Bad "elbows"

[Jeannie Stamp]

I've got a beautiful little girl, she's 12 and in really good health except for her front legs. Her elbows bow out so that when she walks her front paws cross over each other tripping her to the point that she falls on her face. This doesn't happen all the time, but enough that I'm concerned she'll lose the ability to walk at all. Has anybody else ever encountered this type of thing with their older Yorkie? When we first notice this, we immediately got her some stairs so that she could go up and down them when she wants up on the couch. She uses the stairs all the time, so I think that is helping at least with the impact of jumping down from the couch height. I really don't know what else to do. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[yorkietalkjilly]

My Jilly didn't even have that condition and still dislocated her shoulder from jumping down from the couch using her doggie stairs at age 13 as I watched! It was awful. I would recommend a ramp rather than doggie stairs to reduce the impact of jumping down each step and see the vet to see what he suggests. But the tiny joints of some little dogs can only take so much trauma before age defeats the integrity of the supporting ligaments and tendons and the joint just goes. The less jumping she does, the better. But with that amount of deformity, she's likely in some discomfort or soon will be which she likely won't show as dogs are stoic to pain other than sudden, unexpected type, and just don't show us their discomfort in most cases. Surgical correction might have to be considered no matter her age as the condition is so advanced and if not already, will likely become very painful as the joints and tendons, etc., stretch out further and further.