Luxating patella? Can it not cause problems?
 

Not sure if I spelled that right, but my vet just found a luxating patella in Harley's rear left leg, during a general exam (new vet). We started agility training, and he isn't displaying any pain, but I just wanted to see what everyone's experiences are.

Is it possible for him to be fine, and able to continue training? The vet said we need to monitor him, and that sometimes dogs can not be bothered by it.

I'm also trying to figure out what to tell the breeder, cause this is a hereditary issue right? She's been very helpful with all his issues, but gets rather defensive too, thoughts?

It all depends on what grade of LP he has. Couver has the lowest grade of LP and my vet seems to think he will be fine if I keep an eye on his weight and don't let him jump off of things. What grade LP does Harley have?

I don't think she told me a grade, but I'm going back tomorrow for a check up about his allergies, I'll ask her then. He has pillows (customized in different sizes big ones for the bed, and a small one for the couch) that he uses to jump on and off our furniture right now, and he only jumps 6", (10" on occasion) in agility, but mostly 6".

Just tell the breeder that your dog has luxating patella very matter of factly. Our new Yorkie is a rescue, and she was given up by the breeder to a rescue because she has luxating patella. I think she was going to be used for breeding because she wasn't spayed until after she was given up to the rescue when she just turned 1 year old. She didn't have any puppies before being spayed. I don't know when breeders start breeding dogs, but I'm guessing it's around 1-1.5 years old. LP is genetic as far as I know, and the better breeders probably don't want LP to get passed on to puppies.

Yeah once I confirm everything tomorrow I'm probably going to give her a call.

Mikki has LP and my vet did say it was genetics. She has a high grade and is still ok. We do have stairs for her to go up and down on the bed. And we pick her up instead of letting her jump. Other than that, he has not recommended surgery or anything at this point. If I remember correctly, it is a grade on a scale of 1 to 5. Mikki has a 4. :(

I have always been told when a dog has LP they should not be jumping a lot and to get stairs for the stuff they would need to jump to get on. I would talk to your vet about jumping. What grade did the vet say it was?

One of my dogs has two LPs - grade 4. She had surgery on one leg at age 2. The other leg is a grade 4 today. She is unaffected despite the high grade LP. She is now 11 years old and has run, jumped, gone up and down stairs, and lived like a normal dog all these years. I try to restrict her from jumping off of furniture and the like and if she goes on a long walk on a city sidewalk we usually keep her quite afterward so as to not overdo it.

Some forms of LP are genetic. Most yorkies have medial LPs, which are genetic.

It depends on the the grade and the dog. Some dogs do perfectly fine even with a higher grade of lp. I was under the impression that if the dog had a high grade and was showing signs of discomfor/pain, agility would aggravate it.

I would definitely talk with your vet about it. Also ask about supplements that your dog can take such as Cosequin and Dasuquin.

I discovered this issue with Chloe myself as I felt a little "click" in her legs. The vet confirmed that she had an issue and that it was LP. I was told that many dogs never develop problems as a result of the LP and that others need surgery. I am hoping that she never requires the surgery as the quoted cost is 2500 dollars.... ouch. So for now its a matter of trying to keep her from jumping off the bed and she already loves to be carried up and down the stairs and will call for me when she needs a lift LOL.

I didnt know that there were grades of LP so I will ask the vet next time I am there.

Yes definitely tell the breeder. If it is only in one leg and a low grade 1/2, intelligent exercise - especially some specific ones to strengthen the leg muscles, would be a very good thing to start. Pre stretch prior agility, after stretch after practice too.

Swimming is just an all around great activity for any dog, but particularly one with joint issues.

One good exercise which is great for training the leg muscles, is: Sit Beg Stand back to Beg. Teach it in steps. It is a difficult one to do. Sit to Beg - practice this 5x per day, on firm surfaces, until the dog can steadily do the beg and stay in the beg position for 15 seconds. Then teach to stand from beg, and back to beg position. This will strengthen the whole back muscles, plus the rear leg muscles

Teach downward dog pose, the once dog is i position have him lift one paw up to either shake hands with you, or slap hands with you.

Crawling is another great exercise/trick.

Joint supplements/additives are an excellent idea as well.

This sounds like fun! I'll try some of these stretches, he LOVES to crawl! In agility we also do rear end strengthening where they step the front end on a bench and then they're supposed to spin their rear end around the bench. Harley uses a CD case :P Should I work hard on this as well to help his legs?

When I brought Bentley in for his check up the vet told me he also has a slight luxtating patella. She also said that this is very common in small breeds ...for the most part he shouldn't be bothered by it,...she also told me that (sometimes) it can be so slight that if they weren't looking for it you would never know they had it. She told me Bentleys was nothing to worry about...I did call the breeder and let her know though.

Ok just got back from the vet, it's grade 2, however she said it's smooth feeling which means as it moves it wont hurt the bone. She said so long as it stays smooth it wont bother him. She said we could do xrays to fully diagnose the grade, etc, but she said by feel she can tell if it's bothering him, and we don't see any lameness or pain while she's touching it. It just got discovered by fluke during an exam for allergies.

So I called the breeder, we had a chat, I know she gets a bit defensive with all his issues, but we're friends so I just let her say what she had to say.

The vet is recommending that we do 2 sessions with one of the techs there that specializes in massage and physio type things. She's going to evaluate his muscle structure and show me exercises I can do to strengthen his muscles to help prevent any problems. She's also going to teach me a lot about his gait, so that I can understand exactly when something is wrong.

Ok just realized that my dog has almost the same amount of insurance coverage for massage therapy as I do. :D

Ha ha!! And your dogs insurance is probably cheaper! Lol.

Nope... daddy still pays for mine :D now ask me in 6 months when I graduate, and yes sadly it is far cheaper. ALthough I really messed up Harley's insurance, I raised the deductible thinking I'd take the lower premiums, that was REALLY dumb of me, now I can't go back or I'll lose coverage for existing conditions.

My daughter's Chi has a grade 1-2 and she probably won't need surgery. I don't feel any clicking with her joints and she hasn't walked around funny. I was told that my Yorkie, Sparrow is a grade 2-3, and I think it's only in her right leg because that's the leg that I feel the click sometimes. I haven't seen her walk funny either. I just got her from a rescue a few days ago so I haven't had a chance to take her to my own vet with the holidays and everything.

I'm glad to know that even the dogs with a grade 4 can be okay for many years. I always thought that a 4 is a definite candidate for surgery because it's the highest grade. I hope that my two will be okay in the long run. The Chi is over 3 years old and Sparrow is 1 and a half years old. The Chi is insured with Embrace, and I'm going to do the same for Sparrow. However, they don't cover luxating patella and any resulting complications from LP surgery or whatever else dealing with the LP if it's a pre-existing condition. They would cover it if it's the result of an accident which is the other way a dog can end up with LP.

On a Chi forum I read that somebody got the LP surgery for their Chi, but the dog seemed worse afterwards. I don't know what grade that Chi was, but it scared me to think that a dog can end up worse after LP surgery. I haven't checked back to see if the Chi ended up getting better, but it wasn't that long ago that the owner posted about her Chi not doing well with the LP surgery.

Well I guess, what I'd want to know is a) if the surgeon was board certified orthopaedic surgeon b) number of years of surgical practice and c) how many todate LP surgeries has he done on toy breeds. Then all else being in order; any complications during surgery? Were there co-existing other arthritic changes in the knee joint? What age was neutering done, if it was done at all.

I am interested to find out. Those are good questions.