Patella luxation in both knees
 

My 11 month old female has just been diagnosed with this. The emer. center vet said this is common in smaller breeds and that surgery is the cure, but not a definate.
I have a wonderful vet office (that has a ortho-surgeon on staff) that i regularly take her to and feel complete confident in them.

i'd like some feedback from anyone that has gone through this. Or any advice you can provide, please respond.

Thank you in advance,

Shanda
(Itty Bitty's Mom)

welcome
 

Welcome to YT! :) I suggest you do the search here on YT on this topic "luxating patella". You will find a LOT of threads about LP. Did the vet tell you the stage of LP your baby has?
My Chloe has bilateral LP stage 1. I have been giving her Dasuquin (glucosamine supplement) and she seems just fine. She never showed any symptoms. To my knowledge the surgery is not required until stage 3-4.

I was devastated 3 weeks ago when my 18 mth yorkie was diagnosed with the same thing in both knees too. She has stage 2 however my vet said some never progress any further than that although shes highly likely to get arthritis in both legs when she is older.

Definitely recommend glucosamine. The best brand is Cosequin. My vet says it is one of the best on the market....she doesn't sell it so it makes it more believable. I order it off the net. My little 3 lb. Cocoa has a very bad knee and hip. It has helped enough that she doesn't limp and is doing quite well. I also have a rescue Pommie who has had LP surgery on both knees. He was only 1 yr. old. I knew when I adopted him from the rescue that his knees were bad. Just make sure that if you do have surgery, the surgeon use pins. Snowboy has two pins in one knee and one in the other. Cocoa originally had surgery on one knee and they didn't pin it so it is back to slipping.:( One other thing....it is EXTREMELY important to follow your doctor's orders about keeping your furbaby from running around. I kept Snowboy on a leash beside me all the time for 10 wks. That way he wasn't always confined to an ex-pen. I also ended up putting him in a kennel for awhile because as he got to feeling better he wanted to bounce on his hind legs. Snowboy's walk is still awkward but he doesn't have slippage or pain. Hope things turn out well for little Yorkie. ~Joanne~

She has a follow this Thur. w/ our vet. I had taken her to the emergency, she was holding her leg up a little bit, and i didn't want her in any pain. I will definately ask the stage and severity.

She is on all organic food & treats. California Natural dry and Ennova wet food. Can you tell me where you get those vitamins?
Thanks for your help

i also curious where you all buy your Cosequin Karma is degree 1 LP and I'd like to get her on it she has no pain or anything and is only 2 but if it helps heri n the long run i am for it! i switched her to blue buffalo food too to help out

I get Lady's Cosequin from Entirely Pets:

Cosequin Regular Strength (90 capsules)

This is a wonderful article on luxating patellas:

Medial Luxating Patella

i know i haven't found much on degree 1. i don't remember now if the dr said she had put the cap back or if it went back on its own. but she did say it was degree one i know that much and only in the left knee.
what strength of the cosequin should i get for karma?

foster smith has it for the same price (they have free shipping but if you add shipping at the other site you said it comes to the same price) i just thought id add that little not

The regular strength in the link I posted is the right size for a toy breed dog.

Did you read the article I posted the link to?

Grade I: The kneecap can be moved out of place manually but will fall back into its natural position once the manipulator lets go. Dogs with Grade I luxations do not require surgical repair.


Grade 1 patellas are the mildest and won't need surgery unless they get worse. Make sure she doesn't jump on and off furniture.

Definitely research the subject of lp on here. My Hot Rod went thru lp surgery a year ago March 31st. He went from a grade 1 to a grade 3 in a matter of months. In his case, his ligament was on the side of his leg which made his little leg bow outward. :( The surgery corrected what was necessary and our surgeon told us that he should not develop arthristis from this.:) He was 1 1/2 when he had the surgery. since then we seen 2 of our regular vets as well as the ortho surgeon and each of them, independent of each other, said that his little knee is a tight as can be. :)!

The road was a long one in recovering but well worth it. We are now on Dasuguin (sp?). It is cosequin plus basically. We got it at our vets office and will probably continue to get it from there. Feel free pm with any questions that you may have. Best of luck to you and your little one.