Luxated Patella

[CatandJim]

Well, it has happened... We are experiencing something new with our Bella. All these years having pets and this is new to me. I took her to the vet yesterday after noticing that she was limping quite a bit and holding her right rear leg up from time to time. I will be doing my "homework" now about patella luxation and doing some research to find our best local surgical options to repair it. So far I have been getting estimates of anyway from $900 to $1500 for the surgery and aftercare. I am not as price conscience as I am quality oriented.

Bella is our Maltese mix rescued dog that we have enjoyed and loved for about a year and a half so far. I do not want her in pain, even though our vet described her as a "tough cookie" after putting her knee back in place only to have it pop back out yesterday. She barely even flinched. That's my girl!

If you have any experience with this condition feel free to share your information. Dr. Doug I hope you will chime in.

Thanks!

[sher9570]

Can't add a thing as I have never had this problem with our Poodles or Poms but I wish Bella all the best...after reading through all the post I would agree with your conclusion, I too would go conservative on the treatment.

Sher

[CatandJim]

Yes indeed Dr. Doug, as usual you are correct. The orthopedic vet that we saw for the "grading" of Bella's luxation did a very thorough exam of her back leg(s), watched her walk, jump, and stand on her hind legs, and then did an x-ray. I feel confident in his diagnosis.

She is about 3, maybe 4, years old now (a rescued dog so we are not completely sure). I am hopeful that she will respond well to supportive care and we can avoid surgery.

[HeyJude]

dturm wrote:

HeyJude wrote:
I think my Gunner has LP and I have been giving him Dasuquin MSM and some other supplements with coconut oil. I haven't had him diagnosed yet, but noticed with the supplements and having stairs to get on and off of my chair he is doing much better. My concern is he is only 10 months old! How do they diagnose it, does it require anything more than an x-ray?

Often time X-Rays are not necessary to diagnose patellar luxation. A physical exam with palpation of the knee will reveal if the knee cap is dislocated or can be dislocated with digital pressure. The X-Rays will aid in evaluating the stage of luxation and conformation of the knee.

At 10 months old, I'd advise to get him in to a vet as there are several developmental bone problems that should be ruled out as they can present life long problems. Addressing them at this age can reduce the life time impact.

Doug, DVM

thank you

[dturm]

HeyJude wrote:
I think my Gunner has LP and I have been giving him Dasuquin MSM and some other supplements with coconut oil. I haven't had him diagnosed yet, but noticed with the supplements and having stairs to get on and off of my chair he is doing much better. My concern is he is only 10 months old! How do they diagnose it, does it require anything more than an x-ray?

Often time X-Rays are not necessary to diagnose patellar luxation. A physical exam with palpation of the knee will reveal if the knee cap is dislocated or can be dislocated with digital pressure. The X-Rays will aid in evaluating the stage of luxation and conformation of the knee.

At 10 months old, I'd advise to get him in to a vet as there are several developmental bone problems that should be ruled out as they can present life long problems. Addressing them at this age can reduce the life time impact.

Doug, DVM

[HeyJude]

I think my Gunner has LP and I have been giving him Dasuquin MSM and some other supplements with coconut oil. I haven't had him diagnosed yet, but noticed with the supplements and having stairs to get on and off of my chair he is doing much better. My concern is he is only 10 months old! How do they diagnose it, does it require anything more than an x-ray?

[CatandJim]

Bella is a "grade 2" so it has been suggested that we take a conservative approach and do supportive maintenance while watching for changes. I will be taking her to our holistic vet ASAP. I hope to see Dr. Heather for a consultation soon, as she is expecting a baby in a few short weeks. I think a natural approach with perhaps some supplements will work to Bella's advantage. She doesn't do as well as some of our dogs in the past on Rimadyl, it adversely affects her appetite.

[CA_POPPY]

CatandJim wrote:
I am consulting with a surgeon next week and will have many things to consider. Thank you ALL for sharing your experience. Bella is a happy, active dog. We walk up to 2 miles several times a week. Her limp is occasional and doesn't last long so I am not sure what level her LP would be.... She has responded very well to the low dose Rimadyl and hasn't limped at all for a few days. However, I don't want to keep her on that long term. So much to consider.....

It will be interesting to hear what the orthopedist says. As for Rimadyl, we never gave Poquita pain meds for the LP as the limping always stopped as soon as we put her knee back in place. LP Dogs develop some arthritis when they're older, whether or not they have surgery, so we eventually got to that anyhow. When we finally had to use Rimadyl for her back (which was probably let down by her weak knees) we used a minimal dose, even 1/4 or 1/2 of the lowest dose, because she was only 5-6 lbs. Both the vets we had for her were quite comfortable prescribing Rimadyl, although originally there was so much negative press on the web. It's all about quality of life. Our old country vet was concerned that if the dog was "feeling no pain" they would jump off the sofa and/or play in a way to aggravate the condition. While that attitude has changed in post-surgery cases, he held to it in chronic states like this. It's good that we all get to listen to the options, knowing our own dogs, and make the best decisions we can based on all the info. I got to the point that I could see in Poquita's eyes if she needed pain meds. She always "told" me. Good luck with Bella. I'll bet she will be fine with whatever you decide.

[CatandJim]

I am consulting with a surgeon next week and will have many things to consider. Thank you ALL for sharing your experience. Bella is a happy, active dog. We walk up to 2 miles several times a week. Her limp is occasional and doesn't last long so I am not sure what level her LP would be.... She has responded very well to the low dose Rimadyl and hasn't limped at all for a few days. However, I don't want to keep her on that long term. So much to consider.....

[nabi]

Izzy has Lp...we had her X-rays assessed by radiologist at the University of Guelph and the university of PA..the radiologist in Guelph recommended surgery..the radiologist. at uni of Pa recommended we wait and see how she managed...take supplements and have her build her leg muscles up by walking up hills of at least 45 degrees...and if we did go the surgery route to make sure it was by a board certified surgeon . We have been lucky , Izzys problem has never worsened..but If she does require the surgery we will have it done in Mexico by a board certified ortho surgeon for a 1/3 of the cost here and momma can have a nice vacation by the ocean .

[Tin-bender]

We have a BC/Sheltie cross we adopted at 1 year old within a couple months she blew out her left knee playing with a ball on the lawn. What can you do, $900 later she was good as new. Wife started her in Flyball and a year later she blew out the other knee playing with a ball in the driveway. Well another Grand and she was as good as new, again. She went on to have an 11 year career as a Flyball dog earning her "Iron Dog" award among many other honors. She is now 14 and still runs in practice to help train young upcoming dogs and handlers, granted not as fast as she once was but the attitude is still strong.

No sign of joint problems in hips or knees, some arthritis in her spine and front legs but is still very active but in shorter intervals.

From our experience the surgery works very well.
Good luck with your puppy.
Tinbender

[xteacher]

As Dr. Doug mentioned, very common in toy breeds. Our last poodle, Potsie, had grade 4 luxating patellas in both knees, but amazingly wasn't lame, nor did he skip when running. His knees were always out of place, even when popped back in - they'd pop back out almost immediately. He did have the bowed-legged look in the back which is also a sign. We gave him 1/2 a Cosequin DS plus MSM chewable daily, which is the loading dose. Because he was so severe, we kept him on this dose daily, rather than switching to every other day as recommended on the bottle after a few weeks. We also gave him a fish oil capsule daily in his food. Ironically, it was a severe back injury that did the poor guy in eventually.

It's important to keep these dogs at a very slender weight to avoid extra stress on the joints. We weighed Potsie every couple of weeks and adjusted his food accordingly. Since he was pretty small (12.5-13 pounds), we didn't let him deviate by more than 1/2 a lb.

Surgery was estimated at around $1500/leg for us, with questionable results expected because of the severity; not an option on teachers' salaries, so we were glad that we didn't have to go that route.

[campn4walleye]

Our cavalier's knee pops out every now and then too. We just pop it back in place. Our vet has never mentioned surgery at all. He's very active and athletic. He has other joint issues but the knee is his least worry.

We give him a Dasuquin with MSM daily and have seen a HUGE improvement. We know if he misses it.

[Code2High]

Tinker had a lot of pain when it first started. We medicated for a couple of days and then she was fine. Once you learn where to check and how to pop it back over when it slips, that helps quite a lot as does a good joint supplement.

These days Tink is mostly just fine as long as she gets her Joint Strong and her black currant seed oil, which she needs for her neck/back issues as well. The expense of the surgery and the stress of keeping her quiet for weeks makes me unenthused about surgery. Tink is very active...a big pogo sticker and loves chasing around the yard, so the knee thing does not seem to be slowing her down.

[LakeN]

We have a Sheltie, unofficially diagnosed with luxating patella. About 6 mths ago, we set up appt but did not go as the knee apparently popped back in. Since then, we are careful not to throw frisbee for her too long as this is what causes the luxation. Based on info here, I would guess she is a level 1 or 2. Have not seen her holding up leg in months 🙂 We have had experience with a golden who had canine cruciate surgery on both knees. Major rehab/cost but with good results. Good luck.