Subluxated Patella

[ivon]

Karma started not putting weight on her right hind leg, I had the vet check it out, and she suspects a subluxated patella, she x-rayed the leg and could not find anything else. She suggested surgery and will bring an orthopedic specialist in for that, in talking to him they agreed that this is a rare diagnosis for a Greyhound, so now the specialist wants to check her out, before scheduling surgery.

Anyone have experience with this? I was told recovery takes 6-8 weeks, she will need to be crated, leash walked, even walked in a sling the first week. This is Karma we are talking about, she may be 10, but she is a spaz, always jumping around, doing the crazy happy dance when I get home, running for her crate at meal time, taking 5 steps off and on the deck at once, and she does not like to spend time in her crate. I suspect the sling will not go over well....

 

 

Update: The second opinion vet concluded Karma has hurt her Achilles heel, she does NOT need surgery, she needs crate rest and leash walks. She is going to hate it either way.....

Edited September 28, 2011 by ivon

[Sambuca]

Definitely make sure you get a second and even possibly a third opinion. This is a common genetic condition in toy breed dogs. That said, I have sublux shoulders. It's when the ligaments are to loose and the joint pops in and out of the socket at it's will. I had the option of surgery or PT. The PT strengthened the muscles around the joint making it more able to hold the joint in the socket. I would see if maybe some aqua therapy or some other therapy could help strengthen her leg and help hold everything where it needs to be.

[tbhounds]

Rare indeed for a gh. Usually you will only see this in a large breed dog only after trama to the limb.

Super longshot here-- did you check for corns??

[Guest greytbookert]

I would say a long shot DX as well. Not impossible but strange for a GH, unless due to injury I suppose.

 

However, my cat Grace, did have a subluxating patella(she's triple pawed) and required surgery. Sure, she wasn't happy being confined to a crate but she made it through.

 

on an aside, I also had a subluxing patella due to injury and I made it through

 

I hope Karma is feeling better very soon!

[Guest iconsmum]

I second the thing about checking thoroughly for even tiny corns - I had my first dog checked for a limp before I knew about corns and 2 vets missed our corn completely - probably because they never looked )

 

Who's got whippets on here? and, do they have corns at the same rate as greys, do you know please? Also, has anyone ever had a non grey dog with a corn? I have to get a handle on this topic...

[KF_in_Georgia]

Watch Karma walking. Is the limp worse on hard terrain than on soft? If so, that makes it more likely that the problem is a corn. A subluxating patella ought to be equally bad on all terrain, I think.

[ivon]

Terrain doesn't seem to matter, but it is an intermittent limp, which is more typical for SP, I will have them check for corns though, good idea.

[ivon]

Update post 1

[tbhounds]

Well, that's a bummer but, it's a lot better diagnosis than what we all fear.

[ivon]

tbhounds, no kidding, I had some serious talks with myself on the way to the vet, along the lines of "a limp could be anything, really, it could", just to keep from crying, I was fearing the worst. She is taking the crate better than I thought she would, she likes the soft bed in the travel crate best, so she gets to use that one....