luxated Patellae

[springeramj]

Skye, our 9 month old little girl, and I were playing in the house when she jumped down the last three stairs, and started limping. The Vet has said it could be luxated patellae, but said we should wait to do surgery. I see other's have had surgery performed, and it seemed to go well. I'm worried about waiting - I don't want it to get worse. She is doing better (it's been two weeks), but still if it's cold, or she runs too much, limps. Does anyone have any suggestions.... to wait or not to wait?

[sheila and Misty]

Id get another opinion before surgery-what if its just a sprain? did you have xrays? maybe just a hairline fracture. My Scruffy at 8mo took a run-flew ove our entrance and fell 10 feet into my arms-almost hit the ground-He limped for two weeks then it was ok-I would never wait that long again but every day he seemed to be getting better, If it keeps up and( does it seem sore to touch or move? )adoesnt seem to be getting better Id check into it.

[cairnrescueleague]

Has your vet ruled out an anterior cruciate ligament injury? Hip problems? Was he able to move the kneecap in and out of the groove? If so, did he say what grade luxating patella it is?

[Greg P]

I would get a referral to have an orthopedic vet examine your girl before any surgery. You don't have to rush. Even if she needs surgery, it may take a few weeks to get it scheduled. Keep her confined and quiet in a crate or very small x pen. We've had ACL surgery and ......may be facing another (opposite leg) from a Christmas day snow romp.

Again, get your exam and opinion from a vet specialist. Make deliberate speed to make good decisions. Don't rush.

[springeramj]

Thank you all - I really don't want to let her hurt, but worry about over reacting too. Haven't had a dog in years, had cats until we lost bothof themina forest fire (lost the house too, but I think losing the animals was worse.) So I worry a lot about our new little dog. I gather that this is a problem cairns have, and can't figure out if she has the surgery if it fixes it for good, or just for a while. She limps some, only when she plays too hard. Hard to keep her quiet! I think I can feel it "click" in her knee, but she doesn't yelp, or even act like it bothers her.

I will get a second opinion before I have surgery, we're in the Seattle area so I am sure there are lots of good vets.

[Cairnmania]

In all but the mildest cases your vet should be able to tell if you dog has luxated patella by manipulating her legs. It concerns me somewhat that he said it "could be" luxated patella; but without further examination and an x-ray there's now way to tell if it's just a sprain (which can take up to 6 weeks to heal) or something chronic. Has he scheduled a follow up to identify the cause?

As others have said - don't rush into anything until you're sure.

[Chewybacca]

I feel for your situation, my pups are my "kids" and my boy had a luxated patella at a young age, I think he was around 2...we went ahead with the surgery after he got to the point where his knee was giving out a little to frequently...they just bascially wired it into place and he is great now! ; )

You do have to watch the weight tho, and be aware of arthritis..I have my guy on glucosamine which makes a big difference for him. Funny thing, at his first puppy visit the vet I saw suspected his knee would give at some point....and it did....poor thing..not fun to watch them go thru it, but they bounce back quicker than you'd think! Good Luck!

[Kramersmom]

My first Cairn, Missy had both knee's repaired at age 8, she passed away at age 17. Her knee's, once repaired, never gave her any issues, she was 100%. It's not an emergency but, I would seek maybe an ortho DR. That is who did Missys knee's. Missy also tore her cruciate ligament and needed surgery as well, to repair. I know some Dr's want to take the wait and see approach and give predisone. Missy was on pred for a while for another issue and I think that is what caused her diabetes. Good luck

[hallswel]

Can't speak for luxated patellae but I can tell you about little Duncans recent injury. He got a bath and got mad tried to climb out of the tub fell back in and screamed. He was covered with soap...and whimpering. He lifted his leg and pulled it in tight. I had to get the soap off and got him in a towel and proceeded to check him out. He absolutely would not walk on the leg. I could squeeze it, move it and he never complained he just would not put weight on it so the next day off to the vets.

She watched him walk on three legs and she did exactly what I did squeezed, moved it and he never seemed uncomfortable so took x-rays to see if there was a green fracture. NOTHING. Ligaments looked good, we did find one sore spot on his rear left flank where you find the sciatica nerve (not sure the spelling) so Duncan got some mild holistic pain meds and a rub for his bruised area and crate rest. It took him 3 days before he would even use his leg for balance. After 5 days he used it in run mode. Not until about a week did he trot and put full weight on his leg.

I do not think I would have been comfortable without the x-ray.

As for the luxated patellae, has your vet told you about it before? Most vets when they do the puppy exam check the knees carefully and I am sure they would have told you then. lots of good advice here, second opinion, x-ray.

Hope your baby is up and around soon.