Puppy born with upside-down paws learns to walk after successful op

A puppy is now able to scamper about and run after balls after an operation on her paws which were upside down when she was born.

Siggi, a 13-week-old rat terrier was born with the unusual birth defect and images showed the pup struggling to get around.

The pup was eager to sniff around and investigate but she was only able to hobble on the elbows of her front legs.

But fortunately help was at hand from the Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine who were able to carry out corrective surgery.

An animal rescue group based in Dallas, Texas, took Siggi, who weighed less than two kilograms, to the college which has experience of similar operations.

A puppy is learning to walk again after operation on paws (Oklahoma State Veterinary College)

It successfully operated on a foxhound puppy called Milo whose paws were also upside down.

Thanks to the media coverage of the surgery and the dog’s recovery, Siggi was taken to the college.

"As with Milo, Siggi’s problem looked like it was in the paws but it was actually in her elbows," Dr Erik Clary, an animal surgeon, said.

"For reasons not fully understood, these patients’ elbows come out of joint early in life and the result is 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."

Siggi's legs were born the wrong way round and the bone was also deformed (Oklahoma State Veterinary College)

The successful operation saw her paws rotated to the right way round (Oklahoma State Veterinary College)

The surgery was more complicated than that carried out on Milo, though, as a scan showed that she also had a deformity to her lower elbow.

"The CT (scan) helped us plan a more complex procedure that would require an intentional break high up in her ulna bone to de-rotate the limb," Clary said.

Successful surgery was carried out on May 12, with splints put in place while her legs healed, and when she returned on June 29 for a check-up vets saw that she was recovering well.

The final hurdle to overcome was for Siggi to get used to walking which was only going to be a matter of time.

She is now learning to walk and is making fast progress (Oklahoma State Veterinary College)

She was only able to hobble around on her elbows before the operation (Oklahoma State Veterinary College)

In fact, Siggi was making big strides with her foster owner Lorraine and the rescue centre.

“She proved to be a fairly quick learner,” said Clary.

“Siggi (is now) doing many things that puppies like to do, including chasing a ball in the yard.

“One of the reasons Siggi came to us was just the prior work with Milo just being able to get the message out that there are possibilities for dog with even what seems to be a very serious condition.”