luxating patellas on 3 of my 5 yorkies:(
 

Hello , today is a very sad day for me, i took my 5 pups to the vet and he find 3 of them have luxating patellas
they are only 8 and 12 weeks the other two.
I have life warranty for any congenital on one of the puppies and in the other two i have a one year warranty.
I have no clue, how to handle this with the breeders, i`m really sad and cant stop crying , i dont want to give my babies back.but at the same time i cant afford 3 surgeries...
please help me.. any advice... how to handle this...:(

I would first get a second opinion to be sure, but then I would contact the breeders. I would think that you should be refunded the money and put that towards the surgeries. Clearly this is genegtic if they have it at the young age...

These pups need to be spayed and nuetered so they do not pass this fault on :)

What does your contract say? Does the breeder offer to pay for vet bills or does she offer a replacement puppy? You are bound by what your contract says.

Dont hold me to this but from what i have heard that you really cant tell if they have it at such a young age. they say that alot of puppies patellas move when they are young. i am pretty sure i read that here. i will see if i can find that thread or maybe someone else will be able to tell you more. hope this helps. are any of them from the same breeder?
renae

Did your vet x-ray the pups or just manipulate the patella? Many times, especially with the smaller Yorkies, it is just 'loose knees' at an early age and they will firm up as the pup builds strength. In your post, it seems the 12 week old pups don't have LP so maybe the younger ones will firm up. You certainly should discuss this with the breeder and make them aware of the vet's diagnosis. I would think that x-rays would be necessary to confirm the diagnosis, though. I have a 3 pound male that was diagnosed with 'loose knees' as a pup but the knees firmed up and he's now fine at 2 years old. From my (limited) experience, I think loose knees are more common in the tiny Yorkies. I would be more concerned if these are larger pups as they should have a sturdier frame. If you feel that you don't want to wait to see how they mature, you seem to be within your rights to return the pups. In any case, I wouldn't wait to let the breeder know about this as the longer you keep the pups, the more likely they might say it is due to trauma after you got the pup.

This is exactly what my vet says.

it said life time warranty for any hereditary condition
money back or new pup

he just manipule the patella no xrays so far.I send emails to all the breeder they are from diferent breeders. no answers yet :(
are x rays a must to make sure of this condition?

My vet says that when they are young they will have slight movement sometimes, but it does firm up as they grow. I have had only 1 of my puppies have a slight loseness in their knees and it firmed up 100% after just a mth. I suggest to the OP that you talk to the breeders you got your babies from and tell her/him you want to give them a mth or so to see if it firms up before you proceed with any possible replacement puppies.

An x-ray will determine if the groove the tendons ride in is too shallow or not. If the groove isn't shallow, it may be just a matter of waiting for them (the tendons) to firm up. I'm probably not explaining this in the best way but maybe you get the idea. Eight weeks is very young to make a determination of LP without x-rays. The breeders should be notified about this (in writing, such as an e-mail even if you call them) so you'll have some recourse in case of any dispute later.

ok I send them emails. also the other two puppies are 12 weeks is this to early to?

Didn't you post that the 12 week old ones were fine? Maybe I mis-read that. I would think that every pup would be different as they all would have their own individual structure. My little guy was 12 weeks when I got him and he had loose knees. I was just careful with him as far as jumping and stairs went until he got stronger as the knees could be damaged by this type of activity until the tendons firm up.

I totally agree with these comments. The same thing happen with one of my girls, she too was 12 weeks old. We were told she had patella it simply was heartbreaking. We not only went for a second opinion however the third all in the same day. Last 2 Vets said the same thing "loose knees" and today our little girl is 1.5 years old, does not show a sign of patella. So please go get another opinion just to be certain. I wish you and your babies the best. :aimeeyork

thanks for your comment I will take them for another opinion , i feel more relax now... worried still ... but more calm.You know this vet , is new and he is from banfield. I had another vet who check them at 8 weeks and says they where ok.But now this guy tell me they all have it. so i dont know if banfiel vet is good. but i will look for another vet to get second opinion.
thanks 4 the support!

I would highly suggest that you find a good vet that specializes in smaller breeds. They will know more if that is what they deal with all the time. I would tend to think it is a long shot that three of your five puppies have luxating patellas. If they all came from the same breeder, then i could see it is possible, but all from different breeders, i would hope they dont all have it. I hope that they are just young with loose knees. Please seek another opinion. I will keep you and your babies in our prayers and please let us know how they are doing.
Renae

I think most small dogs have some degree of LP - its measured in 4 stages.

The Vet said my Bailey has had level 1 from the beginning. At 8 mos - Bailey limped so I took her in. The vet recommended a 2nd opinion from an ortho and also recommended surgery. This was in November 2007. I didn't want to do surgery around the Holidays so I put it off. Bailey has never limped again!! Please wait and see before rushing into any surgery(s).

Good luck!!

Way too early to tell--
 

Unless they're extremely bad I don't know how your vet can say that. It's commonly known that puppies knees change a lot as they grow and go for loose to tight and back again a few times in the process. If I were your breeder and you came to me with this at this early date I would insist you return my puppies for a refund immediately. I would not fool around with anyone who had this kind of vet.

I dont understand your comment... about fooling around with anyone who had this kind of vet...
i`m not a vet and i`m a new pet owner.. I choose the best vet I could find and afford trusting he knows what he is doing and trusting he is a qualified professional.

I probably shouldn't have replied to this thread---
 

I think I got confused somewhere along the way in this thread. You said you have just purchased 5 yorkies, 8 and 12 weeks old and your vet is saying 3 of them have L/P? Are you a broker? You purchased 5 pet puppies? My comment only means that I would find it very suspicious to have a vet talking about patellas and surgery on such young puppies and would rather buy back my puppies and have the patellas looked at by my own people. I don't like that some of the posts here advise you to report this to the breeder before even getting another opinion. As a breeder it has upset me a couple of times when some vet prematurely "diagnosed" incorrectly and told the customer to call me right away, only to have further testing or second opinion show no problem at all. Funny how that stopped happening after my guarantee was changed to "return puppy for a refund."

Wait until after 6 months or so and see if you get the same results. The vet didnt tell you they can sometimes self-correct?

Did you go to reputable breeders of AKC puppies that show their pups (in AKC events)and are a member of the National Breed club? Did they sell them on limited registration so they wouldnt be bred?

I hope all turns out well. It makes me sad that the puppies are the real victim when they end up incorrectly bred, in pain, unwanted, put down, or sold to people who dont research about health and just want to breed (make money)and the puppies faults are perpetuated (because they only care about money not the dog or faults they perpetuate).

Why did you buy 5 puppies????? That seems like an awful lot of pets all at once. Either way, you can contact a spay and nueter group who can help you make sure their faults dont get passed on, or god forbid you end up with more than 5 because they are breeding with their brother or sisters.

In addition to luxating patellas, I'd also be worried about liver shunts since Yorkie's are 36 times more likely to have a shunt than all other breeds combined.

I hope these puppies came from reputable breeders who heath test and bile acid tested all the parents. I can guarantee that the breeder you got the eight week old puppies didn't as reputable breeders don't sell Yorkie puppies until they are at least 12 weeks old.

Are you planning on keeping all five puppies yourself or reselling them?

I see nothing wrong with at least advising the breeder of what the vet said. At least that way, the breeder is aware there may be a POTENTIAL problem. Then the OP and the breeder could discuss options, such as a second opinion to confirm or refute the diagnosis, the pup being seen by the breeder's vet, etc.. I don't think keeping the breeder out of the loop benefits anyone. In the case of the little guy I bought, it was the breeder that informed me of the 'loose knees' before I bought him. I also spoke with her vet (and mine) before deciding to go ahead and get him. In this case, with the vet saying that 3 unrelated pups have LP, it is likely he mis-diagnosed at least some of them and this situation could be resolved with a little communication and a second opinion. Personally, as a breeder, I would want to know if a vet thought one of my pups wasn't healthy, mis-diagnosis or not. You can't help to resolve a problem if you aren't aware of it. Also, in this case, it's likely the OP had the pups shipped so there would be an added expense of returning the pups over what well may be a mis-diagnosis. All the more reason to contact the breeder and get some input over what course of action to follow.

i`m not a broker. I got my puppies for pets. And i dont think is a lot , there is people that have 7 or more dogs.and yes they are limited registered so they are pets.
I dont see any problem having 5 puppies. We dont have any kids. So they are my babies and i wait and save a lot to be able to take care of them.
I just want the best for them. As a lot of people mentioned i will wait. Until they are 6 months to see if they get better also i will go to other vet to check them. I contact the breeders to let them know about the situation . And my intention is not to get my money back . Is to take care of the puppies the best i can.
Thanks for all the replys and the people who really care and gave me good advice.

Don't worry ...