When it comes to the health of their pets, many people are not sure of what diseases are hereditary and which ones are not. However, many of the hereditary diseases such as Legg-Perthes Disease do not occur that often.
Whether the disease Legg-Perthes occurs once every couple years, or once every other day, it is still worth worrying about as well as learning about it. In fact, learning as well as trying to do something about the situation is the best thing anyone can do for it.
As many breeders are aware, Legg-Perthes Disease is common in many of the smaller breeds of dogs. In fact, some of the smaller breeds of dogs that the disease effects are the Manchester as well as other terriers, Affenpinscher, Cocker Spaniels, Dachshund, Chihuahuas, Pug, Poodles, Schipperkes, Pekingese, among many other breeds. Some of the other Terriers that are prone to getting this disease are Highlander White Terriers, Cairn Terriers, and toy terriers.
Many times when people get a terrier of some sort, they are aware of all the possible health problems or defects that the dog may have, inherited or not; they do not care. However, one thing that many people don't know is that the Legg-Perthes condition can occur in about 15% of all pets.
Many times when a Manchester terrier has the Legg-Perthes, they are not aware that they have it. However, other dogs will show signs of the condition right away. A lot of times it all depends on how bad the state of the condition is; as it is/was inherited to them. In fact, many of the Manchester terriers can go their whole life without having too much of a problem as to whether they need medical treatment.
One thing that has become very common in the breed is that if they are inherited with the disease, they do not start showing signs of conditions until they are between the ages of 4-11 months old. Along with the age span, the dog will also usually have lameness to one leg or the other. However, in some cases the dog has lameness in both legs; which is very rare.
If your Manchester terrier has Legg-Perthes disease, there will be many things that will start showing around the age of 4 months. As noted, one of the main signs will be lameness to one leg. Another main condition to watch for in your dog is uncontrollable pain. However, some dogs do not have the disease as bad so they won't have as much pain. Either way, you poor little guy will still show some sign of pain; which is sad for you. If you wanted to prevent your dog of getting the disease too badly or even finding out if it has the disease, you may take it to a vet for an X-ray.
Because terriers are so small, there is little there for the vet to fix; if you wanted to have surgery on the bone. Even better, there is only a little amount of recovery time. However, if the problems was let go for too long you may have to take your pooch to a physical therapist for a while. No matter if he/she has the problem for a little while or a long time, it is definitely worth spending all the time with him/her. In fact, you will love it just the same as you would with a healthy dog.
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