Luxating patella in dogs?

[TiaDanger 0]

I just adopted the most precious little 18 month old cocker spaniel from the pound the other day. I took him into the vet for this big first check up and boy, was he worked over-blood drawn, hearworm tests, heartworm meds, fecal tests (yes, he has a parasite), ear infection tests, rabies shot (apparently some people don't even care enough to give their dogs shots)

Okay, I can deal with all that. Little Cooper is good to go for the new meds and shots. But I found out yesterday that he has luxating patellas, or kneecaps that slip out of place. He has given no indication that he is in pain and is always running around like a doofus. Vet said he may or may not need surgery, but it can become very debilitating if left untreated. I am beside myself with worry and concern about him being in pain...I mean, who wants their kneecaps slipping out when they move? Apparently, this is a fairly common abnormality in small breed dogs.

I know there are a lot of dog owners here, so have any of you had to deal with this in your dog? If so, please speak up...I have searched a bunch of literature but would like some personal anecdotes.

And for the record: the appropriate ranking of cool modes of transportation is jet pack, hover board, transporter, Batmobile, and THEN giant ant.
D.S. #8.8

[Sapphire 0]

Poor Cooper! I don't have any experience with this, but was told by my dogs vet that it would be something I'd possibly have to deal with 'in the future.' (He's a small shih-tzu bichon mix, who's had back problems already, unfortunately.) I know they give it a grade from 1-5, and usually by 3 is when surgery is recommended. Did they happen to mention a grade at the vet?

I'm not sure if supplements help, like glucosamine, etc. I had a chow years ago that had bad hips and they gave her a series of shots called Adequan; again, I'm not sure if anything like this helps in the knee though.

It's such a good thing lil Cooper was saved by you! Best of luck - I sure hope it's rather mild and stays that way so Cooper doesn't have to ever be in much (if any) pain.

"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

[TiaDanger 0]

No, nobody gave him a 'grade', but I assume, by how the ratings go, he is a 1 or 2. I talked to two different vets, one didn't mention surgery much and the other mentioned surgery is the way to go. How about that for difference in medical opinion?

That sucks about your dog too...back problems in any organism is crappy news I HATE knowing there is something wrong with my dog that could be painful now or later in life.

And for the record: the appropriate ranking of cool modes of transportation is jet pack, hover board, transporter, Batmobile, and THEN giant ant.
D.S. #8.8

[jtval 0]

I've got a small (very [url http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVmZiPt1R14&feature=related]awesome) dog.

luxating patella was a concern of mine since he is a small dog but I took him to a few vets and they said if he doesnt have issues like:
while he is running does his leg lock up due to the slippage?
does he whimper? (in the event that you missed the limp)

If not he should be good. he is 3 years old now and I take him running regularly. When I was training last year he would run 4-5 miles with me. I guess I lucked out but he seems to be very healthy.

the surgery can cost upward to $4000 so, you better start saving up.
Hopefully, you can exercise him but not overexert him to the point of slippage.

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[Hvance 0]

I have two Cavalier spaniels with the same condition. Neither of them have had surgery yet. For one, it's due to a heart condition which may lead to complications, but for the other the vet said it's not worth surgery until my dog really *needs* it. Both seem happy thus far, so I'm holding my breath.

I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

[Flarelatedad 0]

Hey I have a female pom who was diagnosed with this a few years ago. The doc recommended surgery immediately or it would lead to "severe" degenerative changes. So far no problems. I don't know if the is one of the "vet vacation diagnosis" or if its real LOL.

As an aside the vet did say we could give her glucosamine (VERY expensive from his office) or get some from Wallgreens. Indicated it would help.

[Jewels 0]

I had a chihuahua (about 8 pounds) who had surgery on both knees for luxating patellas and she did just fine. I did one surgery when she was fairly young because she favored that leg a bit, but even then, she never acted like she was in severe pain. She did well with the surgery and recovered like a champ.

I had the other surgery done several years later. By then, things had advanced and they recommended some do-it-yourself, at-home physical therapy to push her to use the leg again. (This was not a problem the first time around; she used the leg again almost immediately.) By this time, she was a teenager and the therapy hurt, so I decided that at her age, she could limp if she needed to but I wasn't going to put her through that. She had other plans. She recovered, used the leg fully, and did great yet again.

I wouldn't panic over the patella. I WOULD find out the estimated cost of the surgery and start saving for it since you know it may be an issue. The surgeries for my dog ran about $1,500 each--nowhere NEAR $4,000, but not cheap, either.

I'm sure every patella story is different, but even after going through this twice, I wouldn't say my dog's experience was particularly bad. Yes, she had to have surgery, but she handled it well and the recovery was fairly quick and easy. I hope that's your experience, too!

TPM Sister #102

[akjmpplt 0]

Quote

I know there are a lot of dog owners here, so have any of you had to deal with this in your dog? If so, please speak up...I have searched a bunch of literature but would like some personal anecdotes.

Our mini Australian Shepard Katie had this problem. She is very active chasing frisbees, sticks, balls, small children, etc. We would notice that occasionally she would limp on her right rear leg and then would hyper-extend that leg straight out behind her for a moment. Once she did that she was back in the game. We took her to a local vet who's speciality is canine orthopedics and he found she had luxating patella. He said her straightening of the leg is how they put things "back in place" and is seen quite often in dogs with this problem. Because she is so active and since it was occurring more often we elected to have surgery done. It is quite extensive surgery with lots of bone being removed and replaced to get everything back in alignment...it costs us about $2000 for the surgery.

She healed very well and we've had no further problem. We only did the knee that was being problematic, the other hasn't been an issue yet.

SmugMug

[TiaDanger 0]

Thanks for all the replies! This seems to be a somewhat common issue, who would've thought? As with those of you who have had the surgery, it seems like it is very successful at correcting the problem.

I talked to a third vet (great) guy who will be doing his neutering and will take some x-rays when he's out to see how bad it is. If the dog needs surgery, I will make sure he gets it. I think I just need to chill the eff out for right now.

And for the record: the appropriate ranking of cool modes of transportation is jet pack, hover board, transporter, Batmobile, and THEN giant ant.
D.S. #8.8

[ifall 0]

This is interesting. Does the patella just slip back in on it's own? I have a 135lb Bulmastiff mix and the first year I had him, I adopted him at 7 months old, he took off after a ball I threw and immediately yelped and started limping and would stand holding his leg up. At first I had no idea what it was and he just walked it off and was better in minutes. I had it checked and the vet didn't see any problems but it happened several more times. During one of the times I was gently moving his leg around to see if I could tell where he was in pain and I felt a pop. So, next time it happened, I held around his knee area and actually felt his patella out of place and I popped it back in for him. It happened a few more times but it now hasn't happened in over a year. I think during my next vet visit I will inquire about it. Thanks!

[TiaDanger 0]

Your dogs injury is spot on with what I've been reading about luxating patellas...many times its playing around and one weird step and it will pop out. My vet said they can't move their leg until it pops back in. Some say its pretty sore after such event. I would definitely have your vet look at it.

Repeated 'pop outs' wear the bone and cartilage down to where they have joint pain as well. I guess luxating patellas can also make the ACL tear more easily.

And for the record: the appropriate ranking of cool modes of transportation is jet pack, hover board, transporter, Batmobile, and THEN giant ant.
D.S. #8.8

[skydivellama 0]

Hi there! Just wanted to chime in since I've dealt with this both as a dog owner and as a vet student (I'll be a vet in 4 months!)
Our family Jack Russell Terrier when I was a teenager had a luxating patella; it was only ever his right one that luxated so I think we were lucky there. For two or three years it would only happen once every few months, but each time it did happen he would cry out in pain until it popped back in. When it started to happen more frequently he got the surgery.
Sounds like you and your vet are in agreement about how he's doing so I'm sure you can make the right decision as to whether/when he needs surgery.
We have some really excellent orthopedic surgeons at my vet school and they taught us a 4-grade system for luxating patella; they typically recommend surgery for anything above Grade 1, but the type of surgery they perform depends on the grade and other things like the age and size of the dog. If it's a low grade they may only do a soft-tissue correction while higher grades may require reshaping the bone; so the cost can vary a LOT depending on what type of surgery they need to do.
With any joint disease you can get degenerative changes (osteoarthritis) occurring at a relatively young age. Feeding a glucosamine and chondroitin supplement may have some benefit in preventing that, but nothing can reverse osteoarthritis once it happens. Getting radiographs when he goes under to be neutered is a good idea, that way if he is already showing signs of osteoarthritis (hopefully he's not!) then you'll know it may be a good idea to do surgery sooner rather than later.
You probably already know all this from the research you've done, just wanted to give a vet student's input!

"Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst