# Bowed Front Legs



## JEM (6 mo ago)

Hi all! New member and brand new Vizsla owner. Our Ruby is right at 4 months old and we have been seeing signs of potential front leg problems since we got her. Her front legs look symmetrically bowed and I can’t tell if they’re getting any better.

We have taken her to the vet to discuss this concern and subsequently had blood work and X-rays done. The blood work included a closer look at thyroid. All blood work looks good including thyroid. X-rays show what the vet thought to be “unusually wide growth plates” which prompted the vet to suggest we see an orthopedic vet. We have this visit set for later this week.

We have been in contact with her breeder and she is being very understanding but says she’s never seen anything like this before and is having to defer her thoughts to her own vet.

Im posting in hopes that someone here may have seen something similar and/or may have some thoughts.

I’m going to attempt to attach pics as well.

Thanks!
Jack


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## JEM (6 mo ago)

Here are X-rays from a few weeks ago as well.


















Jack


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## Sophie01 (12 mo ago)

Our breeder said this can happen with V's and gave us calcium supplements when we got her. Sure Grow 100 is the brand. She's been on them ever since (she's 10 mo old now) and we haven't had any problem with bowing so far. The breeder also advised us to wait until our female is fully grown to have her spayed. She said she's had some pups have problems with bone development if they are spayed/neutered too soon. She said ask the vet when they think they're fully grown (about 16-18 mo)


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## JEM (6 mo ago)

I have been curious about nutritional deficiencies playing a potential role here, specifically calcium vs protein. Maybe some calcium supplements would be the ticket here. We’ve made some minor changes to her diet along the way and my wife swears her legs are looking better but I’m not sure I’m convinced.

Thank you for this insight. We will look into your supplements. I have also read that spaying too early can cause problems and this makes perfect sense to me. Ruby is not spayed and will not be until she is older.

Thanks!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Do any of her other joints look larger than normal? As in shoulders, hips, or in back legs?

I would really like to take a look at her pedigree that shows at least 6-8 generations.
By the way, she is gorgeous.


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## JEM (6 mo ago)

All of her other joints appear normal to me. Her affected joints do not seem to cause her any pain and she has great mobility there too. She has good energy, very playful and enjoys romping around the backyard.

And thanks, we think she is beautiful too!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Hoping the orthopedic vet give you some answers. Your vet running a thyroid test, I’m guessing was to rule out a type of dwarfism caused by the thyroid. I’m not a vet, so that is just a guess, and he could have had other reasons.


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## JEM (6 mo ago)

Yeah, I’m not totally sure on all reasons for that. The extra thyroid check was not absolutely necessary. The comprehensive blood work would have flagged a thyroid issue but not given the whole story and if there was something flagged then we would have had to come back in to get the comprehensive thyroid bloodwork done. This would have put us behind the curve ball and so we opted to just get it all done then, just in case.

I did not get the feeling that the vet was especially worried about a thyroid issue, just checking all the boxes.

Seeing Ruby be such a happy, healthy pup otherwise has really made me think nutrition/vitamin deficiency thus far, I’m just not sure in which direction to go there. Calcium makes sense to me but I’m no vet…


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