 Luxating Patella
Hello everyone, I am fairly new to this web site. I have a 6 month old puppy who barely uses his back right leg. My vet has already diagnosed Toby with Luxating Patella. He said I need to wait until he is 9 months old(skeletal maturity) so he can give an accurate grade. Judging by how he hardly uses his back right leg now, I can safely guess he will probably end up with a grade 3 or 4. My vet is a friend of mine and we grew up together. I trust his opinion and I know he's very knowledgeable.
I had asked about glucosamine and chondroitin but he mentioned it might be tough to get him a correct dosage since he is 3lbs. He told me to try Omega 3 fatty acids instead. I am fairly annoyed with the breeder I purchased my dog from. They are AKC registered, but that doesn't mean anything to me now. I suspect they have bred dogs with current knee conditions. I emailed them months ago and they never responded. I was mainly asking about Toby's parents and if they had knee problems. I have since left a very honest review on their business anywhere it lets me to warn people.
I feel a bit silly about all of this because I grew up with a family Yorkie that did not have knee problems at all. I did not know this issue was so prevalent with Yorkies. We take very good care of Toby, he eats better than we do with the quality of his food and I do anything to take care of him. We really do enjoy our tiny, crippled, ball of energy Yorkie. I want him to have a happy enjoyable life and not limp around on his bad leg. I think he has 2 bad legs but one of them is a lot worse off than the other.
It's very disheartening to watch him limp around being a puppy. He has so much excitement and energy, I just want to take care of him the best I can. I imagine that means surgery is in the near future. I just wanted some feedback from people who have had this surgery with their dogs. Is there anything I should be concerned about? Is there anything else I can do to help Toby out? I've done a lot of research on this but I would like to hear some experiences from people.
I know I shouldn't let him jump, and try to limit his activity, but he is always a puppy with a ton of energy. Thanks in advance for the responses.
Thanks,
Jason |