Rickets?
So starting from the beginning, I have a new mini bull terrier puppy who I love to death. Her name is Nezzi. 
When we got her, the breeder told me she was 9 weeks, but she did NOT look or act like that of a 9-week puppy. She was very small (only 5lbs) and still very pink. She did not have very good stability when walking and seemed almost robotic with her movements, like she was still getting the hang of it. Her ears were super floppy. She was very timid and not very playful. I took stress levels into consideration as well since she was just taken to a strange place without her siblings. But something still seemed a little off. So I came up with two ideas:
1. She was a runt and therefore a little behind with development.
2. Her age was wrong and she was younger than 9 weeks.
The breeder had a few different litters at the same time, so i'm thinking maybe he got the birthdates confused.
It's been 3 weeks and she has opened up a lot. She's very spunky and hyper now. Very puppy-like. How can I know for sure how old she is? I looked at her teeth and i'm trying to judge off the development of her ears, but it's a little hard to tell.
My next question, about a week ago I noticed her toes were bleeding right above the nails. I believe she's scraping her knuckles when she walks on concrete. I chalked it up to her being clumsy and still learning how to handle her big feet. But about two days ago I noticed her front legs are starting to bow a tiny bit. She doesn't cry or seem to be in any pain, and she still runs and jumps around like normal. This is not my first puppy but I've never had this issue before and it has me concerned. I reached out to the breeder and he said it could be rickets... does anyone have any advice for fixing it before it gets worse??
When we got her, the breeder told me she was 9 weeks, but she did NOT look or act like that of a 9-week puppy. She was very small (only 5lbs) and still very pink. She did not have very good stability when walking and seemed almost robotic with her movements, like she was still getting the hang of it. Her ears were super floppy. She was very timid and not very playful. I took stress levels into consideration as well since she was just taken to a strange place without her siblings. But something still seemed a little off. So I came up with two ideas:
1. She was a runt and therefore a little behind with development.
2. Her age was wrong and she was younger than 9 weeks.
The breeder had a few different litters at the same time, so i'm thinking maybe he got the birthdates confused.
It's been 3 weeks and she has opened up a lot. She's very spunky and hyper now. Very puppy-like.
How can I know for sure how old she is? I looked at her teeth and i'm trying to judge off the development of her ears, but it's a little hard to tell. My next question, about a week ago I noticed her toes were bleeding right above the nails. I believe she's scraping her knuckles when she walks on concrete. I chalked it up to her being clumsy and still learning how to handle her big feet. But about two days ago I noticed her front legs are starting to bow a tiny bit. She doesn't cry or seem to be in any pain, and she still runs and jumps around like normal. This is not my first puppy but I've never had this issue before and it has me concerned. I reached out to the breeder and he said it could be rickets... does anyone have any advice for fixing it before it gets worse??
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1196 x 897 - 217K
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Comments
Does she take any supplements? Our breeder gave us a whole list of things to get for our pup. One of them was supplements for puppies - Tomlyn Nutri-Cal Puppy Dietary Supplement. Along with gelatin, cottage chess, coconut oil etc. Even if she was a rant, with proper care and love will grow into beautiful miniature bull terrier.
So we took her to the vet and they actually didn't do much for us.... he did a check up and watched her walk for a while but kept saying "i'm not sure." he recommended a $50 supplement I could buy online because they didn't have anything in clinic and said that if that didn't work we might need to do x-rays. so I was getting very discouraged and depressed, and her legs were getting worse. She was about to be walking on her ankles, it was that bad.
So I turned to the internet, did some more research and I think what I did worked.
I switched her food to Taste of the Wild and started adding a little spoon of cottage cheese. She loved it and within two days I noticed her legs straightening out. We also bought Sure Grow 100 tablets. The product description claimed to help hip dysplasia, cow hocking, bandy legging, lowered pasterns, rickets and poor ligament growth. She seems 100% back to normal. :x
Based on the saddleback markings on this puppy it's pretty clear what kind of breeder they are and I'm sure they knew exactly what the date of birth was but were eager to get rid of the puppies at the earliest opportunity.
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com