Radiogrametric Analysis of the Metapodial Bones in English Setters

Radiography is one of the most preferred imaging methods when it comes to obtaining bone-related data by veterinarians on subjects such as clinical cases and education. This study was carried out to discover the sex differences on the metacarpal and metatarsal bones of English Setter hunting dogs. It aims to reveal the relationship between each bone forming the metapodiums and differences between male and female individuals. Twenty-eight English Setter dogs (16 females, 12 males) were included in the study. Actively hunting dogs were selected for the study, aged between 1 and 8. The average weight of the dogs were 18.79 +/- 4.12 kilograms. X-ray images were obtained from dogs positioning fore limb in dorso-palmar and hind limb in dorso-plantar position. For metacarpus measurements, males had higher values than females. In contrast to the metacarpal bones, females had higher measurements than males at some values (MT3: BP; MT4: SD; MT5: SD, BD) for metatarsal bones. The most distinguishing bone between males and females for the metacarpus was MC3 with the P<0.05 value at all measurements taken from the bone, and MT3 for the metatarsus (P<0.05 for three out of five measured values). In conclusion, metapodiums had statistically significant differences in terms of gender.