My four month old baby has Luxating Patella...Help!!!
 

We left diesel At the Vet yesterday to get x rays done on his knee!! We just found out he has Luxating Patella Grade 4!! The only way to fix it is expensive surgery that might not even work or ammputation!! I was wondering if snyone on here has gone through anyhting like this before and if you could tell me what you did!! It's really hard on me and my family right know!! He's had it since he was born and just learned to deal with the pain... and I just dont want my little baby in pain anymore!!!! Please Help!!!:(

I am so sorry to hear about your baby. I have not heard of them having to amputate for LP. Did you let your breeder know to see if she will help you out since he was born with it? Did you just buy him and if not did you take him to the vet to be checked when you got him? I hope someone can help you here. I know you must feel horrible.

Oh Hun,
There are lots and lots of threads here on YT about:
Luxating Patella

I have never heard of having it amputated :(

Both my Yorkies have LP in both rear legs. Roxy had her surgery last year, both legs at the same time, she did fine and is great now! ;)

Do a 'search' here on yorkietalk for Luxating Patella
you find lots of threads to read about it!

I am here if you want to talk more...:)

My sis's Pom had 1 leg done last Nov-no problems & the other one was just done 5 weeks ago. She had to take her to the Univ. of MO veterniary clinic in Columbia, MO I think it was around 1800., per knee. The pin in the 2nd surgery will have to come out in another 2 weeks, she was experiencing lifting her leg & only walking on 3 so my sis took her back yesterday for xrays. She was less than a year old when diagnosed & is now 2 years old. They do not get better without surgery - but we never heard amputation.

So sorry your baby is in pain. I hope you find a way to deal with it without it costing a fortune and that he feels better soon.

so sorry about your baby! Like TLC said there's a ton of info on here about lp.

My maltese had both his knees done last year and my yorkie had one done this January.

The surgery has a very high success rate if done early enough after diagnosis. Look for a board certified surgeon for your best chance at a good outcome.

Good Luck to you...

This is nonsense. I would find another Vet ASAP. There is no way an xray is going to show what this vet is claiming and no dog would ever have to have an amputation.
Vets can feel the knee's and tell you if there is a problem or not as long as it isn't an overzealous one that knows squat and actually injures them which they can do if they don't know what they are doing.
Many knee surgeries on toy breeds of dogs, are not required so be careful of what you are doing.

Sorry to hear about your puppy.My girl had a grade 3 LP and other than some limping once in a while did good. I put her on a chondroitin and joint supplement which seemed to help quite a bit. The vet I am with usually doesn't recommend surgery, first thing especially with a puppy (a lot of times they outgrow it) unless they are totally lame. Hope this helps.

I have to agree with Lorraine.

I went to 2 Vets and 2 Ortho Specialists, all 4 of them could tell just by a quick examination that indeed Roxy and TJ both have LP. The General Vets would not guess at what Grade they were, they told me the Specialist would be the one to answer that.

The 2 Specialists told me Grade 3 for Roxy. She would carry her leg all the time and she did the 'skip' walk (which I used to think was the "Roxy" walk and I thought it was so cute) - Now, I know better - it was her LP.

Anyway, we didn't bother with x-ray - until the morning of the surgery, the Ortho Dr. wanted to take a quick look at some x-rays just to see, but they can't really know for sure what's going on in there until they are in there.

After Roxy's surgery, the Ortho Dr. said that one leg was actually Grade 1 and the other was Grade 2 - So go figure :rolleyes:

Please do not let them talk of or do amputation. I think that's crazy :mad:

Please see a Ortho Specialist in this matter, b/c things are being said by this Vet that are uncalled for. :mad:

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Forget LP my darling little 4lb butterball wasn't even born with a knee cap to begin with...we had to have surgery a couple months ago..but she was up and around in no time...I agree I've never heard of amputation, I would get another opinion...but don't worry should your baby need surgery they usually do pretty well and it is very common in this breed!

Oh wow - that's so young to have such bad knee problems...and amputation ?? That sounds very drastic and please get a 2nd opinion if possible - this may not be as bad as the vets said....At 4 months though I have to wonder....poor baby.

I'm so sorry but I would suggest reading & researching till you can't see straight....there's alot of info right on this site. GOOD LUCK !!

The only reason the vet told us about the option of amputation is because we dont have to money to do the surgrey. And because he has grade 4 Luxating Patella that is really really bad, they dont even know if surgery will fix it!!!!

ok first off don't be hastie with your decision based on what that one vet told you. your pup is only 4 months old and sometimes with a little growth, the LPs work themself out or get a little better. I'd definately go see an orthopedic surgeon and have them check out the leg. i see knee surgeries every day and they are never as young as 4 months. I also have a Chi right now with grade 4 in both legs and she was probably born with it too. i've had her for almost 2 months now and she's a little under a year. she doesn't seem bothered by her knee problem actually.

an amputation is completely insane to do. yeah you may not have the money right now but would you seriously consider cutting on the leg for a fixable problem?? go get another opinion and i'm sure their decision won't be as quick as the first one. they will also probably tell you that you can wait another few weeks so you can gather up some money. You can also apply for care credit to help you out some.

oh another thing, did you get the pup from a breeder? if so the breeder will probably pay for it because the pup was born with it. having LPs at 4 months is not your fault.

Bitsy (8 mos/5lbs) just had surgery on her left knee Saturday and is doing great! Yes, it was expensive-$1300 plus $200 for laser. She was at stage 3 and had been hopping around on 3 legs off and on for about 2 weeks. She was in a lot of pain the first 2 days after surgery. Today is day 5 and she wants to run around again (3 legs), but she shouldn't yet. Dr. said she'd try to put her leg down after a week or 2, and put weight on it at about 3 weeks.

By the way, I was very surprised at how much of her they shaved and I will probably have to cut the rest of her very short til it evens out. (I didn't think to ask about that before, so I was shocked to see her whole hip area to her spine shaved.)

I hope this helps - good luck.

We got him through a breeder in the paper but they didnt have us sign any papers or anyhting. We also thought they were a little sketchy from the get go, they didnt let us go to there house or see the parents of Diesel!!! I think were going to put him on some pain meds and start saving up know for surgery for him in a year or two!!! Were going to talk to a ortho docter in 2 or 3 days so well see what he says to say!!!

I am so glad that you are going to see an Ortho Specialist, they will be able to tell you the honest truth about what direction you should go in. :)

I do have to be honest with you though. LP does not get better on it's own. Whatever damage is and gets done to the cartiledge cannot be repaired or replaced. Once the cartiledge is worn away from the constant luxation, you could be left with a dog that has serve arthritis or even complete lameness in that leg.

I know that surgery is expensive, but if the Ortho tells you that you shouldn't wait too long, please consider applying for the Care Card or see if the Hospital has some sort of payment plans.

When Roxy had her surgery, for both legs to be done at the same time, the bill was a few dollars under $3000, but this is NY.
My husband and I had decided to put it on my credit card and pay it off over the next handful of months but when I dropped her off, the girl at the front desk told me that they could set me up on a monthly payment plan, if I'd like. I declined b/c we had already decided the best route for us was thorugh my credit card (I had a promotional low rate :D )

Best Wishes - Please let us know how the Ortho goes ;)

#1. Fire your vet. Get a new one.
#2. Pixie had/has grade 4 LP also. They told us when she was very young they her knees were very, very bad, but we waited to see if she "grew into them" - she never did. She had surgery on her right leg earlier this month and is walking around and doing great. She's scheduled for surgery on her other leg in June.
#3. Where did you get Diesel? If you got him from somewhere that has a pet guarantee, you may not have to pay for the surgeries. If you got him from say, PetLand and they have a 1 year genetic health guarantee, they pay for the surgery. Just a thought ;)

Oh goodness, don't wait a year or two. Please don't wait that long - any damage is permanent. You may end up with a dog who can't walk at all... Pain meds help his pain, but they don't stop the damage.

its good your going to see the orthopedic surgeon. They would know what's best for your little guy. i'm sorry the 'breeder' you got him from wasn't a good one. :( please don't wait a year or two to fix this problem. he can't be on pain meds for that long at that young of an age. they can damage his kidneys and liver and you don't want to have him go thru that too. After talking to the surgeon and deciding when to have the surgery apply for care credit. They will most likely give you some money. If they deny you, you can have a friend or parent to apply with you to help you out. no money is needed from them, but it works better that way sometimes. Also, apply for a new credit card with no interest for a certain amount of months. That's what i did when i had surgery for myself. I'm still paying it off slowly and there is no interest till next year which is good. Anther thing, sometimes the hospital will work with you and set up a payment plan. look into these things and maybe something will work for you. good luck!

Everyone has given you shuch good info on the desease and I hope and pray all goes well. To help your dog before & after his surgery there is lots of products out there to help him get around and ease his pain like pet stairs, pet ramps and even pet wheel chairs. If your dog should be diagnosed with a luxating patella, you should contact the breeder from whom you purchased your puppy. Responsible breeders will want to know this in order to attempt to remove parents from their breeding programs.

The ortho vet looked at his x rays.. and he said Diesel has one of the worst cases theyve ever seen!! They said there is a 50/50 chance surgery will work... and theres also a chance it could make it worse!!! We are taking him to another Ortho Vet tommorrow to get a second opinion!!!!

aw poor baby. hopefully the other surgeon will have better news then this.

I do not have any advice on LP but do want to suggest you get as much done for your baby a.s.a.p. as I do know any damage is not reversible...There are some pills to keep from further damage to his cartilage (<<<spelling) ask your vet about them :p

We are going to do the surgery, we just have no way to pay for it!!! we've gone to two vets and they both said they dont do payment plans!! I heard you all talking about Care Credit... how do we get that ? Is there a number to call or website we can go to!!! WE HAVE to do the surgey within the next week or hes going to get arthritis... its bad and we really dont even know what to do!!!! He's our little baby, and we have to find someway to get the money!!!

Here is a picture of my sissy's pom-about a week after her 2nd surgery in March. They really do shave alot. Good Luck

My previous yorkie had been diagnosed with a grade 4 luxating patella. While surgery is advisable in this case, it is NOT a requirement. It is suggested because as your yorkie ages, she can develop artritis and/or be be limbing on this leg. However, unless she does agility or heavy exercising, it might not even happen at the end. You can make it easier for the dog if you perform the surgery right now, but it is not a requirement.

It is also absolutely not true that her leg is going to be amputated. Unless she has a gangrene or some other spreadable infection or cancer, there is no need to amputate her leg.

Luxating patella is the same thing as a dislocated knee cap. Stages indicate the amount of dislocation of the knee cap. The surgery tightens the muscle on the dog's knee so that the knee does not shift when the dog runs around.

I was quoted different figures by different doctors as a price for performing this surgery. Some of them were as low as $ 350 per knee, which is not that much. However, more expensive doctors charge much more.

Oh Hun, you really are doing the best thing for your little fella. After Roxy had her bi-lateral LP surgery, she was a BRAND NEW girl. :)

Here is the website for Care Credit
http://www.carecredit.com/

I do hope they approve you, if not or if you need more, maybe try applying for a regular credit card, one that has a low or zero intro offer?

Did they say how much surgery was going to be? NY is very expensive $3000

Care Credit
 

I found the following web site on care credit. Hope it helps!
http://www.carecredit.com/practices/veterinary/