Dog named Siggi born with upside down paws undergoes surgery

By Web Staff

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    STILLWATER, Oklahoma (KOCO) — You all remember Milo, an adorable dog that was born with his paws facing upward instead of downward.

Milo and Oklahoma State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine made international news in early 2019 when he underwent corrective surgery. Milo recovered from the surgery and is doing fine now.

Oklahoma State University officials said that this past May, a Dallas animal rescue group came into possession of Siggi, a rat terrier puppy that also was born with her front paws upside down. When she was 13 weeks old, Siggi went to Stillwater to meet Dr. Erik Clary, who performed Milo’s surgery.

“As with Milo, Siggi’s problem looked like it was in the paws but it was actually in her elbows,” Clary said in a news release. “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.”

The veterinary team learned that Siggi had a significant bone deformity in the lower part of her elbow, complicating the joint issue.

“The CT 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.

Siggi underwent surgery May 12, and the elbows were protected with splints and an orthopedic fixator device while her ulna bones took the necessary time to heal. On June 29, Siggi returned to Stillwater for a scheduled checkup.

“With that checkup, we confirmed the bone healing with X-ray exam and then removed Siggi’s splint for good,” Clary said in the release. “At that stage, the task then became one of teaching her how to walk and she proved a fairly quick learner. Lorraine, her medical foster with Dallas Dog RRR, did a fabulous job implementing an incremental rehabilitation regimen that now has Siggi doing many things that puppies like to do, including chasing a ball in the yard. Truly, I could not be more pleased with Siggi’s progress.”

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