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Weak Pasterns & Splayed Paws


mrzeusman
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Hi

I have a 4mth old puppy with weak pasterns and splayed paws. We first noticed this happening when she was about 10 weeks old and was told to give her calcium powder in her food. Since then we have been told to NOT give her this as this is making her bones grow too fast. We feed her puppy dry food for breakfast and dinner and some raw meat/chicken necks for lunch.

The breeder also had her dew claws removed when she was 6weeks old.

I have also been told that sometimes weak pasterns/splayed paws happen while puppies are teething but have never experienced this before.

Has anyone ever had this problem.

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Hi

My puppy is a Ridgeback. Should I give her the adult puppy food for the extra protein? How does the vit C help?

All the breeder has told me is that this happens when they teeth but never seen this before nor had a puppy that has had it dew claws removed.

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Don't supplement Calcium!

Agree with Espinay - you need a good quality large breed puppy food or even an adult food... it's all to do with the calcium: phosphorous ratio - too much calcium actually makes the problem you've described.

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Vit C helps support joints and connective tissues. I give all my puppies Vit C.

An issue you are trying to avoid is OVER nutrition. Adult foods are lower in protein (often even than large breed puppy foods - which may not differ much from other types of puppy foods in this respect).

Many experienced large breed breeders, and those such as author (on topics such as dog structure) and puppy assessor Pat Hastings (who has assessed thousands of pups and has worked with a number of pet food companies) strongly recommend adult foods for growing pups in a slow and even manner.

Edited by espinay2
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Esther-C if you can get it is generally considered the better form. I use a normal ascorbic acid powder as a rule - cheaper and easier to get hold of and IMO just as good. You can even use chewable tablets if you want (though watch the colour and sugar when you choose them). Whatever is easiest to give your dog. Most health food stores stock it and some livestock/pet stores (if you want to buy in larger amounts such as sold for horses or greyhounds etc)

Edited by espinay2
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It might be worth trying having her food bowl up higher, so that she has to stand tall to eat - so the pasterns are being strengthened for a few minutes at least each day, with no other strain on her.

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Agree with advice given on not giving extra calcium. I also agree this can happen during teething as teething can play havoc on all sorts of things in a puppy!

Just on a seperate note, removing dew claws will not play a roll in pasterns and splayed feet. Nutrition is the leading cause of weak pasterns and splayed feet, with a secondary cause for splayed feet being a genetic thing!

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I've been though this with my golden retriever. After seeing a large breed specialist I put her on adult dry food, too high protein is a major cause. The protein should be 20-22% and the fat around 12%. She also put her on Value Plus Organic Iron and trace mineral tablets with zinc. My bitch had to be taken off the floorboards and tiles and was to be on gravely uneven surfaces outside and carpet indoors. She made a very quick recovery and although she is not perfect (she is a show dog so important to have straight legs) she has made such a huge turn around.

3-4 months is the time it becomes apparent that there may be an issue.

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It might be worth trying having her food bowl up higher, so that she has to stand tall to eat - so the pasterns are being strengthened for a few minutes at least each day, with no other strain on her.

Not advised - eating with an elevated bowl increases the possibility of bloat. I cannot quote the research paper, but it was pretty convincing when I read it!

Over nutrition and excess calcium can cause soft pasterns. I would advise one of the large breed growth products, but keep the pup VERY lean. No papers written about the effect of the surface that the puppy runs on, but I would advise not having the pup on a lot of hard surfaces or slippery floors.

Cheers,

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Most puppy biscuits are no good,because the protein is so high and the cal:phos does not match. I have looked at ALOT of brands, the Eagle Pack is one that i have found meets the calcium:phosphorus and the protein:fat ratio requirements

The theory on raised feeders was to help prevent bloat, but i use them to prevent the strain on the joints.

What brand are you feeding your Ridgeback puppy?

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The theory on raised feeders was to help prevent bloat, but i use them to prevent the strain on the joints.

And a retrospective study published after this advice was given in fact showed the opposite. As I said, I am sorry that I can no longer track the reference but from memory is was published in a veterinary journal

Cheers, Le Hammer BVSc

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I've been discussing this with someone else about another puppy that has some knuckling under, the Holistic is a good food. I have also been told adding Zinc to the diet is beneficial.

Definitely don't supplement with Calcium. Possibly stop giving the raw meat/chicken and just do the dry for a while to see how she goes.

Another person i talked with put their puppy on the Eagle Pack Adult Original (lamb and rice one) and that seemed to help considerably.

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Took my puppy to the vet today and got x-rays taken. All is ok with her bones and growth plates. The problem is that her muscles/ligaments etc are growing faster than her bones and they have nothing to attach to.We need to slow down this growth to allow the bones to catch up.

She needs to be on just dry food only and no other supplements including vit c or ester c - just dry food. It can be cheap food like Chum or a large/giant breed puppy food but as long as she just has that and nothing else and that she needs to do this for a few months.

I am to keep her rested as much as possible with minimal exercise and definitely no jumping around which is not going to be an easy task as she is a little cyclone. Guess she will have to be crated for periods of time during the day as well as we normally do at night time. She is to be walked on grass for her walk in the morning and not on the footpaths.

Thanks to everyone who has given me advice and help with this.

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