My Golden Retriever puppy's rib cage is uneven. What should I do?

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Nala. Hard to tell from just one picture but I see the protrusion of the rib cage. The last rib on the rib cage is what we call a "floating rib" because it doesn't connect to the sternum or breastbone. This protrusion looks more towards the front of the rib cage in this picture. The best advice here is to let your veterinarian take a detailed history and perform a complete physical exam. They may advise some chest x-rays to evaluate the structure of the ribs and look for any problems. Some rib cage abnormalities are not significant and some are. It just depends on their severity and what exactly the abnormality is. It's possible some injury occurred during birth or playing to account for this. Really hard to tell at this point. I would let your vet check this out and I would do it ASAP if this is something that just came on suddenly and Nala has any degree of breathing problems. Good luck and I hope this is just a structural problem and won't lead to any health problems.

Opie looks pretty normal in the pictures. It may be that he's just getting a bit overweight. If he's breathing normally, not panting while resting and calm, has good energy and appetite, then it's probably ok to watch it and just keep an eye on his weight. If he's doing anything funny, or you just have a bad feeling about it, it's worthwhile to have a quick exam to make sure it's normal. Good luck!

Yes, I would have it relooked at to be safe. Without seeing it in person, I can't say if it's normal or not, so it's always good to have any concerning part of your dog's body checked out by a vet.

You should feed your puppy a complete puppy food. Royal Canin puppy food for large breeds would be the proper food. You may need to have your puppy dewormed. You may also need to feed more. If your puppy does not eat its food it may not like it, so you can slowly transition to puppy food from another brand. I recommend you take your puppy to a pet doctor for an exam and deworming and vaccinations.

This is unusual and possibly concernng. It may just be air that entered the tissue around the ribs, which would eventually subside, but it could also be abnormal swelling. I suggest you take her back to your veterinarian today for a recheck.

Yes, that looks like it could be from old fractures. If it is not bothering him I don't think I would be overly worried. If you do think it is bothering him or you are worried about it in general, x-rays would give you a definite answer so you may want to consider having that done. Hope this helps. Best wishes!

If this lump is at the bottom of his rib cage, what you may be feeling on Buster is his xyphoid process. This is a normal part of a dog's anatomy, and not something to be concerned about at all. If you are concerned, you can always take Buster into the vet to have it examined.