Dog Born with Upside-Down Paws Learns to Walk 3 Months After Undergoing Corrective Surgery

Naledi Ushe
·2 min read
2
Siggy the dog
Siggy the dog

Oklahoma State Veterinary College (2)

A puppy named Siggi learned to walk after surgeons reversed her upside-down front paws.

Physicians at Oklahoma State University's Veterinary Teaching Hospital took on the rat terrier's case after they previously operated on a dog named Milo with the same condition.

At 13 weeks old, Siggi's owners introduced the dog to Dr. Erik Clary, who later performed the pup's surgery, the veterinary hospital shared in a news release on Tuesday.

"As with Milo, Siggi's problem looked like it was in the paws, but it was actually in her elbows," Clary said in the release.

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He continued, "For reasons not fully understood, these patients' elbows come out of joint early in life, and the result is a severe rotation of the lower front limbs and an inability to walk. At most, they might muster a crawl that seems most uncomfortable and is poorly suited for a dog's life."

Unlike Milo, Siggi had a "significant deformity" in the lower part of her elbow bones. Because of this, Clary said, her procedure required an "intentional break high up in her ulna bone to de-rotate the limb."

The rat terrier had surgery on May 12 and was given splints and casts on both of her front legs as part of her recovery. During a June 29 checkup, a vet confirmed that Siggi's bones healed through an X-ray exam, and then the dog's splints and casts were removed, per OSU's release.

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"At that stage, the task then became one of teaching her how to walk, and she proved a fairly quick learner," Clary said in the release. "Lorraine, her medical foster with Dallas Dog RRR, did a fabulous job implementing an incremental rehabilitation regimen that now has Siggi doing many things that puppies like to do, including chasing a ball in the yard."

The surgeon added, "Truly, I could not be more pleased with Siggi's progress."

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Video shared by OSU's Veterinary Hospital shows the rat terrier walking and using a ramp to get onto a chair — motivated by treats, of course — post-surgery.