

The problem with cleft palate is that it leaves an unnatural opening between the nasal passages and the mouth, which can prove quite dangerous, since your puppy is prone to pneumonia and other respiratory deficiencies. Ironically, the two sides of his mouth roof couldn’t fuse together when your dog was just an embryo, but instead his toes did. That means that the same genetic abnormality that produces unions where there shouldn’t be any, like between the toes, fails to unite the things that should stick together – like your dog’s mouth roof. CLEFT PALATEĪpparently, there is a chromosomal mutation that can determine both the emergence of webbed feet in dogs, as well as a cleft palate. Since dogs use their toes for walking, the webbing between them can cause limping and other affections. There is no simple answer to this question, but yes, webbed feet is a condition which has been known to at least associate with – if not trigger – other health problems. However, these findings are counterintuitive, especially since some dog breeds have webbed feet and many practitioners believe these are a result of a genetic mutation a dog gets from the parents. In other words, if your dog has webbed feet it might not be caused by his genetic inheritance at all. In fact, more recent studies suggest that numerical and structural chromosome aberrations may not be involved in all cases of webbed feet, particularly in complete syndactyly. The genetic predisposition has been proved without doubt only in one canine breed, the Australian Shepherd, along with other bone defects: cleft palate, polydactyly, shortened tibia-fibula, brachygnathism, and lethal scoliosis. If we’re talking about dogs, many owners might notice their four-legged friends have webbed feet, but the scientific research regarding this medical issue entails that this is a pretty uncommon condition, which is not yet fully understood. In addition to this, if syndactyly is associated with other anomalies, we’re dealing with a complicated form of this affection, while if it’s not, we’re dealing with uncomplicated webbed feet. Webbed feet can also be classified as complete when the toes are fully connected, or incomplete when we’re talking about a partial joining together.
Webbed feet dogs skin#
As such, this condition can be regarded as simple if the toes are united only by skin and fibrous tissue, and complex if the union entails the bones being linked together as well.

Syndactyly, or webbed feet, means that the toes fuse together, either by way of bone or soft tissues which are involved in different ways. That being said, in this article we’ll deal with some basic information about syndactyly, as well as talk about the most common dog breeds with webbed feet. Limping can be caused by his webbed feet, since during exercise his toes will tend to spread, which will cause the webbing between his toes to stretch. In fact, if you notice that your dog limps after you’ve exercised him, it wouldn’t hurt to take a look at his paws. The truth is that dogs with webbed feet are prone to developing instability of their joints, which in turn can trigger arthritis. This join that occurs between the toes presents an increased risk in our canine friends. When two or more toes fuse together, this condition is called syndactyly or what is more commonly known as webbed feet.
