn't realise anything is wrong with her other then she is not allowed to run around and either has to be held or confined to her crate or puppy pen for toileting. She is using the leg, with the cast on it, and putting weight on it and her surgeon is happy. Into the third week now of ten. Pip is still with their mum and being a massive sook. 10 weeks - at least she's in good hands and I'm glad things are going well for her

I agree. It's back to my old vet on the other side of town. At least I can trust him - always on call, never over-dramatises, just a really cool animal loving guy. By the way I just read Pippy and Poppy's story, the poor little dears. How's Poppy's leg? I hope she's recovering well.

Great to hear. Pretty sure with the reduced feeding things will get back to normal. Did your vet even tell you to cut back her food at all? No. And when I asked whether she thought it was knuckling over she looked at me like I was a bit of an idiot! My intial upset at the vet has now become a bit of anger. Even if she does turn out to be right, which is looking doubtful, she certainly didn't handle it with much sensitivity. And I was thinking if I had never posted I would still be feeding her like I was and she probably would now just be a whole lot worse and I would be none the wiser as to the possibility of it being knuckling over. I guess not all vets are created equal! But it's been great to have more positive advice and opinions from all of you

Thank you Ksmith . Yes, it is a huge difference and sometimes I tend to forget just what a difference it really is until I go back over and compare photos. I hope your boy's problem is something also which can be worked out through diet. If it is (and from what you recently say, then it may well be), then remember not to be in so much of a hurry to load the weight on. Sure ... you want them healthy and with some cover, but the bone structure is the focal point at this stage. If you feed too much it can encourage faster growth spurts, and you don't really want that, assuming carpel laxity is the issue. Bulking out can come later. Yes absolutely. When we got her and she was so skinny my focus was just to fatten her up. Even though I have had three dogs before I had never heard of issues like these. Thanks to all the friendly advice I am now a little bit wiser regarding the nutritional needs of dogs and certainly about the fact that it is such an important issue. I thought I had done my research there's obviously more to do.

WOW! That really is a massive difference. And yes he certainly has grown - what a gorgeous dog. I love ridgies

My pup developed carpal laxity syndrome - signs of which appeared 3 days after he came here (he was 8wo when I brought him home). Like yours, my boy was underweight/nourished (3.5kg at 8wo), so it was a fine line between increasing weight and not feeding too much. If you feed to much, you encourage bigger growth spurts. The bones grow fast, but the ligaments don't keep up, and this causes the twisting/knuckling over. So the condition can be caused by either under-nutrition or over-nutrition. All I concentrated on was keeping weight gain down to about 1kg per week (even though he was very ribby/thin and the temptation was always there to beef him up, this meant for him, feeding less that the prescribed amount). I fed Eagle Pack Holistic for Large Breed Puppies (my boy is a Rhodesian Ridgeback) and within about 6 weeks of feeding this and this only, clear evidence of the condition righting itself was visible. By about 8 weeks in, his front legs were amost completely straightened and his toes weren't stressed either (this is caused by the bowing out affect of carpal laxity and the extra pressure of weight on the outside of the foot). I would definitely recommend you consult a specialist. If it is diagnosed as carpal laxity syndrome, I'd also be somewhat wary of anyone who wants to splint your dog - I believe that's still a fairly common practice and I'm not convinced that's entirely necessary nor necessarily best - but I'm not a Vet/Specialist myself and I can only tell you what worked in my own experience, so check it out first if it comes to that. Thanks Erny. I am seeing a vet I trust greatly on Tuesday, who also happens to have an ortho performing surgery at the practice that day. Both will have a look at her. Just out of interest how did your dog grow. Is he normal size now?

Hi all! I'm cautiously optimistic with regards to our pup's foot. This morning, after cutting back on her food for trhe past couple of days, it looks so much better! It looks like you all might be right and the vet may have got it wrong - here's hoping. I am still taking her for a second opinion on Tuesday, but if it keeps going the way it is I think we will be okay. Thanks again!

Thanks Laffi

But feeding what someone thinks is right I would say is a major cause of knuckling because they are infact feeding to much. That's why dry dog foods are very confusing as you have no idea of really how much to feed. If you feed a BARF diet then you pretty much know exaclty how much to feed and are able to weigh it. By the way...that photo of pippy and poppy at the end of your link is so cute, best of luck!

I guess they want to you to use more and buy more. Maybe cut back even more then?

Thanks for that, I will track some down over the weekend. I am currently using Artemis, but I read the article b the Great Dane Lady and she also recommended Eagle Pack. In the meantime I have cut back to just three half-cup meals of Artemis 1 1/2 cups of food still seems like a massive amount for a 4kg puppy. But I don't feed dry food so I could be wrong. Are you still feeding other things as well? No that's all I am feeding. On the back of the pack it says for a 5-10lbs puppy between 6 and 11 weeks to feed between 1 and 1/3 to 2 and 1/4 cups per day. She's 8lbs 8oz so I figure that is a little less than their suggestion. Don't know if my maths is quite right, I think so. But is that still too much do you think?

Thanks for that, I will track some down over the weekend. I am currently using Artemis, but I read the article b the Great Dane Lady and she also recommended Eagle Pack. In the meantime I have cut back to just three half-cup meals of Artemis

Which one would you suggest? The holistic or the other one?

Thanks so much, I really hope you are right. My gut tells me it will be okay. I am seeing my old vet on Tuesday and he has an orthopedic surgeon visting that day to do an op. So between the two of them, I am confident that the visit will provide the full story - good or bad. We love her anyway!

I just wanted to let all of you who were kind enough to respond to my post that the vet said it might be bad news for our pup. She said it looked like a growth plate injury and that the outlook may not be good for her. She said the best case senario is that it does not get worse but the more likely outcome will be that it does become a more serious problem as she gets older. She even said 'a three-legged-dog is quite resiliant'. I have been watching my pup really closely since we got her and I haven't witnessed any injury, so I am hoping the vet got it wrong. She has referred us to an orthopedic specialist, which I will follow up. In the meantime I am getting a second opinion from my old family vet - a long drive, but I need to see some one whose opinion I really trust. Does anyone know anything about growth plate injury in pups?

Thanks everyone!

Also regarding the breeder, she was feeding supercoat, which I haven't heard great stuff about. I guess that's why I'm not jumping at the thought of ringing the breeder for feeding advice. That's not to say she isn't a great breeder - she is - I just thought I could do better than supercoat. I think I'll stick with the Artemis, and some BARF patties, just lesser quantities.

Sounds like to much food is quite possibly the problem. How much does she weigh? If you were feeding a totally BARF/RAW diet then you should only be feeding 10% of her body weigh daily. You should be weighing her every few days to make sure you adjust the food amount. She's 4 kgs. Yes I probably am feeding her too much - she was so scrawny when we got her that I went straight into fattening up mode. She certainly looks better now, but I think I'll cut back now.

Does the mince have bone in it? If not, don't feed it. You need chicken pet mince which is ground up carcasses.. or better still the whole ones. The chicken mince doesn't have bone in it. I am quickly learning perhaps my desire to get her a yummy human-worthy diet is probably not the best thing for her. Thanks, you guys are such a fantastic help - such speedy responses and great advice

I'm feeding her Artemis medium/large breed puppy formula. I read the back of the pack and it doesn't say chicken bones. But the BARF patties have ground up chicken bones in them. I will try cutting back on her food a little and see if it helps. Maybe I should cut out one meal...is that what you would suggest?

Before I posted I looked through the forums and noticed that article...I wonder if that is what it is? When we got her she was quite scrawny so the vet said feed her four meals a day, which we have been doing. She has soaked Artemis and raw chicken mince for breakfast which mixes up to the size of about a small apple. Then two scrambled eggs for lunch. More Artemis and a bit of BARF pattie for dinner, again mixing up to about the size of a small apple. Then about a dozen bits of soaked a little Artemis and a dollop of natural yoghurt for supper. Is that too much?

Yeah, here's a pic, sorry I'm not a great photographer and I only have my phone so it's not very clear. Hopefully you can see what I mean. I am seeing the vet tomorrow, but patience isn't my strong point . (hope the pic works, I haven't tried this before)

Hi! Just wondering whether anyone might have any ideas about my puppy's foot - she is an eight-and-a-half week old boxer. Today I noticed that her front right foot seems to look a little twisted, like it is rolling over a bit with the outside of her foot taking the most weight. She is otherwise fine - happily running around and not favouring one leg over the other. I have been watching her like a hawk since we got her last week and has not suffered any injuries or falls.