# Splayed front toes



## sonofagun (Jun 25, 2011)

Posting here to help a friend - his one year old female has splayed toes on her front feet so bad she cannot stand - must lie down or be on her knees. Can anyone help with this as to what might be the cause and of course, treatment.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

First off..Welcome to TGS.

Sounds to me that she has weakened pasterns....does she appear to be walking on her heels with her toes pointing upward?

This is genetic and can be aggravated as she ages, sometimes corrective trimming of the hoof can help but if the problem is in the pastern, this can't be corrected.


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## sonofagun (Jun 25, 2011)

Trying to post pics


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Hmmmm....I've not ever seen a goat with hooves like that :scratch: 

If it were weak pasterns, her toes would be pointed upward and she'd be on her heels.

Is this a recent thing or was it something she was born with and it progressed?

She's a pretty doe and seeing the peek of her udder she looks to be a good milker.


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Welcome from NJ :wave: 
I have never seen a goat like this. 
There is a condition similar in dogs called knuckling over. There is some controversy as to what causes it. Some thoughts are physical trauma, trauma to the nerve are 2 that appear more suddenly. Nutritional deficiency, hypothyroidism and cancer are ones that appear more over time. 
I have no idea if this can happen in goats but in dogs the front feet kinda go forward like that and the weird forward bend makes the dogs toes very splayed. :shrug:


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## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

Its almost as if her toes were 'broke' at some point. I have never seen legs/hooves that look like that, in all of my 12 years of raising goats.

If she is walking on her knees, its obvious that she is in pain. Some pain killers would help.

I can see that her right front is severly curled over to the inside, she's nearly walking on the side of her hoof, or on just her right toe. Can he trim her hooves at all?


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## sonofagun (Jun 25, 2011)

One more:


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Oh gosh...ouch.  I've never seen anything like this before.

It almost looks like those front hooves are cut really short. Founder maybe?

Can your friend have a vet take a look at her?


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## sonofagun (Jun 25, 2011)

I have sent the pics to a local vet but of course, did so 10 minutes before their office closed for the weekend. 

I think this condition developed recently with the animal - I'll try to get and post more info here from my friend.

Maybe somone can suggest a goat vet, clinic, or expert I could forward the pics to?

or you're welcome to do so yourself.


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Is the condition new? Has this been a slow progression? 
The first photo posted doesn't look like they are trimmed overly short.


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## sonofagun (Jun 25, 2011)

Condition started developing about 3 weeks ago - owner says he had started her on a new feed back then (something called "pro-min") - no longer feeds that - now back to regular horse feed he uses. Says otherwise she is ok, no other problems - she has been his best milk goat.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

It looks as though she may have severely contracted tendons, though this is normally seen in newborns and causes the entire foot to knuckle under and they "walk" on the top of the hoof...it's usually caused by a Selenium and Vit E deficiency as well as a Copper deficiency.

If this started 3 weeks ago with the change in diet...she very well could be having a reaction to a lack of the above minerals.


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## sonofagun (Jun 25, 2011)

I have sent the pics to the college of Vet medicine at Michigan State University to see if they can help. Will see what they say. Your continued input & suggestions is appreciated!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I agree with Liz...may be mineral deficiencies...man... poor girl ...that does look painful.....  :hug:


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## 20kidsonhill (Feb 28, 2011)

I would consider pain meds, messaging the tendons in the legs, maybe cold hosing her front legs(spraying cold water on her legs for 10 minutes. 

Doing blood-work for selenium and copper.

maybe dexameth. for swelling and inflamation? A vet maybe could try a couple combinations of things. It does look like her tendons have tightened, like a bad cramp, I am sure she is in a lot of pain. Poor girl, but if it came on all of a sudden, I would say they may be hope for it to be treated. I would get the ingredience of the product your freind tried using to the vet with the photos. I would contact the manufacturer of that product and talk to them. Especially if your fiend is sure the condition started after feeding the new product.


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## ksshell (Sep 19, 2012)

What was the final conclusion of this goats condition? I have a doe who currently is having a similar issue


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

You may want to start a new thread on it. It appears that the original poster may not be on anymore.


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

I know this is old but I can't help but wonder if there could be a mechanical way to pull those toes together...


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## doxie9 (Nov 7, 2017)

sonofagun said:


> Trying to post pics


 I have a buck showing this right now .


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

You should start a new thread. I would if it could be selenium deficiency.


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