"clicking" noise in leg sometimes
 

Every so often I will hear this "click" noise from one of Alice's back legs. There's no pain, she doesn't seem to notice at all, dosen't hold it up or skip when walking or anything like that. It's not all the time, but when it does happen, it's usually when she gets up from laying down for a while.
Is this just a growing thing? She's about 7 months old. If I heard this noise from one of the other dogs, I probably wouldn't even pay attention (heck, I "click" all the time lol), but since I've learned that yorkies can be prone to LP, I was just wondering if it would indicate anything. Any experience?

Luxating Patella's usually is the cause for clicking knees....

Ellie's leg clicks/snaps when jumping. It's a 2-3 grade LP.

:eek:crap ..ok, I'll have the vet check it out soon.
Would a glucosamine suppliment started now help prevent it from progressing?

Varied opinions anywhere from it's the best thing ever to it doesn't work at all. Studies supporting its use aren't very strong. Not going to hurt though. I'd only use Cosequin.

I only use Cosequin for Cats in capsule form, it is the correct dosage for a Toy dog....

Ok, thanks, it's worth a try if it won't hurt her at all. Ya, I will use Cosequin.

Another question - if a dog has a luxating patella, will it gradually get worse, or does it depend on the dog/activity level?

If you monitor her weight and keep her from jumping she should be fine throughout her life. It's when you allow excessive weight gain and allow her to jump around like a kangaroo....she will get worse. Also, LP Surgery seems to be the flavor of the month surgery.....At 2 thousand a pop, you can see why vet's are pushing it. Get a 2nd opinion, from an orthopedic surgeon and then if your girl isn't lame or limping....I'd think long and hard.

Ok, thanks. I'm really carefull about weight and she's a petite, thin girl to begin with. I stop her every time I see her ready to jump from the arm of the couch, that's the only "high" place she can go that she can jump from. My dh wonders why I always cringe and stop her, I say - she could get a luxating patella - and he looks at me like I'm nuts lol.

It would have to really extreme for me to even consider finding a way to pay for a surgery that expensive. Just checkin to see if I can nip it in the bud;) I'll start the Cosoquin

It appears she already has LP.......Could be genetic and then it could be caused by her jumping. Buy pet stairs......

Oh no, Lexie's joints click sometimes too..but it's her front legs, weird. The vet checked her back legs and said one is slightly loose but not enough to be considered grade 1 LP. I have her on cosequin just in case

Too many vets are jumping into surgery. A very large portion of small dogs have LP. Ellie's vets don't recommend talking to an ortho about surgery unless it's problematic for the dog. If they are carrying the leg a lot or are in pain which is possible... You may deal with arthritis later, but it's not a surgery that should be taken lightly.

As Mary said, keep her lean. For the best chances of her never needing surgery, control the jumping.

The latter has not been something we can do easily here. Ellie loves to bounce around so much. I don't regret not stopping her. It probably has made her knee worse though and it almost certainly contributed to or caused a very serious back issue. But she enjoyed being able to do it for so long. So the level of control is really all about what an owner thinks is best for the physical and psychological health of their dog. Stairs are great and hopefully she will use them. They wouldn't have fixed the problem for us though because she likes to walk across the back of furniture. And she sometimes slides on hard floor which is incredibly difficult to train a dog not to do! I just have to remember not to throw a toy in the kitchen for her.

:) Alice walkes across the back of the furniture too, my dh calls her "the little mountain goat" lol. Stairs would be usless, I've just been trying to teach her to go back down to the lower seat (dog stairs would be higher than the seat) of the couches instead of thinking about leaping off the side, she's 95% of the time good about it though. It's only if she's really excited that she gets bouncy, more running around like the wind than anything though lol. I've also told dh and my family who visit often, not to let her jump off their lap, to put her on the ground instead. I already have my other two on cosequin (senior beagle ,and Akita just because she's a large breed), so that won't be a hard habit to get into, just wasn't sure if it was necessarily recommended for a puppy. Keeping her lean dosen't seem like it will be difficult at all.