A SEVEN-month-old dachshund is able to walk again after talented vets near Wellington performed life-changing limb surgery.

Milo, a young dachshund, will now be able to start living a normal life due to the surgery that utilised a custom 3D-printed cutting guide, at Linnaeus-owned Cave Veterinary Specialists, West Buckland.

The pup was first brought to the attention of vets when his owners noticed the shape of his lower limb looking abnormal, and he had been walking with an altered gait.

After visiting the vets, the cause was determined to be pes varus, which in Latin means ‘foot and varus’, meaning inward. 

This unfortunately results in a bow-legged appearance. The condition, however, is not unknown, and is a recognised condition that affects young dachshunds where the tibia is turned inward towards the body.

Anna Nutt, European specialist in small animal surgery at Cave, said: “Milo underwent a CT scan of the pelvic limbs, which revealed the cause of his limb deformity.”

“We then used the results from the CT scan for surgical planning and production of angular limb deformity correction guides. These patient-specific surgical guide systems are designed using 3D data from CT scans.

“This enables us to create models to plan surgical interventions. In this case, 3D correction guides and a plate were created to enable precise correction of the deformity.”

Cave, located just minutes from Junction 26 on the M5, offers comprehensive, specialist-led services in anaesthesia, cardiology, dentistry and oral surgery, dermatology, internal medicine, neurology and neurosurgery, oncology, orthopaedic surgery and soft tissue surgery.