Since you were asking about those who didn't show any signs I figured I'd jump in and share our experiences.
Reagan also has/had grade 3 LP in both legs. I think is was the beginning of March(or end of Feb) that we had surgery for her right leg. The specialist I saw will not do both at one time no matter the size of the dog (I'm not saying you should do only one at a time I'm saying we were only able to do one at a time). Which I'm kinda glad about now because I can compare the two legs. I didn't notice any signs in Reagan. She was in no pain, which my spec. says that if its hereditary and not caused by an injury then they generally have no pain because they are used to it they've dealt with it for so long. She didn't limp, and while now I can see that her left leg(the one we have not done surgery on yet) is turned outward a bit, I wouldn't have noticed had I not been able to compare a good leg/knee with a bad one. When the vet saw her walk he said that "she does wlak a bit choppy" but since she had always had problems it was nothing new and I didn't notice it.
Its kinda funny how similar my story is to yours. When we first got Reagan it was on a Thursday and I took her to my vet the following day. Well I didn't see my regular vet (who I trust completely) I saw another one and she mentioned her knees but said that sometimes puppies are like that and they'll get better once she gets a bit older. And like you had she said this is a serious problem I could've taken Reagan back but then again like you I don't know that I could've. Also the only signs that I really noticed is that her legs popped when I picked up. It was to the point that I would cringe almost when they did it cause I felt bad but it never seemed to bother her a bit. She has honestly never made a peep or limped or anything that would make me think she was in pain. The main reason I had the surgery is because I flat out asked the specialist would you do it and he said if it were my dog yes, so we did. You know no Reagan is fine but what about in 5 years? Do I really want to have a dog that can't walk or that I have to carry outside to go potty. I mean its one thing if that's what happens but if I could've prevented it, this is all I could think of....sorry for the novel.
__________________
Courtney |