Luxating Patellas In Small Dog

[VinnieAndRexsMom]

DD's little Moose has messed up his "good" knee and needs surgery. He was diagnosed with luxating patellas when he was in the e-vet over a year ago. His right was a III/III and the left was I/III. Something has happened and he now needs the left one fixed first. He weighs 5.8#s. We are trying to work out a time when DD and/or I can be home with him.

 

Any experience with this? I would appreciate any good vibes and prayers you could send.

 

Our little Moose

Edited December 31, 2010 by VinnieAndRexsMom

[Sirocco_Nikki]

Not with the surgery. My brittany had this problem. Our vet had us try rest and anti-inflammatories before we considered surgery. After 3-4 weeks, we started slow walks and gradually increased distance. Fortunately, surgery was never needed.

[BertnLil]

My JRT had the surgery years ago. He did fine with it. His recovery was completely uneventful. He's a tough little guy, but it really wasn't a big deal--Moose should be fine.

[Guest greytbookert]

I have experience but not with a dog. The first experience was my own knee but the relevant experience is with my cat, Grace. She had the surgery years a go and recovered fine. The hardest part was keeping a young cat quiet. We had to keep her in a crate for at least 3 weeks and then limit her movement for another 3 weeks. It wasn't horrible and she tolerated it pretty well.

 

Grace was also dx as a grade 3 out of 3 due to her deformed feet, not from an injury. She is triple pawed on all four paws, which is very cute

 

good luck with the surgery, I'm sure Moose will recover just fine!

[duncan41]

Have you done some independent reasearch on the surgery and the current success rates? A bazillion years ago, the surgery was very popular, but very unsuccessful, which led to more rest/rehab treatment options. I suspect and hope that with the proliferation of orthopedic specialists available to do the surgery and advancements in technique, the success rate has improved. My Mom had a Toy Manchester with the same condition in both patellas and chose not to operate. She lived to 14.5 years old and other than not being able to go up and down stairs in the last couple of years of her life, the "knees" didn't seem to cause trouble.

[VinnieAndRexsMom]

Mooose is only three years old, so we're talking about a relatively young dog. He was first diagnosed by the small dog specialist at the speciality clinic a year and a half ago. Now our vets say the left is bad right now and it can lead to arthritis. The more he uses it, the more he limps. I would hate to see him go through the next several years in pain and making his knee(s) worse. I know we all thought we would have more time before we had to address the issue, but I really think he injured his knee, making it worse.

 

I do like the anti inflamatory/rest idea to see how it goes, but he had tummy issues in the past and has never taken pain meds of any kind. The evet/internist determined his illness to be food intolerance but was not conclusive. And Moose is a little bolt of lightening in the house, so even though I am restricting him, he does get away from me at times.

 

Arrrg... if this was a greyhound, my greyhound, I would know how to deal with it. It's killing me that he's so tiny and so young on top of the fact we nearly lost him a year and a half ago. Six weeks rehab? I hadn't realized it could be that long, but I am glad to know

 

I appreciate the feedback and I will continue to read up on my own.

[duncan41]

Did the diagnosis/treatment plan as a result of a consult with an orthopedic surgeon?