For anyone interested in freaky anatomy

deb_l222

deb_l222

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This is possibly the best picture I’ve taken of Willow’s ‘foot’.

I do wonder how it ever got from normal to this but I’ll never know the logistics of that. It is fair to say her mother definitely did a number on her.

It’s impossible to keep a boot on her and to be honest, she doesn’t really need it now because it has toughened up quite well. She’s only troubled when it’s particularly stony or icy!

Her bigger problems by far are her knees (luxating patellas) but we seem to have that fairly well managed these days :)


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blackcob said:
Ooooh, that is an interesting foot! Has she ever had it x-rayed? I'd love to know what any toe(s) look like in there.
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The X-ray is quite fascinating. The start of the foot has four perfect metatarsal bones but they then disintegrate into what can only be described as a jumble of little bones.

The bottom of the foot looks like a map of Italy. It’s almost boot shaped with a floating (Sicily) type bone on the end.

The outside of her foot is covered in scar tissue on the top, which gave rise to the theory that it may have been her umbilical cord that was round her foot.
 
CorvusCorax said:
These things happen, I know a couple of dogs missing entire ears and one female who would eat entire litters if she was left alone. I wouldn't have continued to breed from her, but there you go!!
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Eeek that reminds me of a story my mum always tells about the dog her parents had (german shep) called Julie, who they named their first child after (hahah) back in the day spay was not a thing, but it was okay because she always ate her pups :eek:
 
From the picture and the description of the xray I'm inclined to think the foot didn't develop properly before birth... perhaps went unnoticed at first and then they assumed the bitch had chewed it?

Pretty interesting nonetheless.
 
PapaverFollis said:
From the picture and the description of the xray I'm inclined to think the foot didn't develop properly before birth... perhaps went unnoticed at first and then they assumed the bitch had chewed it?

Pretty interesting nonetheless.
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I will never know for sure but this is the story she arrived with and my vet thinks it’s very plausible. When she was surrendered by her previous owners she wasn’t bearing weight on that leg at all and she had a massive fungal infection in the foot. It didn’t take long to clear up and she’s never looked back :)
 
rara007 said:
Hmm, was it ever born normal?
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The story is she was born with 4 normal feet but mum got over zealous with the cleaning up and chewed her toes off. The foot is basically one big toe with one nail.

I’ve no idea who bred her though so can’t validate the story either way.
 
equi said:
Eeek that reminds me of a story my mum always tells about the dog her parents had (german shep) called Julie, who they named their first child after (hahah) back in the day spay was not a thing, but it was okay because she always ate her pups :eek:
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The horror :eek::eek:

I have to ask, did their human child (presumably your aunt?) ever have children?
 
It's just a thing that some dogs feel they need to do to protect themselves and is usually the result of genetics or stress, it doesn't mean the dog is 'bad', just that it's not a breeding specimen.
A lot of females will absorb a litter if they feel stressed or fearful (I see it a lot in multi-dog households), this is just an extension of that.
It's a bit of a taboo subject because of how upsetting we humans find it, but it happens.

Likewise, obsessive/compulsive washing/grooming, as may have been the case with the OP's dog, is also a thing.
 
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A friend has a Golden retriever from a top obedience person who has half a tail. Apparently the dam chewed off part of tail during whelping.
 
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