Fyscha Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 We bought a staffy around 6 months ago. When she was 4 months old she developed a limp, after taking her to the vet she was put on anti-inflammitories and given 2 weeks restricted movement to see if it would clear up, it didn't. When we went back the vet said it appears as though she has hyper extended tendons at the base of her feet, both front feet, one worse than the other. So we had a splint put on the worst foot in the hope that they would tighten and improve. The splint came off yesterday with absolutely no improvement and the vet has said other than surgery there isn't much more we can do, and has said if we go down the surgical road it will be hugely expensive for something that may or may not work. He said he is almost 100% sure she was born with this problem and basically suggested that in his opinion a breeder would definitely have noticed it and has possibly just gone ahead and sold her anyway. I don't want to mention names, and I really hope this isn't true. Basically what I'm asking here is what is the best way to approach the breeder about it, partly to discuss the possibility of a partial refund (am I dreaming??) but also to make sure she does know this has happened and that it is something she needs to be aware of when breeding in future. Also if there is anyone with similar problems who may have advice on how to treat it. We are in country NSW, so are limited with the number of vets we have access to without travelling. Thanks in advance for advice and suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Can you post pictures? I am by no means an expert, but I think some tendon problems in front feet can be helped by diet/exercise? Like dogs being down in the pasterns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puggy_puggy Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Does her condition look anything like these examples? Deformities Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Did you ever contact the breeder about the issues?? If you wish to contact the breeder i suggest you get the vet to write a report .The report isnt about blame but a report that simply list the medical condition the dog has. I would then contact the breeder explaining what is going on & forward a copy of the vet report for there records. You may fine tjhe vet wont state there 100% sure if asked to put it in writing because often what they see & what the will write ends up being two different things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fyscha Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 (edited) OK, so here are some photos. (I hope!!) You can see how her foot kind of slouches back, it's not tight like it should be. I haven't talked to the breeder yet, basically I'm not too sure how to approach the issue, head on I guess, but don't want to get her off side. The vet has offered to talk to her after I have, but didn't offer to put anything in writing, I didn't ask either though. We are going back tomorrow so will talk to him then. Puggy, As for the information in the deformities link (OUCH!) as you can see from the photos she would really only qualify for the mildest case (IMO) that said we do have mainly polished wood floors with no rugs, I'd never known it to be a possible problem until now and hubby is pulling out an old throw rug as we speak! Edited April 8, 2009 by Fyscha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 As far as I can see from the photographs, they are just bad Stafford feet (and not helped by what appear to be excessively long toenails). I'm not sure what a breeder could be liable for, but definitely, slippery floors aren't necessarily good for any developing breed of puppy, not just a Stafford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Are you sure that it's her feet that are causing the limp? They just look like flat feet to me, you see bad feet occasionally in all breeds. I'm very surprised that the vet didn't comment on the length of her nails and offer to cut them for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fyscha Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 As far as I can see from the photographs, they are just bad Stafford feet (and not helped by what appear to be excessively long toenails). What do you mean by bad stafford feet? Is it common? Fixable? Should it cause a limp? Should I be able to expect better for a dog that cost $1000?? I can see that the toenails appear quite long, but they were trimmed by the vet about 3 days ago when the splint came off. I think they seem excessively long because of the shape of her foot and the fact that her toes are almost pointing upwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 As far as I can see from the photographs, they are just bad Stafford feet (and not helped by what appear to be excessively long toenails). What do you mean by bad stafford feet? Is it common? Fixable? Should it cause a limp? Should I be able to expect better for a dog that cost $1000?? I can see that the toenails appear quite long, but they were trimmed by the vet about 3 days ago when the splint came off. I think they seem excessively long because of the shape of her foot and the fact that her toes are almost pointing upwards. Very common feet in the breed. Not fixable. No, that price sounds quite reasonable to me these days. And no, they ARE excessively long and BECAUSE of the fact that her feet are flat, they require even more care because they will not make contact with the ground to wear themselves down naturally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fyscha Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 (edited) Will it cause the limping?? The foot on the left in the photo is the flattest and also the one that she limps on. I can't see any other reason for her to limp and while the vet has suggested that it may be something she/we have to live with and control with pain killers, anti-inflammitories and restricted exercise it's just really really REALLY shite to have a puppy and not be able to let her run and jump and play like she wants to. Depressing really Will get the toenails trimmed again tomorrow.... Edited April 8, 2009 by Fyscha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I can see that the feet look flat, but I wouldn't have thought that they'd cause the dog to limp. Some dogs just don't have well shaped feet. IMO the toenails are extremely long and may certainly be contributing to the problem. Does she get much exercise? Sometimes dogs can go down on their feet if they don't get enough exercise to flex the muscles in their toes or are kept on very flat smooth surfaces, running them on rough ground can sometimes help. Whatever you do I don't think the feet will ever be a nice shape, but as for causing her to limp, well I think that's debatable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 We bought a staffy around 6 months ago. When she was 4 months old she developed a limp.He said he is almost 100% sure she was born with this problem and basically suggested that in his opinion a breeder would definitely have noticed it and has possibly just gone ahead and sold her anyway. Curious about these 2 statements. How could have the breeder noticed it and sold the puppy anyway if you did not notice the limp from (presumably) 8 weeks to 16 weeks when you say she developed it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fyscha Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 Well, no she hasn't had much exercise lately as she has had a splint on for a month and was on restricted movement for 2 weeks before that. So I think the long toe nails are a result of the problem and not a contributer if that makes sense... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 So I think the long toe nails are a result of the problem and not a contributer if that makes sense... No the toe nails are a result of not being trimmed every week. They're very long, lovey. I'd be walking with a limp if I had nails out to hell and back as well. I'm surprised the vet didnt say something about it to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fyscha Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 We bought a staffy around 6 months ago. When she was 4 months old she developed a limp.He said he is almost 100% sure she was born with this problem and basically suggested that in his opinion a breeder would definitely have noticed it and has possibly just gone ahead and sold her anyway. Curious about these 2 statements. How could have the breeder noticed it and sold the puppy anyway if you did not notice the limp from (presumably) 8 weeks to 16 weeks when you say she developed it? The vet basically said he thought it (the flat feet) would be apparent when she was a pup, especially to someone with lots of experience, but not necessarily us & that the limp had developed as she has grown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 The vet basically said he thought it (the flat feet) would be apparent when she was a pup, especially to someone with lots of experience, but not necessarily us & that the limp had developed as she has grown. Quite possibly so. A flat foot is a flat foot. But it happens in the best of families and it isn't necessarily something that causes every dog with flat feet problems. A dog with flat feet may never have an issue with them. As has also been pointed out, it can also be environmental. The slippery floors in your home may have exacerbated the issue. They may not have. Who knows. But certainly flat feet in and of themselves are NOT a precursor for future "issues". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 The limp could also be caused by a problem in her elbow or shoulder. Does she turn her feet outwards at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoemonster Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 (edited) Are flat feet the same as weak pasterns? If so could vitamin c help with this? Edited April 8, 2009 by shoemonster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fyscha Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 The limp could also be caused by a problem in her elbow or shoulder. Does she turn her feet outwards at all? No, she doesn't. The vet has given her a good poke and prod all up and down the leg and it was really only the foot area where he got a reaction from her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Given her early age, I'd be keen to see what could be done with diet and toe nail trimming to assist getting the feet tighter and off the pasterns. What do you feed her? Those toe nails are reeeeeally long. That won't be helping. As already advised, weekly trimming is the go there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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