rickets

Hi Pearl,

Like you I have had very little personal experience with rickets other than seeing the end results in the bowed limbs of young greyhounds that have been presented to me for treatment when it was too late to do anything about it.

The most common cause of rickets is a deficiency of vitamin D in the diet as this is required to allow calcium to be absorbed by the body from the gut.

So a source of vitamin D is essential as an ongoing supplement, and with my own pups I have always provided this in their diets by the addition of cod liver oil on a daily basis.

In relation to your pup I see no need to keep it separated, in fact the longer it is separated from its litter mates the more difficult it will be to have it back being accepted by them.

From here on in it should be OK on the same diet as the rest of the litter, except for just one meal once a week for the next four weeks fed separately with additional liquid calcium just to ensure the problem does not reoccur.

It is also important to keep a good watch on the pups bone development for the next 3 months, being particularly watchful to see that it does not develop a bow in the bones of the front limbs.

Cheers,
Tom