Luxating Patella Operation On Charlotte

[MissMolly]

Hi all,

Just after some advice, took Charlotte (CKCS) to the vets this evening as last week she hurt her leg,(she was running on the wooden floors with wet feet and I was walking and she hit my foot and ending up hitting the bottom of the door frame i felt terrible) I thought she was fine and it has only been the last few days that I have noticed her limping on and off, even though when you touch it she doesn’t flinch, so I thought the vet would say she had sprained it or hurt the muscle.

BUT she has a grade 3 luxating patella in her right leg and needs an operation, she is booked in for the week after next, I just don’t feel comfortable with this sudden diagnosis, as she has been fine up until now, even though the vet got me to feel the kneecap, should I get a second opinion, as it wasn’t a vet I had seen before, it is our normal vet practise, but normally we see Rob or Pip, should I arrange to go and see one of them before Charlotte’s operation, I am so confused, yes the vet told us all about laxating patella’s but I was hoping someone on this forumt might have some advice Also the vet mentioned arthritis, Charlotte is 14 months old.

I show Charlotte and no one has noticed this before with her..

Sorry if this all sounds confusing I am just so worried about her, I have to keep her confined until the operation this she wont like as she loves playing with Sophie..

Cathy, Miss Molly, Miss Charlotte and Miss Sophie

Friends are the angels that lift us up when our wings have forgotten how to fly.

[Mornir]

If it were me, I'd definitely be seeing my regular vet about this. I personally think some vets operate uneccessarily. It can be tricky with cruciate ligament/luxating patella because no action could make things far worse, but please see your regular vet about it.

My dog Ricky did his knee late 2006. I took him to see a vet and was advied that surgery was his only option. Various other dog people told me the same thing. I took him back to my vet who I love and trust and he told me that Ricky's limp wasn't bad enough to operate on, that he'd probably be worse after surgery. He devised a plan for us which involved limited activity (no flyball, agility, fetch or anything involving running and sudden stopping or twisiting), lots of straight line walking (I taught him to walk on a treadmill and he did 10 minutes of very slow walking every day or when we could) and some weight bearing stuff - pulling on lead DOES have some benefits! At first it was hard to see an improvement but after a few months he was back to normal and after 8 months he was back doing flyball and agility and general running about like a moron. A dog at my dog school had surgery mid last year to repair a cruciate ligament after being attacked. She still can't walk properly. The ligament that they put in is very tight and has to be stretched and loosened. IMO this dog should not have been operated on she barely had a limp, she rarely uses the leg now and mostly carries it.

I'm so glad we used physio to get Ricky fixed up rather than surgery. It took time and a lot of work as we basically had to build up the muscle that runs down beside the knee to hold the knee cap in place because the ligament was no longer going to be able to do it (ligaments don't retighten once they're stretched) but it was certainly worth it.

I certainly suggest discussing it with your vet, not all dogs are as lucky as Ricky, but IMO a lot are operated on uneccessarily.

[Cavandra]

Unfortunatly slippery floors like floor boards are a very bad environment for dogs to grow up on, patella & hip probs are usually seen from this environment Often these ops dont work, and if she is going to come back to slippery floors then it is likely she will do more damage eventually. I would advise her to be crate rested & toileted by lead only, no free roaming, they can mend, but with these floors it will happen again to her and no operation will stop her from injuring herself Im afraid.

Many Vets jump at ops, as they are trained surgeons, not always the best option though! She should be crate rested & toileted on lead for a couple of weeks, maybe some pain relief/anti inflammatory given too, once mended as I said it will keep happeneing on these floors, having surgery like this & bringing her back to slippery floors it is likely the surgery wont work anyway.