Although the westie has dropped off in popularity over the last five years or so, they are still a very popular dog breed and are currently ranked as the 44th most popular dog breed in the USA.
Due to being such a popular breed, we often see people reaching out with a wide range of different questions about their westie and how they are able to best care for it.
Thankfully, westies are generally considered a healthier dog breed with less genetic issues than some other popular breeds, they do still have some common problems.
This is why each month we see a pretty consistent number of people reaching out and asking questions about westie back leg problems or issues with their westies hips that are causing their dog issues with their legs.
With so many people reaching out for advice about the legs of their westie month in month out, we decided to publish our own article going over it.
Our hope is that we will be able to help as many of our readers as possible who have a westie and suspect that they have issues with their legs or hips.
Please note, you should really be booking a video call with a veterinarian to get a specific diagnosis for what’s wrong with your westie rather than trying to match a potential cause up with symptoms yourself.
Do Westies Have Problems With Their Back Legs?
Westies can have problems with their back legs ranging from issues with patellar luxation, to old age, to issues with ligaments, to problems with their legs being symptoms of problems with their hips.
Depending on the underlying cause of the problem with your westies back legs, it can often be fixed.
Keep in mind that the lineage of your westie will play a large role in any potential genetic problems too with interbreeding and lack of selective breeding by backyard breeders being very common with the breed in North America and Europe.
People pick up their westie for a couple of hundred dollars and then end up having to pay thousands in vets bills due to common issues. If you do have a westie then we would highly recommend that you get a pet insurance plan to cover them if possible.
If you purchased a pedigree westie with registration papers then the chances of you having these problems are considerably less though due to most pedigree breeders implementing strict selective breeding in their lines to prevent any genetic disorders in their pups.
If your westie does end up having problems with its back legs and is obviously in pain then you can try some pet CBD oil to ease the pain and help your westie be active throughout the day.
Do Westies Have Hip Problems?
Westies can be prone to a very painful hip condition called legg-calve-perthes disease that tends to be degenerative and get worse as your westie ages.
If you catch the condition early then it can often be managed to reduce the problems it causes with your westies hips and rear legs.
Unfortunately though, if your westie does have legg-calve-perthes disease then it can’t be cured and management of the condition is often the best route to take.
Book a video call with a veterinarian to have them assess your dog via video call and offer a plan for moving forward with as little pain as possible being caused to your dog while ensuring that it has the best quality of life possible.
If you do catch legg-calve-perthes disease early enough then it does often only have a minimal effect on your dog and although it will have some issues for the rest of its life, it will not be bad with minimal pain too.
People often read about the symptoms of legg-calve-perthes disease and instantly think the worse but veterinary science has come a long way over the last few decades and conditions that could not be managed can now be reduced drastically.
Why Do Westies Lick Their Feet?
Westies sometimes lick their feet due to various skin conditions that the breed can be prone to as the dog seems to think the licking will make the issue better.
In fact, the constant moisture will make a fungal infection worse and cause the itching to become more intent making it appear as though your westie has problems with its legs as it walks.
Thankfully, the fungal and bacterial infections that can cause your westies to lick their feet fanatically are usually very easy to treat.
A vet will be able to provide you with a spray or topical cream that will treat the fungus or bacterial while soothing the itching sensation on your westies feet.
Although the treatments do get to work instantly, it can take two to three days before you are able to see a visible difference in your westies behavior depending on how bad the issue was.
For the most part though, this is definitely the easiest issue with your westies feet and legs to have due to it being so quick, easy, and cheap to treat with minimal pain being involved for your dog.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over westie back leg problems to an end. Although some of the causes we have covered are not directly issues with your westies back legs, they can have their symptoms manifest on the back legs of your westie making it looks like it has problems. As we mentioned back at the start of the article too, you really should be getting advice on what could be wrong with your westie from your veterinarian for specific advice to your dog.
