gilbertgrape

Hi Sivaro, Thanks for the welcome and thanks for responding. My name is from the movie - it was an excellent movie! It does seem like it's not a common problem - so I guess I'll wait and see what the vet says. I hope its not something that's going to require a bunch of surgery.

**update** Just a quick upate to tell those who are interested that I took him to the vet yesterday. She took some x-rays of his hips and knees. No luxating patella, but bad hip dysplasia, especially in the right hip. Bad in the way that there's no real ball and socket joint formation happening in that hip! the left leg is only a little better. The hip dysplasia is causing the leg to be sitting outwards. He has signs of arthritis in both joints. She's given me some Osteosupport tablets, plus an injection of Cartophen (need 3 of them). Is there anyone here who has had a dog with hip dysplasia? And what kind of treatment did you use for your dog that worked well? What is the prognosis on this type of thing?? He's only 4 years old and I feel bad for him. The breeder hip scores her dogs, and mine ended up with this, would she want to know? Do good breeders want to know these types of things?? I don't want to say anything if its going to be a tense discussion because I couldn't be bothered with someone getting cranky. I'd rather just leave it. **** Original message: I have a 4 year old Cavalier and his hind legs are not quite right. It's like the top of the leg has been turned out, away from the the hip. It gives a look like a cowboy, or bow-leggedness. It's not precisely bow-leggedness because his actual legs are straight, the problem is that they are not aligned properly with the hip. It's not glaringly obvious, but it is noticeable if you're looking for it. He has had it for about 3 years and it doesn't seem to have got any worse. The right leg appears to be more out of alignment than the left. A vet noticed it and superficially checked him out and commented that it didn't seem to be causing him any pain. She did suggest, however, that I might like to investigate it further to see what we are dealing with for the future. It's something I've always had in the back of my mind, but because it wasn't causing him any trouble I let it go for a while. I think it may be affecting him now, and has manifested as a limp in his right leg after he runs. For the past few weeks it has been happening to him everytime I play ball with him in the backyard. Afterwards (throughout the evening) the leg looks very stiff - I guess similiar to the symptoms of luxating patella. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the positioning of his legs is causing his patella to luxate. I am going to take him to the vet next week, however, in the meantime is there anyone on this forum who has encountered a similar problem? I've done some research on the internet and it doesn't seem to be a common problem with the rear legs, more a front leg problem. I just hope he's not in any pain from it all