Humans aren't the only creatures that need care for their feet.Hope, a baby giraffe born at the Topeka Zoo this July, has been given another chance at a full life, thanks to some clever work with some makeshift "custom orthotics". The giraffe was born with her fetlock joints bent at 90 degrees and dislocated.
Dr. Joseph P. Kamer, a local small animal practitioner, acted quickly at the time of the giraffe's birth and straightened the animal's joints. He put her rear hooves into hard casts within two hours of her birth. After consulting withe veterinarians at the zoo as well as some large animal specialists, Dr. Kamer decided to take the conservative approach and designed a corrective shoe of his own custom design for baby Hope.
The wooden shoes were glued to Hope's hooves using methylmethacrylate cement and polyethylene mesh reinforcement. Dr. Kramer fashioned artificial tendons out of nylon rope to resemble the flexor tendons and attached them to the shoe, then ran them along the leg in plastic tubing.
As the baby giraffe grew, the casts and shoes were changed to accommodate her size, and by late September she was out of the casts and no longer needed support for her left leg. "The animal can run - full bore - with these shoes on," said Dr. Kamer. "As long as I can keep the shoes on this animal for the next several months, then I think that's key." He is guardedly optimistic about Hope's chances of survival and adds that he hopes these podiatric techniques will help other giraffes that suffer from similar deformities.
Special thanks to a wonderful patient of ours for pointing out this article from JAVMA (Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association) by R. Scott Nolen! Article is from Vol. 237, No.9 Page 1002 on November 1, 2010. Photo courtesy of Topeka Zoo.
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