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12-14-2008, 09:48 AM | #1 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Mankato, MN, US
Posts: 180
| Yorkiw with Grade 2 LP Hey everyone. I knew on here I would get the best answers for a dilema I am having. So here is my dilema.... We are going tomorrow to see a little 4 month old Yorkie girl who has grade 2 LP. I have not yet had the chance to talk to any vets as it is the weekend but Monday AM I will be on the phone with my vet, who corrected Jack's LP diagnosis since he doesn't have it and has several other dogs under her direct care that do have LP that she is watching, for her opinion. Plus, I will be talking to the vet who diagnosed her. In the email, the breeder made me very aware of the health issue before I even asked (which I am very grateful for). She said that since it is only grade 2, she stands a very good chance of never needing surgery plus I have read many stories of dogs with grade 2 that never needed surgery. Although, I do realize that it is not a guarentee and she has a slight chance of needing it in the future if her knees begin to cause her pain. Now about expenses, if she were to need the surgery, my husband and I are in the final stretch of college and should have the finances to pay for such a surgery should she need it. Other that than, she has the concept of potty training down already and is doing good at, from what I am told and she will be around the same size as Jack (anything bigger than him he gets intimidated). Basically other than the LP, she is everything we are looking for! Now here's the question..... Do we give her the loving home she is looking for and deserves, which we CAN give her or do we pass her up because of a potential future problem? I hope that I can get some honest answers about what you would do in my position and I hope I can hear some advice from people who do have or had dogs with LP. Before I post, I just recieved another email. I got the number for the vet and she said that she would be surprised if she ever needed anything done because she doesn't show any signs. She also said "The vets are all men and sometimes I do think that they are a little rougher with checking the knees then what some other vets are." That's exactly how she put it. Again, let me know what you think! Thank you all for your help. I just want to make sure we are doing the right thing and for the right reasons.
__________________ Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... it's about learning to dance in the rain. Jack & Madden Last edited by luvmyYorkieJack; 12-14-2008 at 09:50 AM. |
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12-14-2008, 10:59 AM | #2 |
And Rylee Finnegan Donating Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Metro Detroit, MI
Posts: 17,928
| I would probably take her if she is perfectly healthy otherwise but stage 2 LP at this age is high. I wouldn't be surpried if it gets worse.
__________________ Crystal, Ellie May (RIP), Rylee Finnegan, and Gracie Boo🐶 |
12-14-2008, 11:00 AM | #3 |
Donating YT 30K Club Member | My Cali has grade 4 LP. She is 3 1/2 years old. She does fine running and going up and down and we are taking a watch and see attitude with her. I imagine she may need surgery one day but my vet said to take a wait and see approach as Cali has some health issues and we don't want to put her under unless we have to. If you have your heart set on her and can afford the surgery in the future should she need it then talk to your vet and decide if it is right for you. I would probably be a little leary and keep looking for one without LP.
__________________ Cali Pixie Roxie : RIP Nikki; RIP Maya;RIP my sweet Dixie girl 1/17/08 http://callipuppyscastle.bravehost.com/index.html |
12-14-2008, 11:23 AM | #4 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Mankato, MN, US
Posts: 180
| Thank you so far for your posts. I can't wait to talk to her current vet right now. I had no clue what I was going to ask him but now I have some sort of an idea. And I think I will talk to my vet after to have her take on what he says. I am really hoping that this vet has no clue what he is talking about like the last vet I was at. When the last vet diagnoised Jack with LP, he said that he had grade 2 in the right and a grade 3 in the left. When I took him to the vet I am at now, she said that she was trying to force his knee cap out of place and she couldn't. Even though his knee caps, if they would have luxated, would have went the opposite way then she normally feels knee caps moving. Again, I trust the judgement of this vet and want to know her take on this. Thanks again.
__________________ Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... it's about learning to dance in the rain. Jack & Madden |
12-14-2008, 12:21 PM | #5 |
Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Sequim, Wa
Posts: 4,541
| My vet is female and is the one that first diagnosed my Gracie's LP, so I would not consider the vet being male or female a factor necessarily. My Gracie was symptomatic in her right knee, asymptomatic in her left. She had x-rays under anesthesia which diagnosed grade 3 LP in the right and grade 2 in the left. I was told that to do nothing, at least with the grade 3, would mean Gracie having a greater chance of pain and disability with arthritis in that knee as she gets older. The grade 2 may or may not give her problems. I decided the only way I could be sure that I was doing everything I could and should for my Gracie was to give her the bilateral LP surgery. Here is the caveat. During surgery, the surgeon discovered that clinically, the symptomatic knee was actually a grade 2 and the asymptomatic knee was a grade 3! The only way to know for sure is to have the surgery. As rough as it was, I am glad I had it taken care of while she was young. My youngest is just over 1 year old. At her first exam with my vet, she was diagnosed with "mild" LP. My vet said that often times puppies with "mild" LP will grow out of it, and we should just watch and wait. I have not yet taken her in for her next annual visit, at which time I will have her LP checked. We will have x-rays done if the exam still finds she is luxating. She is asymptomatic. My GF whom I have known since High School and who I trust implicitly is a vet. She told me that dogs have pain every time the patella luxates, whether they show it or not. In her opinion, she would not hesitate to put her dogs through LP surgery if recommended by the vet. Hope this helps you in your decision making. I posted several threads about Gracie's surgery and recovery course in the sick and injured forum. She had surgery in January 2008. She is doing great now!
__________________ Gracie loves Bailey. Holly loves Tucker. Proud member of the YT Gracie Girls. |
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