London has Luxating Patella
 

Yep we went to the vet today and he checked her knees real quick only cause i told him to and he said she has it. He said the right one is worse than the left but usually you can tell if they hold their leg up. She hasn't done that except one day last month, she was limping but i thought it was cause sophie was sitting on her:confused: He didn't say how bad it is but she walks normal, and didn't say anything about surgery. :( I think my other 2 will prob. have it too. All of them seem normal with no pain at all:confused:

I'm sorry :( It's just way too common unfortunately. Lacy and Rylie both have LP. Rylie is grade 2 both knees and Lacy is grade 2 in left leg and grade 3 in right leg. Neither of them are bothered by it yet. The best thing is to keep them at a healthy weight so they don't put unnessary strain on their knees. I wouldn't have the surgery done if they aren't limping or in pain from it...but there is always the risk they'll have arthritis as they age. If London starts to limp again, I'd have a specialist check her out.

What grade does she have? Lulu had a grade 1 which the vet said is pretty normal in yorkies. Zoey is between a 1 and 2. I am getting ready to start giving her some missing link with glaucosamine or I might get a straight glaucosamine supplement to help her from now.

They might not get worse to the point she needs surgery so keep that in mind. Keep her from jumping and also keep her trim.

You know I get so damn paranoid I watch the way she walks all the time. Just checking to see if I see any change on the way she walks.

Bella was just diagnosed with LP yesterday. She's a grade 3 in her left and 1 in her right leg. It was by chance they checked her for it i never saw any signs or symptoms shes never limped or had any problems.

Thanks. I'm sorry about Rylie and Lacy. :( I'm assuming it's not grade 4, i dont know much but she doesn't limp or hold it up except that one day, and when she sprays outside. I am going to get a second opinion from my vet 'cause the one i went to really didn't check her well, he was in some hurry. I really hope she doesn't need surgery. It's really common, i cant believe most have it. So far they are at a healthy weight, and i carry London a lot cause she doesn't even like walking outside too much and she never jumps off and on stuff so guess i will have to keep doing that. It's just Teddy is so active and jumps everywhere

He didn't say. I didn't really like him, my vet was all full today so i had to go to another one. He was in a hurry and didn't tell me much about it. I also asked him about the spots on her belly that look like dirt, and the dry skin and hair loss and he said not to worry:confused:

I'm sorry:( Is grade 3 bad? Why do some get in worse in one leg..i dont get it, cause her right is the bad one

Lacy had that..and Shanatink's Chloe did too. I can't remember what it's actually called but they are kind of like blackheads. I was given a special clarifying shampoo that got rid of it

Aubrey has something wrong with his knees we are going to try to go to the vet tomorrow if not tomorrow then next week. But he won't even jump on my bed anymore :(

i am soooo sorry sarah! Tumi has it too. The vet said she wont be needing a surgery soon or hope that she'll never need one..it's soo common now. sigh...I hope London won't need one either! I am praying for you..I can't wait to see you on the 30th at the playgroup. I am bringing cupcakes for babies since it is tumi's bday.

I'm so sorry about London :( Are you going to get this checked out more? Hopefully it's not that serious if he didn't really talk about it that much. I hope your other ones won't have it. I'll keep them in my prayers.

Aubrey had those, but my vet told me there was nothign to do for them.. that makes me mad. He still has them. If you could please tell me the name of the stuff that you can put on it that would be great! Please pM me with it if you can find out what its called :)

you should take her to Heart of Chelsea animal hospital in Chelsea. they are excellent i heard! you should get second opinion from them.

I remember that thread..did u write the name of the shampoo there? i will go check..

oh no i hope he is okay!

I'm sorry, a lot of yorkies have it i guess. Good thing she won't need surgery. I'm reaaally hoping London won't either, that would be frightening for me! I hope to go to the meetup, i am trying to make my bf go with me to help me carry the girls. It's hard w/o him and taking the train and all but i don't want to miss Tumi's bday!

Really? It's soo far downtown but i will check them out, thanks!:)

i thought it was far but just take the 1 train and takes you straight to 18th st. it's on 18th street. I think that's where i will be taking my girls.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sho...ht=Black+Spots Thats the thread, but nothing about preventing or helping it was said..

ohh i didn't know that, ok thanks! sounds good, the one i go to now is on E 38th st. :rolleyes:

Oy and you had to pay for that much of a visit. Jeeze. When I first took Zoey to the vet they gave me someone new because my usual was on vacation. Well that fool told me you can't judge her knees now it's too early..duh she was 5 months. Didn't care for him..he told me to only bathe her once a month or so..yeah sure. She would be stinking to high hell.

While this is true, according to our specialist (see below), it's not the whole story. There is a little more to consider....

He told us that, if you're lucky, grade 2 LP will not progress to grade 3 LP, but often does. It's usually progressive due to the nature of the problem.

Even if it doesn't get any worse then a grade 3 LP, over time it will degrade both the bones and the tendon. Of course, this causes an all new array of problems. For this reason, depending on several factors, including age, surgery is often recommended for grade 3 LP cases and sometimes for grade 2.

Again, depending on several factors, including the strength of the muscles and tendons, limping is a possible symptom on grades 2 and 3. Even with a grade 4, limping is not necessarily present.

Severity of the condition seems to be related to the age of onset; the early cases result in more severe disability and deformity.

LP grades can be diagnosed with a physical examination by a knowledgeable veterinarian. It is confirmed by pre-surgery xrays.

For more information about his clinic and practice, see Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists

Sammy had LP surgery yesterday on both knees. The specialist told us that is is "elective" but we could tell she was walking funny and she can't walk far (although that doesn't stop her from jumping and running like crazy in the house) but you can just tell something isn't right. She was diagnosed with bad grade 3's. Loki has one grade 2 and unless it gets worse he will not need surgery. He can walk for miles without a problem and does not limp.

The reason it is elective is that they are not in pain NOW, for the most part. But if it's bad, by the time they are 5 or so they will have arthritis and then it will hurt! The specialist said she likes to fix them when they are puppies. Sammy is almost 2 but she put her in the "puppy" category for recovery. The surgery is expensive and the recovery isn't easy... but she said it has an 80% success rate. So, if you're dealing with grade 3's or they have symptoms, I'd get checked by a specialist. Not all vets do this. We traveled an hour away and the specialist is just an orthopedic surgeon for small animals so this is what she does every day!

Good luck to all of you dealing with this. We have learned a lot and I hope those who have already done the surgery can help us through recovery!

For all of you with Yorkies with LP, why aren't they on Cosequin? Don't like it for some reason?

Mine get Cosequin... It's good for them even if they don't have LP.

I had a Shih that needed ortho surgery. Here is the best place in NY with all the specialists. I had the top ortho surgeon do his.

http://www.amcny.org/

I think it is supposed to be the best for this, right?

Connie's Libby has LP..she is on flexicose. Here is the link:

http://www.flexicose.com/index.html

I think I will order some for Zoey.

I'm sorry to hear this about London. I have to make my vet check Bengi's knees too next time I go. He doesn't limp or anything, but I wanna be sure just in case...