Help with Patella

[kperry]

Hi,

I have a 9 month old yorkie who has been diagnosed with patella. The vet said her knee is contantly out and he can put it in it's correct spot but it comes right out. He would like her to have surgery for $2000.00. Should I get a second opinion, has anyone ever experienced this with their dog? What will happen to her if I don't do the surgery? Right now, she walks, runs, jumps and I would have never known there was anything wrong with her until the vet told me.

Don't know what to do.

Any help/suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you
Karen

[gemy]

Originally Posted by kperry

Hi,

I have a 9 month old yorkie who has been diagnosed with patella. The vet said her knee is contantly out and he can put it in it's correct spot but it comes right out. He would like her to have surgery for $2000.00. Should I get a second opinion, has anyone ever experienced this with their dog? What will happen to her if I don't do the surgery? Right now, she walks, runs, jumps and I would have never known there was anything wrong with her until the vet told me.

Don't know what to do.

Any help/suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you
Karen

Okay LP luxating patella - was this ddx'd on just palpation or did your vet do Xrays?

He/she is recommending surgery - get a second opinion for sure , and with a board certified orthopaedic surgeon.

On / In the library at YT there are some links to go to to see the various organizations and their websites.

I would never put my dog in surgery unless it is with a board qualified surgeon for sure. General Vets are not specialists.

Also if she is evidencing no pain on movement, play, etc, be very clear about that when you go to the specialist.

For myself I always take my dogs for their Xrays etc to a ortho specialist. They have the latest diagnostic tools, the training, and the skills to do what may or may not be necessary.

[kperry]

The vet did not take any x-rays. He just diagnosed by feeling it. He said he talked with an orthopedic vet about her and the ortho vet suggested she have surgery

[ladyjane]

There are many yorkies with luxating patellas. Yes, the knees do pop when manipulated manually but that alone does not mean they must have surgery.

I strongly suggest that you go to a board certified orthopedic surgeon for a second opinion. The trend these days is away from all of the surgeries that used to be done on these pups. If they are not having problems ambulating and not having pain, I don't consider surgery. That is what my board certified vet suggests.

You can do a search on www.acvs.org for a board certified vet in your area. Good luck!

[gemy]

Originally Posted by kperry

The vet did not take any x-rays. He just diagnosed by feeling it. He said he talked with an orthopedic vet about her and the ortho vet suggested she have surgery

On this site do a search for LP called luxating patella (kneecap) there will be very many threads pop up. Research these threads.

I'm curious why your vet did not directly refer you to the ortho vet for examination and evaluation of your dogs knees.

Each owner of course has to make that difficult decision for themselves about to operate or not.

Some of the criteria I would look at are: 1) how much is the pup in pain now? 2) If I don't do surgery what are the risks to waiting to do surgery
3) How effective are these surgeries and what exactly will be done
4) what are the risks associated with putting my dog under sedation? and there are many by the way
5) Is there a way through say physiotherapy and non invasive techinques I could use to help my dog through this?
6) are there supplements or additives that i can add to his food to help his joints? The answer is yes, and they are glucosamine and chondrotin.

I hope this helps

[ladyjane]

I am not disagreeing about glucosamine, but it seems that no one ever discusses the side effects that a dog can have. Altered blood sugar levels is one.

I am not a fan of the above, but I have seen many people who swear their dogs improved on it. I have also heard people say the same thing. I tried it for my own knees and it did not help at all.

But, I agree with Gemy....many questions must be asked before deciding to do the surgery or not!

A lot of vets will tell you the risk of arthritis is reason for the surgery. I can only say that my vet and also the specialist do not recommend as I said above....and I have a few pups with varying degrees of LP who are having no issues at all.

[Patti]

My Pixie just had the LP surgery about 9 weeks ago. Pixie suddenly, after a misstep off the bed, couldn't walk because of her left back leg. I took her right away to the ER vet and he said she had LP and it wouldn't stay in when he put it in. I went back a few hours later and saw a different vet and had xrays done. He also said LP. I was surprised because of all of mine she was the one that I thought didn't have it. I took her to my vet and she also said surgery would probably be the only solution. So after a week of crate rest and medicine, with little improvement, I took her to the Othropedic surgeon and she said she needed the surgery. I had it done that day. In hindsight, I wish I had waited a few more weeks to see if there was any more improvement. Pixie is 4 1/2. My 5 year old has grade 4 and her knees are permanently out but she dose fine with it so we have not done any surgery. It is a tough decision, but definitely get a second opinion by a orthopedic surgeon before making any decisions. I hope she never needs the surgery.