Luxating Patella
 

My Yorkie, Poppy who is 4, has just been diagnosed with a Luxating Patella, I took her to the vet on Friday as she was limping badly when I got home, the vet inspected her and checked her back leg joints etc then explained it was a Luxating Patella, she was given a Metacam injection to help with inflammation and some Metacam drops to be given once a day, but she woke me at 5am puffing, panting and shaking. I carried her down stairs and put her on the grass in the garden to have a wee and she could barely stand up. I took her back in and she went to sleep but woke again this morning very stressed out puffing, panting and shaking again. I got worried so I took her back to the vet who has prescribed her a very small dose of Valium to get her to relax. She is now laying on the bed resting. My vet did inform me that if she does not improve by Monday then she will need an operation.
Im having to carry her everywhere as she isnt allowed to climb the stairs or jump up on anything, which as you will know with a Yorkie, its very difficult to stop her doing. Will massaging her leg help? She seems to want to lay on her bad leg all the time.
Despite having Yorkie's in the family all my life I have never come across this. Any advise would be much appreciated.

POOR BABY !! I've read when they shake like that they're in pain....Bless her heart - she sounds like she does need something done and I'm sorry she's hurting so bad...that's so sad to read.

aww....sounds like Poppy is just miserable. There's tons of information on luxating patella here on YT....just do a search. I think between TLC and I we could have written a book.

And yes, laying on the leg is her way of protecting it. Seems odd to us but that is what they do.

Not so sure about massaging it....maybe if you try it go above and below the knee joint...nowhere near it. Why don't you try some ice....it may take down the inflammation and help with her pain.

Keep in mind, even if she does have to have the surgery...it's a fixable problem. Just takes time.

Hugs to you both...hang in there.

Thanks for the help and advise its much appreciated. I tend to get myself into a right state when she is not well, which my vet says is not a good thing as she can sense this and will make her worse. Ive done a search as 'yorkiemalt' suggested and there is lots of useful information, thanks. I never realised that they suffered from this problem, as I said we have had Yorkies in the family for years and we have never come across this before. Anyway, I gave her half a tablet of valium when we got home and she is relaxed and sleeping on my bed as I write this, which makes me feel so much better. I will keep you updated on what happens.
Thanks again for all your replies.

Did he say what grade she has? If it's a grade 1 or 2, then you shouldn't have to worry yet about an operation, but if it's a 3 or 4 then yes, it should be operated on. My new baby, Pixie Dust has a grade 4, and she can't even put the foot on the ground because it's frozen in an 80 degree angle. I don't think it's the knee that made your dog pant like that. I think it's the medication. Well I do hope your baby gets some relief soon.

Poppy
 

My little Bella who is now 4 1/2 was diagnosed with luxating patella when she was 1 1/2. She went to a specialist who determined she had luxating patella in both her knees but her left leg was the worst. She had surgery on both legs at the same time as it was cheaper to do it that way, $2,500.00 later. She was in double casts for 3 weeks. I had to hold her up so she could go potty. She had to stay off her legs at all times.
Had the cast removed did some physical therapy and back on her feet again. Unfortunately she was still lifting her left leg when trotting. So back to the specialist, nothing on x-ray but vet thinks maybe pins have grown into skin and may be irritating her. So another surgery on her left leg, another cast, another recuperation and voila, she still picks up her left leg when trotting. She runs and walks with no problems. She also sometimes cries out in pain as I believe her left leg locks up, happens mostly in the colder months.

If I had to do it all over again I don't think I would opt for the surgery as it has not made any difference in her life. She will eventually develop arthritis because of the surgery.

I am not saying that your little one will have the same results I just wanted to share my experience with luxating patella.



Jay

:aimeeyork

just out of curiosity Tinkerbelle....did you go to an Orthopaedic Surgeon for the surgery? It's odd that they'd have put casts on as the knee is a major joint and has to move as soon after surgery as possible.

He needs to have surgery quick... My baby just had surgery 2 weeks ago for Luxating Patella Grade 4!!! He was alwyas limping around and in pain.. if it doesnt get fixed it will lead to arthritis!!! If you any question just ask, I know a lot about the procedure and everyhting...Prayers from me to your little one!!!!

I know that in this time of seeing your baby in pain, it is hard to think positively, but very important. Yorkiemalt and TLC helped me so much when my baby had surgery (about 6 weeks ago) luckily you have found this site! also, LP is a structural problem thank goodness! not an internal issue which can be harder! it is true that they say the dogs heal and bounce back quickly! hang in there and be positive!!!!!!! Poppy can feel it when you are too upset! good luck!

Thanks for the advise and prayers guys. I took her back to the vet for a check up on Monday but this time see a different vet, as my regular one Dominic was off for the day, after inspecting Poopy she tells me that she has it in both knee's :( but the left leg much worse than the other. She advised me to call back on Tuesday and discuss this with Dominic my regular vet. I did so and Dominic confirmed that she would need surgery, so she is booked in with the Consultant on Friday and then surgery hopefully next week at some point. So ill let you know what the Consultant says then.

Casts should NEVER be put on the knees after this type of operation. My Zada had both knees done last June and she healed beautifully and never a problem.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...dassurgery.jpg

Good Luck...let us know how it goes!!! My prayers will be with your little baby!!!!:)

Awww good luck with the knee surgery. My Joey has a grade 3 and I have him on a diet and I swim him 3x a week in the tub. I'm doing everything I can so he doesn't have the surgery.

My girlfriend had her little on done and she was walking on it after 3 days. She has healed wonderfully and now even jumps up on the couch, which she was never able to do before.

NEVER cast knee surgery and having 2 done at the same time is not advisable. You need to keep that knee moving at all times. ROM 3x a day from the day after surgery.

Good Luck~

Having both knees done at the same time IS advisable under certain circumstance such as if both are the same grade of a 3 or 4 or the dog is a big heavy. Please don't pass on information you don't know all that much about.

Reagan is about to go back for a check up in a couple of weeks for her 12 week after surgery check up, the last one. I'm so happy, but then we have to decide when to do the other leg.

I will say our vet, well not our regular vet, the surgeon will only do one leg on a dog no matter the size. It is not just recommended at his office he will not do 2 at once. He wants one leg to completely heal before even considering the other leg. I'm not saying my Dr. is a God and is the end all I'm just saying that there are some out there that do not agree with the 2 legs at one time. I actually went in thinking we were going to be able to do 2 at once. I had read online that smaller dogs are ok to do 2 at one time and trust me since so many of you were able to have 2 done and it turned out ok it would've been sooo nice to save some money. But I completely trusted him and really like him and the rest of the staff.

And as far as the cast, Reagan had a cast, well I would call it a bandage, we were able to cut it off at home, for 3 days after returning home. They said it was ok to remove it sooner if it got messy. She did great with her recovery too. While standing she would just use that other leg for a while but for walking she was using them both a heck of a lot more that I thought she would. She is also one of those dogs who scratch after they go to the bathroom. She was doing that with both legs about a week after we got home, I always made her stop though I was scared she would injure it.

Good luck to your baby!!!

My own personal experience is with my Rogan. 14lbs, purchased from a BYB :rolleyes: Rogan was our very 1st Yorkie purchased. I'm glad I was able to take him out of that enviroment!

He had LP in both knees and we had BOTH done at the same time. TWICE.

The 1st surgery the groove in the bone was not grinded down enough so a 2nd surgery was needed :( After the 2nd surgery, the 1st night Rogan pulled out ALL his stitches in his one leg - it was horendous for me and I couldn't handle it. (I went to the floor and almost passed out :eek: Hubby had to take over for me) His poor leg was WIDE open as it was a LONG incission. It was a very trying time, but everything has worked out great and he's good now :) My boy walks alittle funny but other than that you'd never know.

I wish you luck and I hope everything goes well with the surgery!!!

I wanted to share some pics of Rogan with you :)

Those are some cute pictures Breny. I love your little boys grin.

Oh and while I'm thinking about it. For those of you who have had pups that have had the surgery already, was the meds that you brought hom liquid or pills? And if it was liquid how in the world did you get them to take it?

In reply to your question 'Hickey007', Poppy was given Metacam drops, which I put a piece of ham and she was more than happy to eat it.

:) Update on Poppy. On Thursday there was improvement in Poppy and she was walking on her leg so much better, by Friday lunchtime she seemed back to normal, she had an appointment with the Orthopaedic Surgeon on Friday anyway so I still took her to have her checked over and discuss the options available. He examined her and asked some questions and I explained that she had generally been so much better on her leg, he then advised I give her another week of rest and another week of Metacam and if she is still struggling a week later I was to bring her back. He was very pleased with her recovery. Today (Thursday) she is 100% better and therefore I will not be taking her back to the vet. I am so pleased that she has recovered without surgery, what a relief.

I'm jealous. Reagan had a total of 3 kinds of meds, all liquid, with her surgery. It worked out with the different times that she needed to take them she was having to take meds three times a day and taking 2 kinds each time. The first day she took them ok but after than it was like I was fighting a bull to get them down her. We tried putting them in food, different kinds of gravy, cheese, peanut butter, you name it we tried it. I think she was on to the food thing after a day or two. So then I tried just holding her down but you know you hate to be too rough with them anyway but especially right after surgery and she put up quite the fight so I was really scared of hurting her. This is the part that I am really dreading for the next go round on the other leg.

I'm very happy for the both of you that she won't be needing surgery. I'm sure that was a relief.

Casts
 

Sorry it took so long for my reply I was tied up with the PattiCake train.
Yes I took Bella to an orthopedic surgeon. They put the casts on to limit her movement so that she would heal better. The casts were on for about 10 days then it was PT and slowly increasing walking.

Jay

I thought it was 3 weeks with the casts....either way never heard of it. Sorry she didn't heal 100%.

I was just reading through this thread and I wondered if anyone could give me some advice. My vet who is the surgeon too told me that Lola needs to have lp surgery. I had her spayed last week and he took the xrays while she was under to make sure there wasnt any abnormalities and see if one was worse the other. He said the right is much worse and if I do the surgery that one should be done first.

So anyways more question is should I let her have the surgery. She doesn't show any signs of pain the only thing is her back in a little humped over and they said that was from her knees hurting her. She never picks her legs up or does anything out of the ordinary. She is almost 17 months old. He said the reason she isn't showing any signs of it hurting her is bc she has had it for so long probably that she has just gotten use to it. I have only had her for a couple of months. I just don't know what to do. Before I have the surgery I want to make sure its worth it, bc it is going to be hard for me to afford right now. If it is something that really needs to be done I am going to do it. He made it sound like it really needs to be done, but I just don't know. I don't want it to cause her pain later in life. I want to for her what is best. Thanks, sorry for such a long post.