In the begining of December I noticed my Piper was holding up her right hind leg once in awhile especially when we went outside. When we were in the house she really didn't carry that leg. A week later I noticed that everytime we went outside she was carrying that leg. I'm begining to think she hates the cold and snow. A few days later she is begining to do the same thing in the house. Piper lets me move her foot around and bend her knee and she doesn't seem to be in pain yet she's walking 3 legged once in awhile. On December 15 I bring her to the vets and he knows immediately knows it's her hip and recommends x-rays. Piper has Legg-Perthes Disease. This is when the head of the femur loses it's blood supply and it actually starts to die. In Piper's x-ray you could actually see the ball of the femur was pitted and was kind of floationg in the socket. There was 2 bone chips that had broken away and they were also floating in the hip joint. On December 30 Piper had surgery to repair the damage. This is a herediatary disease. I was really upset because I bought from a breeder thinking I would avoid having these problems. The good news is that Piper's prognosis is excellent. Piper just turned 8 months.
__________________ Mom to Piper  &  Chipper |