[Gracie2006]

My vet is female and is the one that first diagnosed my Gracie's LP, so I would not consider the vet being male or female a factor necessarily. My Gracie was symptomatic in her right knee, asymptomatic in her left. She had x-rays under anesthesia which diagnosed grade 3 LP in the right and grade 2 in the left. I was told that to do nothing, at least with the grade 3, would mean Gracie having a greater chance of pain and disability with arthritis in that knee as she gets older. The grade 2 may or may not give her problems. I decided the only way I could be sure that I was doing everything I could and should for my Gracie was to give her the bilateral LP surgery. Here is the caveat. During surgery, the surgeon discovered that clinically, the symptomatic knee was actually a grade 2 and the asymptomatic knee was a grade 3! The only way to know for sure is to have the surgery. As rough as it was, I am glad I had it taken care of while she was young.

My youngest is just over 1 year old. At her first exam with my vet, she was diagnosed with "mild" LP. My vet said that often times puppies with "mild" LP will grow out of it, and we should just watch and wait. I have not yet taken her in for her next annual visit, at which time I will have her LP checked. We will have x-rays done if the exam still finds she is luxating. She is asymptomatic.

My GF whom I have known since High School and who I trust implicitly is a vet. She told me that dogs have pain every time the patella luxates, whether they show it or not. In her opinion, she would not hesitate to put her dogs through LP surgery if recommended by the vet.

Hope this helps you in your decision making. I posted several threads about Gracie's surgery and recovery course in the sick and injured forum. She had surgery in January 2008. She is doing great now!