Luxating Patella Question/Advise Needed - YorkieTalk.com Forums

sneri13 · 03-20-2006, 04:12 PM

Mellie has luxating Patella in both of her back knees. The vet can cause them to slip everytime he manipulates her legs. He said although they slip all the time she doesn't appear to be in any pain and said we should just leave them alone and watch them. She doesn't cry or appear to be in any pain, has no problem running or playing. I have noticed lately (last couple of weeks) actuall since her last vet check, that everytime she get up from laying down she will limp. My question is should I take her to the orthopedic vet for a specialists opion? When is surgery warrented? What is involved with the surgery? How long is recovery? What are the complications if she does not have the surgery by waiting unitl she is in pain and it is a bigger problem? I do not want her to go under any uneccessary surgery. I am worried that the ortho vet will just decide that she needs surgery since she does have LP and does limp. Any suggestions/Advice is appreciated.

txshopper73 · 03-20-2006, 05:15 PM

WOW! I've never had to deal with it before. I've heard that once they are in pain to have the surgery done but then I've heard that if it's a grade 2 or higher it needs to be done immediately. I guess a phone call wouldn't hurt.

goldenray · 03-21-2006, 02:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sneri13

Mellie has luxating Patella in both of her back knees. The vet can cause them to slip everytime he manipulates her legs. He said although they slip all the time she doesn't appear to be in any pain and said we should just leave them alone and watch them. She doesn't cry or appear to be in any pain, has no problem running or playing. I have noticed lately (last couple of weeks) actuall since her last vet check, that everytime she get up from laying down she will limp. My question is should I take her to the orthopedic vet for a specialists opion? When is surgery warrented? What is involved with the surgery? How long is recovery? What are the complications if she does not have the surgery by waiting unitl she is in pain and it is a bigger problem? I do not want her to go under any uneccessary surgery. I am worried that the ortho vet will just decide that she needs surgery since she does have LP and does limp. Any suggestions/Advice is appreciated.

If she is limping then she does appear to be in pain, so she probably is going to end up needing surgery. I would only use the specialist also. Patellas are rated as to how bad they are. 1 2 3 or 4. 4's will always need surgery, a lot of 3's will, but as a rule a 1 or 2 will not, but there are always exceptions as with anything.

I'm sorry I can't tell you recovery time, as I've never had one and when pet people have called me for advice on dogs they've bought elsewhere, I have never asked the recovery, but I'm going to guess that totally probably around a month, but that it would be getting around almost immediately. Dogs can easily get around on 3 legs during recovery. Good luck.

Jan L. · 03-21-2006, 03:31 AM

I've been breeding Yorkies for over 30 years and for the first time had a pup born with LP. It's a grade 4. He hops on his back legs. Our plan is to have my vet xray him and then we're off to orthopedic surgeon. We're concerned about his size. He is 9 weeks old and weights 1# 2oz. I've never had to deal with this before and am very scared to have him put under. Any suggestions?

Oh yea, the surgeon said he'll be a grade 1 after sx. I want to get him neutered at the same time so as not to put him under again.

Mystify79 · 03-21-2006, 08:12 AM

Personally, I would get a specialist's opinion. Surgery is usually done on dogs that have grade 3-4 LP usually because the condition doesn't reverse itself. You can try joint supplements but if the knee is bad enough those won't help much and the knee will always be an issue. Surgery usually depends on how bad the knee is.. some dogs just get a few screws placed, others have to have reconstructive surgery. Recovery also depends on how invasive the surgery was. My sister's Maltese, Palbert, had this surgery over 1 year ago. His knee was between a grade 3 and 4 and the reason we opted for surgery was the fear of the knee blowing out one day. Palbert acted normally and only had 2 incidents where his knee slipped out but the vet warned us that all it would take was for him to jump off the bed and blow out his knee because it was unstable. And a blown knee is a lot more invasive of a surgery with a much longer recovery. Another consideration we had was that the surgery and recovery would be easier on a younger dog. If Palbert didn't have it now, in a few years if he blew his knee he'd be older and not recover as quickly. He weighed about 3.5 pounds when he had the surgery and he came through like a champ. He recovered very quickly too. He was a little nervous about walking on his leg after surgery so he stayed off it himself for about a week before he finally started walking on it... which is what the doctor recommended. In our case, surgery was the best option and over a year later Palbert is doing great with no ill effects at all from the surgery and now we aren't freaking out every time he jumps off the couch. Best of luck to you!

blades · 03-22-2006, 07:58 AM

My 9 year old female limps after she has been lying down for a while. I give her 1 crushed St. Joseph's aspirin for children with her food nightly. It seems to help. My vet told me to keep an eye on her. She still runs around during the day. I would definitely have her have surgery at a later date if I see her in pain. Why not- they are our little furbabies!

Yorkiedog · 03-25-2006, 11:31 AM

My Melody has been diagonsed with luxating patellas in both her back legs.The vet picked it up on a routine visit.
They don't seem to bother her and the vet said that she must of got used to popping them back in herself when they pop out.
As they are not causing her any pain we have been advised to just keep an eye on it and take her back to the vet's when or if she gets worse.
I do know some people whose dogs have never needed surgery for the condition.
A downside of having them operated on it can cause arthiritis lin the joints later in life.

Sharon,Charley & Melody

PrincessMia · 03-25-2006, 10:16 PM

my three year old yorkie just had the orthopedic surgery done on her back left leg. We went to the vet about a month before, and our vet said "oh she has a luxating patella" and she looked at us like we already knew that. It was a big shock. as soon as we found out she told us about the surgery, the medicine, and everything we needed to keep her healthy. We bought stairs for the bed so she didnt jump, we gated off our large stairways, and didnt allow her to jump. About a week later we decided to look further into having the surgery. we had noticed before that sometimes she would lift the leg while she ran, but never seemed to be hurting. the doctor told us that alot of time the pain from it does not come until later in life for them. We decided to have the $2500 surgery, because she is young and we figured it was better now than when she is older. The first week was horrible. she couldnt walk, and she was very irritated when we wouldnt allow her to run around with our golden. we bought a doggy stroller and strolled her wherever we were in the house, but she was really upset by the whole thing. She is now healing, but i always wonder if it made a difference, bc she never had symptons, or was in pain before. it is one of those things that you just have to hope for the best if you have the surgery.

goldenray · 03-26-2006, 05:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sneri13

Mellie has luxating Patella in both of her back knees. The vet can cause them to slip everytime he manipulates her legs. He said although they slip all the time she doesn't appear to be in any pain and said we should just leave them alone and watch them. She doesn't cry or appear to be in any pain, has no problem running or playing. I have noticed lately (last couple of weeks) actuall since her last vet check, that everytime she get up from laying down she will limp. My question is should I take her to the orthopedic vet for a specialists opion? When is surgery warrented? What is involved with the surgery? How long is recovery? What are the complications if she does not have the surgery by waiting unitl she is in pain and it is a bigger problem? I do not want her to go under any uneccessary surgery. I am worried that the ortho vet will just decide that she needs surgery since she does have LP and does limp. Any suggestions/Advice is appreciated.

If she just started it then I wouldn't rush into surgery. They say the 1st time they ever pop a stifle, it's inflamed and the inflamation takes time to go down so they are not sore. If after a month you are still seeing it only when she gets up from laying down, maybe try some glucosamine and see if that helps. Give it time to help as it has to build up in them. I know it helps my back. You don't mention age, so I am wondering if she maybe has a little arthritis and is stiff getting up?

After all this and no improvement, you might need to consider surgery. Good luck and hoping for the best.

dawnholland · 03-30-2006, 05:33 AM

My four month old, Haley, has been diagnosed with the same thing. Her knee caps are not even sitting where they are supposed to be at all. When the Dr. pulls them over where they belong and lets go, they go right back to the outside of her joint instead of sitting in the grove. He said she is a 3 and will have to have surgery, but is waiting for a few more weeks until her growth plates in her legs have a chance to develop some more and harden. He doesn't want to stunt her growth. She is not in pain and doesn't seem to notice but we sure see the problem when see walks! Her back legs are wobbly and seem to click in and out of place. We have her brother, Cooper, from a previous litter from the same parents, he is 1 1/2 and has no problems. We are sad for Haley, she will have to be confined after the surgery and that will be hard for her. We are also sad for us because we bought her with the idea of breeding her and paid quite a bit of money for her and now the surgeon says her LPs are genetic and not to breed her.

Rinneygirl · 05-02-2006, 08:55 PM

When my 4 mth old puppy stands up, and walks, I hear cracking (like knuckles). The vet said not to worry about it, that its nothing, but it sounds so bad.

MyTyYorkie · 05-03-2006, 12:02 AM

My little male had both his knees done they put a pin in both knees, his recovery time was about 2-3 weeks no jumping etc. crated for that time to keep him from running around etc. he started limping again so i called the vet and the pin in his right leg came loose so they are taking it out his knee, the pin is piching him and it was too long, so when they take it out i hope this solves his limping. the other knee is doing great with the pin in. hope this helps.

Reese · 05-03-2006, 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sneri13

Mellie has luxating Patella in both of her back knees. The vet can cause them to slip everytime he manipulates her legs. He said although they slip all the time she doesn't appear to be in any pain and said we should just leave them alone and watch them. She doesn't cry or appear to be in any pain, has no problem running or playing. I have noticed lately (last couple of weeks) actuall since her last vet check, that everytime she get up from laying down she will limp. My question is should I take her to the orthopedic vet for a specialists opion? When is surgery warrented? What is involved with the surgery? How long is recovery? What are the complications if she does not have the surgery by waiting unitl she is in pain and it is a bigger problem? I do not want her to go under any uneccessary surgery. I am worried that the ortho vet will just decide that she needs surgery since she does have LP and does limp. Any suggestions/Advice is appreciated.

Hi,
Reese is 1 year and 4 months and has also been diagnosed with a luxating patella in her back right leg. She was just diagnosed yesterday and I too am very confused about what to do. On Monday Reese was in the back yard and she went to chase a ball and as she started to run she yelped and quickly sat down. She tried to get up again and again yelped and sat on the grass. For the rest of the day she limped around a bit and on Tuesday I took her to the vet. The vet put her on non-steroidal pain killers for 2 weeks for the pain. He said that she may have tore something which is causing the luxating patella. He said she needs to keep jumping to a minimum and stay on the pain medication and come back for a reevaluation in two weeks. I have already seen some slight improvement in Reese, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that the was caused by an injury and can heal and the knee cap will go back into place and stay there! Otherwise, she will need surgery : ( I think if your pup is not in any pain and does not show any signs of limping then I would not do the surgery. But if she is limping then it seems like she is probably in pain. Our vet said that some dogs have this there whole life and it is never a problem for them. I understand your fear and frustration, please keep us updated as to what you decide. I will also let you know what our vet says in 2 weeks when we go back.

sneri13 · 05-03-2006, 06:54 AM

Mellie has stopped limping over the past 2 weeks. The vet had her on anti-inflamatory meds, this seemed to really help. We are just going to continue to watch and see what happens. Vet said to bring her in if she starts limping again.

Reese · 05-03-2006, 10:26 AM

Sounds good! Hopefully we will be as lucky as you have been : )

03-20-2006, 04:12 PM	#1
sneri13 Luv My Spoiled Babies Donating Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: New Jersey Posts: 3,065	Luxating Patella Question/Advise Needed Mellie has luxating Patella in both of her back knees. The vet can cause them to slip everytime he manipulates her legs. He said although they slip all the time she doesn't appear to be in any pain and said we should just leave them alone and watch them. She doesn't cry or appear to be in any pain, has no problem running or playing. I have noticed lately (last couple of weeks) actuall since her last vet check, that everytime she get up from laying down she will limp. My question is should I take her to the orthopedic vet for a specialists opion? When is surgery warrented? What is involved with the surgery? How long is recovery? What are the complications if she does not have the surgery by waiting unitl she is in pain and it is a bigger problem? I do not want her to go under any uneccessary surgery. I am worried that the ortho vet will just decide that she needs surgery since she does have LP and does limp. Any suggestions/Advice is appreciated. __________________ Susan Mac Mellie & Manny Prayers for Ren

03-20-2006, 05:15 PM	#2
txshopper73 Donating YT 14K Club Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Victoria, Texas Posts: 14,178 Blog Entries: 1	WOW! I've never had to deal with it before. I've heard that once they are in pain to have the surgery done but then I've heard that if it's a grade 2 or higher it needs to be done immediately. I guess a phone call wouldn't hurt. __________________ As always...JMO (Just My Opinion) Kimberley Gracie, London and Dallas

03-21-2006, 03:31 AM	#4
Jan L. Donating YT Addict Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: North Carolina Posts: 503	I've been breeding Yorkies for over 30 years and for the first time had a pup born with LP. It's a grade 4. He hops on his back legs. Our plan is to have my vet xray him and then we're off to orthopedic surgeon. We're concerned about his size. He is 9 weeks old and weights 1# 2oz. I've never had to deal with this before and am very scared to have him put under. Any suggestions? Oh yea, the surgeon said he'll be a grade 1 after sx. I want to get him neutered at the same time so as not to put him under again. __________________ Peace, Jan Click HERE for Photo Album

03-21-2006, 08:12 AM	#5
Mystify79 YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Arizona Posts: 565	Personally, I would get a specialist's opinion. Surgery is usually done on dogs that have grade 3-4 LP usually because the condition doesn't reverse itself. You can try joint supplements but if the knee is bad enough those won't help much and the knee will always be an issue. Surgery usually depends on how bad the knee is.. some dogs just get a few screws placed, others have to have reconstructive surgery. Recovery also depends on how invasive the surgery was. My sister's Maltese, Palbert, had this surgery over 1 year ago. His knee was between a grade 3 and 4 and the reason we opted for surgery was the fear of the knee blowing out one day. Palbert acted normally and only had 2 incidents where his knee slipped out but the vet warned us that all it would take was for him to jump off the bed and blow out his knee because it was unstable. And a blown knee is a lot more invasive of a surgery with a much longer recovery. Another consideration we had was that the surgery and recovery would be easier on a younger dog. If Palbert didn't have it now, in a few years if he blew his knee he'd be older and not recover as quickly. He weighed about 3.5 pounds when he had the surgery and he came through like a champ. He recovered very quickly too. He was a little nervous about walking on his leg after surgery so he stayed off it himself for about a week before he finally started walking on it... which is what the doctor recommended. In our case, surgery was the best option and over a year later Palbert is doing great with no ill effects at all from the surgery and now we aren't freaking out every time he jumps off the couch. Best of luck to you! __________________ Pixie & Tuffy

05-02-2006, 08:55 PM	#11
Rinneygirl YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Fall River Posts: 2	Is bone cracking a sign of LP? When my 4 mth old puppy stands up, and walks, I hear cracking (like knuckles). The vet said not to worry about it, that its nothing, but it sounds so bad.

03-22-2006, 07:58 AM	#6
blades Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: cherry hill Posts: 69	My 9 year old female limps after she has been lying down for a while. I give her 1 crushed St. Joseph's aspirin for children with her food nightly. It seems to help. My vet told me to keep an eye on her. She still runs around during the day. I would definitely have her have surgery at a later date if I see her in pain. Why not- they are our little furbabies!

03-25-2006, 11:31 AM	#7
Yorkiedog Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Scotland UK Posts: 190	My Melody has been diagonsed with luxating patellas in both her back legs.The vet picked it up on a routine visit. They don't seem to bother her and the vet said that she must of got used to popping them back in herself when they pop out. As they are not causing her any pain we have been advised to just keep an eye on it and take her back to the vet's when or if she gets worse. I do know some people whose dogs have never needed surgery for the condition. A downside of having them operated on it can cause arthiritis lin the joints later in life. Sharon,Charley & Melody

03-25-2006, 10:16 PM	#8
PrincessMia Yorkie Talker Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: US Posts: 15	my three year old yorkie just had the orthopedic surgery done on her back left leg. We went to the vet about a month before, and our vet said "oh she has a luxating patella" and she looked at us like we already knew that. It was a big shock. as soon as we found out she told us about the surgery, the medicine, and everything we needed to keep her healthy. We bought stairs for the bed so she didnt jump, we gated off our large stairways, and didnt allow her to jump. About a week later we decided to look further into having the surgery. we had noticed before that sometimes she would lift the leg while she ran, but never seemed to be hurting. the doctor told us that alot of time the pain from it does not come until later in life for them. We decided to have the $2500 surgery, because she is young and we figured it was better now than when she is older. The first week was horrible. she couldnt walk, and she was very irritated when we wouldnt allow her to run around with our golden. we bought a doggy stroller and strolled her wherever we were in the house, but she was really upset by the whole thing. She is now healing, but i always wonder if it made a difference, bc she never had symptons, or was in pain before. it is one of those things that you just have to hope for the best if you have the surgery.

03-30-2006, 05:33 AM	#10
dawnholland Yorkie Talk Newbie! Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Virginia Posts: 7	My four month old, Haley, has been diagnosed with the same thing. Her knee caps are not even sitting where they are supposed to be at all. When the Dr. pulls them over where they belong and lets go, they go right back to the outside of her joint instead of sitting in the grove. He said she is a 3 and will have to have surgery, but is waiting for a few more weeks until her growth plates in her legs have a chance to develop some more and harden. He doesn't want to stunt her growth. She is not in pain and doesn't seem to notice but we sure see the problem when see walks! Her back legs are wobbly and seem to click in and out of place. We have her brother, Cooper, from a previous litter from the same parents, he is 1 1/2 and has no problems. We are sad for Haley, she will have to be confined after the surgery and that will be hard for her. We are also sad for us because we bought her with the idea of breeding her and paid quite a bit of money for her and now the surgeon says her LPs are genetic and not to breed her.

05-03-2006, 12:02 AM	#12
MyTyYorkie YT Addict Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Livermore, California Posts: 476	My little male had both his knees done they put a pin in both knees, his recovery time was about 2-3 weeks no jumping etc. crated for that time to keep him from running around etc. he started limping again so i called the vet and the pin in his right leg came loose so they are taking it out his knee, the pin is piching him and it was too long, so when they take it out i hope this solves his limping. the other knee is doing great with the pin in. hope this helps.

05-03-2006, 06:54 AM	#14
sneri13 Luv My Spoiled Babies Donating Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: New Jersey Posts: 3,065	Mellie has stopped limping over the past 2 weeks. The vet had her on anti-inflamatory meds, this seemed to really help. We are just going to continue to watch and see what happens. Vet said to bring her in if she starts limping again. __________________ Susan Mac Mellie & Manny Prayers for Ren

05-03-2006, 10:26 AM	#15
Reese Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 109	Sounds good! Hopefully we will be as lucky as you have been : ) __________________ Reese's Mommy