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Whoa – those are some crazy feet! 
Who couldn’t love Minka? She is the sweetest little black poodle ... ever. I first met Minka when she came into the clinic to be spayed. You couldn’t really miss her ... she came in walking on her carpi, or wrist joints. Her two front feet were directed laterally (to the sides) and flopped when she walked, making it look like she was wearing a pair of socks that were falling off her feet and way too long. I literally did a double take.Although the joints were crunchy when I manipulated them, she really didn’t seem to be in too much discomfort. I noted that I could reduce her feet back to a normal position, but the joints were just not stable at all. Also, some of the tendons were contracted so the range of motion of the joints in a “normal” position was very limited. Hmm, very odd. It almost appeared as if those joints were chronically dislocated. We needed a closer look.
We anesthetized Minka and spayed her without complication. We then moved to the radiology room, where we took a lot of radiographs and performed a more thorough exam of her limbs. This is what we found: ruptured cruciate ligaments in both knees, dislocated left hip, bilateral erosion to the carpal joints with subsequent dislocation. Phew ... a lot of problems for such a small dog. Poor girl.
Concerns at this point were whether she had some type of infectious or immune-mediated problem involving her joints or connective tissue. We consulted with Dr. Tricia Kupanoff, a veterinary surgeon in Phoenix, and she recommended we do some surgical biopsies of the joints and some cultures. We are also considering placing some splints on Minka’s legs to encourage her tendons and ligaments to stretch in a more normal way. Long term, if there is no infection or other disease that needs to be treated, we can consider fusing her joints surgically so she will walk on the bottom of her feet. Although this seems like it would be natural and should be intuitive for her, remember Minka has walked abnormally for a very long time. It may be difficult for her to adjust or accept the splints. I guess we can only try!
Some may ask why go to all this trouble if she is able to get around pretty well the way she is. Although Minka is doing OK, we are worried that if there is indeed underlying disease that it may be progressive. Also, she is quite young and she may be tolerating this well now, but the wrist joints were not meant to bear weight like they are. It is likely she will develop wounds and/or significant pain at these sites.
So our next step with little Minka is to take her to surgery for some biopsies and cultures. If everything goes smoothly, we will mold some splints for her at this time and see how she does. She has a great spirit and is a strong little dog, so we are hopeful that we can help her. However, Minka has a long road ahead of her. She needs all of her Guardian Angels pulling for her!
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