Up until 10 months of age, my girl had shown NO signs of LP. Upon her physical exam with vet #2 who did her FIRST round of puppy teeth pulling, she came back with a fairly loose knee. Of course, that vet didn't diagnose her with LP even after rolling her leg around like riding a bicycle during half of the consult time while we were engaged in other conversation regarding her overall health and maintenance. He did warn us to not let her jump on/off furniture as per breed problem. That night we were home, was when she first limped.
Now, we went back to the breeder referred vet #1 after exactly 1 week of the start of all of this. He did an x-ray and found the knees are still well positioned in the center. He did not grade the knees. After this exam it progressed from slipping every other day to a daily slip. At this point, I tried to limit her cat chasing and hind leg hopping and running/sliding on slippery floors. She did fine running on snow and carpet. I felt it was more of a grade 3 and feared it becoming a 4!
Finally someone on YT local to me recommended a vet#3 I came to love after just a few visits (and getting dentals round 2 done and this is almost exactly a month after the first!). I wanted a competent and HONEST doctor for her dental work. At the same time, I had trouble finding an orthopedic specialist that runs a public practice. Good thing, while booking a first appointment with this particular vet, they did say they tend to refer their clients to a board certified orthopedic specialist for LP cases as they find they get better recovery results this way. We did get the referral we wanted. During the visit with vet#3, we've had her check the knees. Afterwards, I still restricted my girl from as much cat chasing as I possibly could with both cat & dog having free run of the house, it isn't easy especially when the cat WANTS to be chased. After being contacted by and arranging an appointment with the ortho surgeon, I figured I'd let her run and play hard as she pleases to see how her knees progress by the time we see the specialist the following week. Surprisingly, the entire week she played harder on her knees/legs than usual and there were zero instances of dislocation. We were told that we were probably just "lucky".
With this morning's ortho consult, the doctor says we could do it even as soon as this Friday
. He says that some ppl worry that they've only just gone under anesthetics and are concerned about the risk of going under so soon again; he thinks that's unfounded. She did well in both of her dental surgeries, so he doesn't see there being a problem with getting her knee(s) done right away. And it's better now than waiting until Sept/Oct. which would have been when I'd have preferred to do it IF we weren't doing it immediately because I want her to enjoy all of the spring and summer months. I'd rather have her confined and restrict her movement only during the wet and cold weathers especially if it's going to be as bad as this past winter. He even said, she could probably walk fine and be off pain meds by 2 weeks depending on the dog... I thought recovery was 6-8 weeks! I actually like this orthopedic surgeon. I didn't get any bad "vibes" from him.
He said the glucosamine and hydrotherapy definitely does help some but she should definitely have surgery. Now, instead of just one like he was thinking at the start of our consult, it seems by the end of our consult he was all for doing BOTH of them and a.s.a.p.
Of course, the hubby was there and he said he's all for doing it now too if we're doing it anyway (though I thought we might wait til later in the year as she comes back WHINIER every time... after her little dental work when she's normally a very good girl
imagine getting her knees done, she'll feel she has the license to be the Queen of Whine
). He just wanted to delay it a week because we already have an appointment with the regular vet for a follow-up for her dental work this coming weekend. It's hard for me to decide right away BECAUSE she's been having a REALLY good week. Originally, I wanted to find an orthopedic surgeon RIGHT AWAY to get it done IMMEDIATELY when she was having daily knee problems, it really hurts to witness and have to restrict her most favourite thing in the whole world--annoying the cat.
Very long read, I know. Sorry, I tend to be very long winded and always have a story to tell.
As far as symptoms go... It only started after the one vet with no diagnosis played with her knee. The vet I am sticking with now who referred us to the specialist actually said her knees seem to like staying out rather than in while the specialist today said it likes staying in more than out since every time he pops it, she straightens right away and it goes right back in. The x-ray the breeder's vet did shows them both firmly in place in the center... Well, I did record the entire consult this morning, so I was going to listen over again on what the specialist has to say and talk to my regular vet and go from there. Chances are though, I think we're leaning towards getting it done within the next 2 weeks (giving an extra week for booking a time). What has me doubting is all of the readings I've done on here with their babies going through life with a grade 1/2 LP just fine.
Another thing I confirmed with the ortho is that my baby isn't too skinny. She eats lots, but I can feel her spine even when she was more fluffy as a puppy, I was always able to feel it and worried about it. The vet we refer to as the one that "broke her leg" (yeah, agitated a genetic fault) said she needed more meat on her while the others so far say she's at a good weight and the ortho says it's best that she stays as she is and she isn't too skinny, she's just genetically built that way.
So again, I don't think it can be called "NO symptom"... It happens when it gets manually agitated by a human.
Then it goes away when it gets manually "gently" repositioned again?? Or just "lucky" I suppose.
I'm not sure that my post will help anyone with like questions. :P But that is my story and my quest for a solution to help my baby. I think all surgeries are worth it especially if I'm not the one undergoing it, and yet, it's only worth it if it is a happily ever after story. The ortho assured me that there's almost no chance for it being a problem again later in her life post surgery so she should have no problem chasing the cat and sliding on the floors after healing...