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Anyone with Angular Limb Deformity?

19K views 17 replies 12 participants last post by  Annie714 
#1 ·
Our 7 month old basset was diagnosed with angular limb deformity recently. We were told our choices are to manage pain or surgery. Luckily, it's not an extreme deformity, one of his front legs is just a little bowed, and he limps a bit, so we've decided to manage pain at the moment. We've also taken him off of puppy food and give him glucosamine/chondroitin and MSM. Anyone else with this situation? What did you decide to do? Any advice?
 
#2 ·
My boy Gibbs has a quite crooked front leg (he's a rescue so we don't know what happened to his leg). Our vet was rather suprised that he gets around so good and it doesn't bother him. I'm no vet but we were told that as long as he's getting around well and it doesn't seem to bother him just keep an eye on it. Some dogs never need surgery other dogs do need the surgery depends on the dog. Hope this helps!

~Heather
 
#3 ·
My guy is bowlegged in both legs. My vet advised against surgery unless it is causing severe pain. I adopted him when he was over a year old so I don't know how much pain he was in during that time. But I took him to the vet and she advised against surgery unless it is causing severe pain. Now he is 4, and gets along fine. He runs a bit sideways, is very clutzy, and stairs aren't the easiest for him. But he is happy to run around, take long walks, and is in little to no pain. I feed him food that has glucosamine (many lamb based foods have natural glucosamine) in it as well as use the glucosamine treats. I would wait until he stops growing before considering surgery, and see how he manages.


Good luck!
 
#4 ·
Spencer's front legs are both bowed. The vet advised against surgery, because he never appeared to be in any pain from them. When Spencer was a pup, the vet said he would likely have arthritis in his legs when he got older. He's been clumsy his whole life, & has always tripped & occasionally falls. Spencer is now 13 years old & while he has been diagnosed with arthritis in his spine, his legs don't seem to bother him, other than he's still clumsy. :)
 
#6 ·
Not all bassets legs bow. In fact they are not supposed to bow.

At 7 months he should definately be on adult formula or an all life stages formula. You want to slow down his growth a bit in order for his bones to catch up. Because basset bones are so dense in proportion to their size they often have problems with pano and such so it's necessary to slow their growth a bit (by putting them on adult formula). Bassets are not really fully mature till they hit about 2 to 2 1/2 so it takes a great deal of time for their chest to spread and fill out. I would never do surgery on a developing basset... unfortunately some vets are not aware of how bassets grow. With them being a dwarf breed it's best to let them fully mature before considering any sort of surgery unless of course you are talking about traumatic injury type of surgery obviously.
 
#7 ·
Ballerina Basset

My four year old male Basset's front legs are so bowed he looks like he's striking a ballet pose. We talked to the vet about surgery, but decided against it. It is a very harsh surgery - they cut the bones and screw them back together again. We control his weight and limit his opportunities to jump too much and injure himself. He runs and plays and has a very happy life. His crooked front legs bothered us way more than they did him.
 
#10 ·
I don't think the length of the nails has anything at all to do with their legs bowing. However their nails do need to be kept short as they will not wear down naturally if you walk them often enough like other breeds nails will, their pads are far too think to allow for that.
 
#12 ·
Has anyone done the surgery? Our vet has recommended the surgery for Fergus- as his leg is really turned around and crooked... now causing pain and giving out under him.

I'm really nervous about this and would love to hear from anyone who has gone through this.
 
#15 ·
@MikeyT: We went ahead with the surgery because Fergus was done growing in length and height, though sure to pack on a few more pounds. We figured it was better to move ahead with this while he's still fairly trim. If we waited too long, the specialist was fairly sure he would lose use of the leg and have chronic arthritis. The specialist we chose has owned bassets and done a lot of work in this area.

The deformity was quite severe with almost a 70° angle to the side. We really didn't have much choice, as his quality of life would have suffered.

The surgery was a success as far as we know. He's doing great and off pain meds. Now we just have to keep him from too much activity over the next 6 weeks.

I feel that this is the right choice for him. We're seeing improved functionality already- even though the surgery was 10 days ago. I will post on his progress in case anyone else has to do this. Glad to hear Terry's Mo is doing well.

Thanks for the support. :)
 
#17 ·
@Cassidy

@ Cassidy If you don't mind me asking...how much did the surgery cost? I only ask because we are at the point where we have to wait and see with our dog. Right now his deformity isn't too bad, it just causes a slight limp. But he's still a puppy (11 months) and we're crossing our fingers that the deformity won't get any worse and he's done growing (at least his skeletal growth). I know it's a pretty extreme surgery, but was afraid to ask the vet how much something like that would cost.
 
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