Having just gone thru lp surgery with Hot Rod, I am glad I did it. Now that being said, I was a wreck during and right after it. :rolleyes: He went from grade 1 to a 3 in what seemed like overnight. His annual checkup was in November and was not showing any signs of it getting worse. All of a sudden he would not want to walk very far. He would just stop and stand there looking at me or just sit down. I was litterally pulling on him to walk. He wound up having a uti that I initially took him in for and while I was there talked with my vet about that and she took xrays and immediately referred us to an ortho surgeon.

I learned later that the surgeons office keeps appts open for potential surgeries as soon as the next day for new cases. We had our appt on a Mon and was scheduled for surgery the very next day so I didn't have much time to freak out. His lp caused his little leg to bow. His ligament was on the side of the knee cap and the groove needed to be deepened.

His surgery was the end of March and he's gotten the all clear. Now he is still picks his leg up every once in a while (esp. when he gets going running on the grass) but he doesn't have any limp what so ever. He does walk/sprint sideways though, lol. And he does get tired so I wind up picking him up. Stairs seemed to be hard on him so we didn't let him go up and down at first; we've be letting him do it more and more now. Our surgeon told us to keep him still for 6 weeks :eek: and the largest area he should be in is a 3' x 3'.
So I am sure that he's a little weak in that leg. He's getting stronger and better each day. We'd always done a bit of walking prior to surgery, probably a total of 1 1/2 miles throughout the day. I can't wait until we get back to that, we both enjoyed our walks tremendously.

Our surgeon told us that he would not have arthritis which I was really worred about. He also said that I should not be surprised it it takes up to 2 months before getting back to normal. Good luck with whatever you decide to do, in my case I am very glad that I did it...but I'm also on the other side of it now. ;)

It can benefit dogs with any grade of LP.
Ellie is a grade 1 or 2 in her left knee and she is on it.

Oh my goodness, I didn't even know Hot Rod had the surgery!:eek: I haven't been on much and just pop onto a couple of the subforums and I have missed so much. I am so glad to hear he is doing good. It sounds like it was 1 leg? How long was there pain? Sending retroactive hugs to you both- so sorry I wasn't around when you were going through it.

I get Lady's Cosequin at Entirely Pets:

Cosequin Regular Strength (90 capsules)

Awww, no worries. :) It was just 1 leg. The surgeon said that he thinks at this point in time the other leg is fine and feels that it won't get any worse. But of course time will tell. I really can't say how long he had pain as I really didn't think it was a knee issue. We take them out separately in the mornings and Maggie would always jump him when he came in (lol) so I just attributed any symptoms to that. I really only noticed it on our walks. He loves our walks and he just didn't want to go, he would literally just stop in his tracks sometimes just standing there or sit down. Honestly, if another YT member hadn't said something to me about the possible uti problem I probably would not have gone to the vet at that point. Hot Rod was still very much active, running, jumping and playing with Maggie so I really had not idea something was wrong. :eek:

The xrays my vet took were kinda weird and showed his leg was bowed so she wasn't sure if it was a hip issue or knee problem so that is why she referred us right away. Fortunately the surgeon said his hip is absolutely fine. "whew"

Coincidentally, the surgeon (board ceritified) I went to happens to be 2 of my neighbors dogs surgeon. They have sister New Foundlands. One of them has had both ACL's (?) operated on the other dog will be going through her second knee surgery in about 3/4 weeks. She is recuperating from her first now. And then I found out that my other neighbors aunt had this surgeon for her poodle. So I was very happy with knowing people who used him and were very happy with him. He also told me that he has a little yorkie; he has special needs. :) all in all, I really liked him and as I said, I am very glad I did it and that it's behind us now. I hope the best for you and Sugar whatever you should decide. If you need anything, just pm me. Stedmansmommy-little Tatum and Amandawash's Ranger and us had surgeries all within a week of each. It was like comparing notes and progression. lol. They are all on the mends as well. :D

Thank you soooo much!:) I'm just learning about all of the LP surgery babies here from searching it. How long was he in pain after the surgery? I think that's what scares me the most. I practically made myself sick last night over Sugar's post dental pain. I'm still waiting on my vet to return my call.

Cost of LP surgery...
 

I know it shouldn't matter because these babies are so precious but does anyone know how expensive this surgery is? My vet recommends it for my Yorkie and I have no money. And there is no such thing as a payment plan. They want the money up front. I can't bear the thought of London developing arthritis and I'm going to start Glucosamine right away. But I can't believe that she's 5 and my vet never mentioned possible Luxating Patella ever!!!!! And when I took her there today the vet that was filling in didn't give me a grade of any kind. In fact she barely even checked her well. Now that I think about it I'm so mad. Her front leg has been looking bowed to me lately and she's been having trouble climbing her little stairs. And then all of a sudden 2 days ago she is running around on only 3 legs. You would think that in all the times she's been to the vet that they might have picked up on it or at least mentioned the possibility sooner. I'm hoping if she loses weight and takes the Glucosamine it will buy us enough time until we can afford the surgery. But this vet today said she would probably need it on all four legs. Is this normal? She is only holding one off the floor. I know this post is too long and I'm sorry. But my dogs are my babies and so far I've been lucky with the medical problems.

Did you get a second opinion, these vets are also out to make a living. Surgery cost depends on your geographical area. But, it's not cheap. The Cosequin will help. Now the LP on all 4 legs sounds a little wierd to me. I've never heard of LP afflicting the front legs, can it happen, I'm not sure.

Thank you for the quick reply. I've decided to call my vets office tomorrow to speak to my main vet. After researching this problem here I realize that I basically wasted a visit today. I took the advice on one of the threads and cupped Londons' rear quarter while gently pushing inward and we heard a pop which I also felt and now she is bearing weight on the leg. And the vet I saw today couldn't do that? I'm not happy. I will buy some Glucosamine today and put London on a diet and start saving money for surgery but hopefully we will not need it. This forum is priceless and you are all angels to me.

If surgery is warrented, it should be done by an Othepedic Surgeon. Did the vet tell you what grade level LP?

Weight Management and jumping to a minimum will keep the knees from popping out.

I know that front knees can be loose on young dogs, it takes a bit of time for everything to solidify.

My daughters yorkie has LP due to injury. Vet gave him PhyCox-JS.
Has anyone heard of this?
I asked vet about cosequin and she said that this was better.

It's interesting to see you mentioned glucosamine. I mentioned glucosamine to my vet thinking it would help Bella because she is a grade 2 lp. My vet said that glucosamine builds cartlidge, and the problem with lp is the canal for the cartlidge is not big enough so building cartledge would exaserbate the problem. In lp sugery what they are doing is digging out the canal to make it larger for the tendons. Bella's lp actually improved after she built muscle mass around her hips and knees. She's always run like a jack rabbit, and never been bothered by the lp at all. Just my vet's perspective. Made sense to me.