I have a medical question - Page 1

A friend of mine who is new to GSD got himself a pure bred GSD 4 months old female puppy 1/4th work and 3/4th show, he noticed that her hocks are a bit loose, took her to the vet who in turn made x-rays and told him the puppy has:
A. One thigh is longer than the other.
B. She has Valgus.
Some facts: No vet here in my country has the experience and, machine nor tools to take proper X-rays for HD and ED . We do not have specialized hospitals for second opinion.
My questions:
1. Is it possible for a puppy to have different lengths of thigh bones?
2. If yes what is the reason, is it genetic?
3. Is it safe and is it a common practice to do x-ray for a 4 month puppy?
4. What is Valgus?
5. Is it correct to determine a GSD has Valgus at 4 months?
6. Is Valgus curable?
7. What can be done for this puppy?

Regards
Ibrahim

I would like to add that from google and if I understood correctly, this valgus may be related to fore legs but not to rear ones, but again I am not sure, I even can not imagine this could be a case in a dog, never in my life did I see a dog or cat with one rear leg longer than the other !!!.

Ibrahim

Not familiar with this, but I like to research stuff, so here's what I found:

http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/vetmed/Medicine/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/412211

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17725588

http://www.scribd.com/doc/23752606/Treating-Bone-Deformities-With-Circular-External-Skeletal-Fixation

This article mentions that it can occur in hind legs:
http://www.petwave.com/Dogs/Dog-Health-Center/Bone-Joint-Muscle-Disorders/Angular-Limb-Deformities/Overview.aspx

http://www.jaquenetta.com/Pituitary%20Dwarfism%202.pdf


Best of luck to your friend and their dog!

Was the puppy limping or painful at all? Was she limping or lame? Puppies grow at very different rates, and it is very common for a 4 month old showline to have loose hocks. I have never personally experienced a pup with one leg longer than the other, but it doesn't seem completely unheard of to me. If she isn't lame or painful I would let her grow and see what happens.

ggturner,

Thank you very much for the links they are very helpful indeed.

Sheesh,

The puppy shows no signs of pain at all, she eats well and plays a lot, she also runs fine but when you look at her hocks they are cow hocked when standing but when she walks they are okay, when she runs they are okay too but when she stops again they turn inside and touch each other. Looking at her you can't guess that the thigh bones are not equal in length or as the vet says Valgus.
Breeder says this is natural in young puppies and after age of 6 months if the puppy is having any problem he will pay back the buying price and take the puppy or give a replacement. The price actually is not high, it's round USD 400, usual puppy price here.

Ibrahim

Ibrahim, I think that sounds like a reasonable plan. Good luck to your friend!

Hello Ibrahim, sorry to hear of your friend's puppy's problems.  You say there is no vet in your country with the needed experience.  Would it be possible for your friend to send the xrays to a veterinary clinic or  radioligist here in the U.S.  If he could get them on a disc and mail them, there are clinics that will give consultation by email.     Dr Randall Popkins of Breeders Veterinary Service in Santa Rosa Calif, is one very respected vet who does this, you can google him and check him out.  If your friend can't get them on disc, he could mail the films, but, I'm sure they must be correct views and good quality.  I think the average cost is about $50.00...if anything, it's a learing experience.  Keep us posted, take care.   

Benzi,

The cost is not a problem I believe, I shall suggest this to him but I am not sure of the quality of the x-rays. Previously I took x rays for two of my Czech dogs and posted them on this forum for evaluation of HD/Ed and I was told they're not good enough but I should try and send them to OFA, I sent them to a friend in Czech but they were politely rejected with an explanation how to correctly fix and pull the legs straight and more explanation how to take I think the tattoo number or something like dog ID etc but we couldn't do that correctly and the cost of the x rays was wasted.
This friend knows I have friends on the net and wanted me to ask these questions for him, I personally never heard of Valgus, but what I know is show lines tend to have cow hocks and loose hocks and what is more important is the hocks should not touch in walking or running as the dog may fall and get injured in addition to affecting the beauty of gaiting. Thank you for the suggestion and I shall convey it to my friend.

Ibrahim