problems withmy puppies - Page 1

At 2 weeks old puppies are just finding their sea legs. I would not "help" bend limbs at where I thought they should bend, I would leave them alone. The eyes are just opening(approx 12 days old or so), everything is blurred, and the muscles of the limbs are EXTREMELY weak. Give the puppies some time to let nature develope them.

Sean, if the pups leg continues to "lock up" at the knee area, it coud be a problem called GENU RECURVATUM. This means that the tendons of the knee are not fully developed and may be developing inproperly. By four weeks, if this has not resolved itself, contact an orthopedic vet. They can tape the pups leg in a folded position up close to the body, and the tendons will correct themselves. This whole process takes only about a week to resolve, but if in fact it is Genu Recurvatum, it needs to be treated before the pup is 8 weeks old. If you waited much longer than that- it could require surgery to repair the tendons. Please note: I am not diagnosing your pup, but I experienced this several years ago, and it was resolved in this manner. There are NO problems afterwards, and the pup grew to adulthood without ever experiencing any ill-affects. Find an orthopedist to diagnose this properly. Your average vet has no clue.

Sean, I have a friend that recently had a puppy that presented with a similar problem. Several vet visits and x-rays could not give an exact diagnosis (they suspected trauma), but an orthopedic vet confirmed that it was indeed trauma. He was stepped on at a very young age by his mother. He can not bend the rear leg that was damaged, but he is living a great life with a wonderful family that loves him.

About three years ago a friend of mine had a Litter of Pups, one Pup was showing obvious signs of difficulty when walking as soon as the Pups began to use their legs, his knees would lock and his butt was always tucked under. He would pull himself along on his front legs which caused his chest to develop quiet early and nicely but at six weeks old and after weeks of doing the ‘bicycle exercise’ my friend took the Pups to the Veterinarian for a routine check up and asked that the vet pay special attention to the Pup with the difficulty when walking. X-Rays were taken and numerous exercises performed to evaluate the Pups condition, (I don’t recall what she said the Vet called the condition but it essentially boiled down to) the Pups tendons were to short and the kneecaps were loose (don‘t remember whether she said the vet suggested that one condition was cause for the other), nothing at all could be done to assist this Pup to ever gain proper motor skills, thus the Pup was put to sleep at 6 weeks old. The vet suggested that this was not likely to have been caused by trauma (as there was no damage or injury to the hip, pelvis or paws) but indeed a “freak” birth-defect. The Veterinarian was not a orthopedic specialist, otherwise he may or may not have been able to suggest a recourse, some type of treatment.