We brought home our yellow lab pup, Finley, a few months ago. Lately I’ve noticed his front paws/toes have been slanting a bit towards the side. You can see what I am talking about in the image I've posted below. We took him to the vet for his checkup and his vet mentioned it as well, she thinks he might need physical therapy, or a surgical consultation...which seems kind of premature to me. I'm not sold on our vet yet (they seem kind of pushy and over the top on a lot of stuff) so I will most likely get another vet's opinion. He isn’t bothered by it at all and runs/walks completely normally. I know they don;t hurt him because he isn't bothered when we mess with his toes and push them around. I can’t seem to find anything like it online so it doesn’t seem like a known condition. I'm hoping it's something he'll grow out of. Has anyone experienced or seen anything similar to this before?
Hello and what a lovely boy. I would have preferred the vet said he may need PT or surgery *because* she was concerned about X or Y. It seems silly to bring up surgical intervention only to leave you to Uncle Google. I would either ring the vet back and ask specifically what she was concerned about or I would find another vet. I would be concerned that the toes might look like that because they were trying to compensate for something odd in the joints above, i.e. elbow or shoulder. If that were the case, treatment now would hopefully prevent future pain and disability. There may be a big long word for "slanty looking toes" but I would like to know what it is and to be reassured it was benign, and if it wasn't, what treatment options are available.
I agree with @Athena. Get him to the ortho vet, they will Xray or CT scan those elbows, and will give you a much clearer picture on what is going on, if anything. He could simply be a big boy yet to grow into those paws. If something is going on, you need to know now not later, if only for peace of mind
I know not a Lab, but seems to be a similar problem? http://www.worldmastiffforum.com/post/turned-toes-question-6104378 As far as I could find online, it could be just a growth spurt, or a nutritional problem. Not a vet, but read that to much protein in a puppies diet can be a cause for this. I would definetly get a second opinion from a different vet as well. Finley is adorable btw. GOOD LUCK!
What do his paw pads look like? Any look odd shaped? My labrador has an odd shaped paw which he developed when he was 8 months old and he's 3 now it hasnt changed and it hasnt affected him. The vet said it was probably a splinter which swelled up the pad and it may need surgery if he was limping. He never limped with it and still has the swelling to this day, shown no signs of pain and it hasnt got any worse. We did change vets since they werent very good but since he's not shown any pain we havent brought this up with his new vet. He's a beautiful dog by the way! Such a handsome face
Hi! I’d love to know what the outcome was on this. As you have, I’ve searched high and low and your lab is the closest I’ve seen to what my puppy’s paws look like.
I also would love to know the outcome as we have a 5 month old with the same exact issue and vet is stumped
Hello, is there any chance you could all us the outcome, I also have been searching and just found this result only ! Thank you !!
Hi all, sorry I never followed up, I didn't even realize there were replies. He never grew out of it, and his toes are pretty much the same. They don't bother him and he runs completely normal.
Did you get a diagnosis? My pup has some deformed feet. Orthopedic vet has no idea what to do for my pup.
