[dwerten]

Luxating Patellas

Patellas can be diagnosed at a very young age, toy breeds are at high incidence of LP. some LP can be made from a trauma and won't be present at the initial exam.

Medial patellar luxations are graded to assess severity.

Grade I: The kneecap can be moved out of place manually but will fall back into its natural position once the manipulator lets go.

Grade 2: Same thing except that the kneecap does not move back to its normal position when the manipulator lets go.

Grade 3: The patella is out of place all the time but can be manipulated back into its normal position manually (though it will not stay there).

Grade 4: The patella is not only out of place all the time but cannot even be manipulated back into place by hand. Such a dog has extreme difficulty extending his knees and walks with his knees bent virtually all the time.


my dee dee is grade 4 and does fine

you have to be careful though as acl tears or ruptures can happen with dogs with LP - it happened to dee dee. No twisting and turning etc.

You can build up the knee by walking your dog up inclines or stairs as it helps to strengthen the muscles to help stabilize the knee