huck house Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 hi! Our small 4 year old female bull terrier's back left knee is totally stuffed. We are her 4th home and have had her for 10months . With hindsight we realise that her leg has never been right, but it has got really bad in the last fortnight. Our mobile vet sent us to a specialist but the head surgeon was away. The advise was a little unclear to me. They said she needs a general anaesthetic to see what type of operation she will require. One option is to re-align her patella- $1400, the other to straighten the leg- $5000+.The second option is out of the question for us unfortunately. So I am wondering why they cannot do the x-ray and the less invasive operation at the same time ?? Has anyone had any experience with this?? We live in the north of melbourne but havn't been here long and have no long term relationship with any vets here. We are getting a second opinion this arvo just to clarify our options. N.B: Peanut has bowed back legs , curious shaped front legs and a chunky little body ...but she is an incredibly agile , active (not to mention adoreable and hilarious) dog. So either way, the whole process is going to be a major challenge THanks for any replies in advance..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordogs Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 I can't see why they can't do both on the same day. Ideally they could xray then ring you with the result and if ok with you go ahead with the surgery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huck house Posted October 18, 2011 Author Share Posted October 18, 2011 *thanks for the response "Fordogs" The second opinion I sought at the Lort Smith Hospital said that Peanut's knee is really bad .She has a grade 4 luxation , and that the simpler operation fails in 30% of cases, made worse in bully's as they have very strong thigh muscles - he straght up said to go back and see the specialist . I think the specialist vet was a little evasive because he didn't want to tell me that we really need to do the complex proccedure, that Peanut wont get a good result if she has the simpler one. He probably doesn"t want to do a costly,invasive operation he knows wont work. I will make another appointment with them to clarify things with them.....and try my hardest to find a few grand.. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
periannath Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 You are her 4th home? Poor little mite.Good on you for taking her in.Is she a mini? The old fashioned mini tends to be the type you describe.Does she have a 'queen Anne chair ' front? It sounds as though her hind leg conformation may be a factor in her patella luxation but it is a recognised problem in both bullies and minis. Have they checked her other patella? I don't quite understand the other surgery.Are they suggesting trying to correct the bow in her leg? That sounds very major. Can you post a picture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rappie Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 It sounds as though the surgeon is concerned about rotation in the limb causing the patella luxation, which is something that would determined with radiographs and a thorough examination under GA. If the problem is 'just' patella luxation then a normal repair (probably with a triple technique) will resolve it. If the patella luxation is occurring due to an anatomical misalignment that affects the whole limb, doing a normal repair wont change the underlying problem and there may be failure further down the track. It may be that a normal repair will be sufficient despite an underlying problem but this is something that couldn't be decided without the GA and xrays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abgail Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Have a read of this site. Can pass on contact number of rep in Vic if you would like to find out more. http://medivetvictoria.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huck house Posted October 19, 2011 Author Share Posted October 19, 2011 periannath- I will attempt to post pictures again but "queen anne chair' Says it all! The last owner said she wasn't a mini and the pedigree papers don't mean much to me. Peanut has been used for breeding , one home was shut down by the rspca ( I will update our profile to tell the full story ) She is an awesome dog, I can't believe how sweet she is and that people passed her off ....madness! The other patella hasn't been checked and the big operation would be to take wedges out of the bones to straighten the leg, more commonly done with large dogs. Rappie- thanks, that explained the situation really well. I spoke to the surgeon today and he will x-ray then operate under one GA . He said life is full of compromises, this is a good one, and he is optimistic that we will get a satisfactory result. Although,as Rappie and perannath have identified ,Peanut has a curious conformation/anatomy and will potentially end up with other issues and arthritis further down the track. Post operation being so crucial, we are getting a crate and taking 2 weeks off to keep an eye on the Peanutty girl! thanks for the replies, I will update after her op next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huck house Posted October 19, 2011 Author Share Posted October 19, 2011 Thanks Abgail, I had a quick look at the site. Bundoora vet clinic is listed there and that is where Peanut is having her operation.! I feel even more confident now..cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
periannath Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 How tall is Peanuts? Just a rough idea would be great.Do you have her papers?I am concerned that she may be a mini and one that not has been tested for PLL.Unfortunately many of the minis with the conformation issues you have mentioned have come back as affected.We really don't know why this should be so but it could possibly be linked to dwarfism.I'm really not trying to alarm you but with the surgery you are considering it would be something I would want to know before hand. She's had a very tough trot by the sound of it.Thank goodness she has been lucky enough to have found you.The bullies and minis are tremendous fun to have around aren't they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huck house Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 Periannath, sorry for the late reply, when I read your post, I freaked out, researched PLL and other bully issues. Peanut had a sore squinty eye a few months ago which has made me even more parinoid. Our mobile vet thought she had a scratch on it. He is coming over tomorrow so I will tell him our worries ,as well as the specialist surgeon on wednesday when peanut goes in for her op. Hopefully her eyes are ok at the moment but I looked up eye specialists in melbourne and we will get them checked as soon as she is up to it. Peanut is 40cm tall , about 45cm long and quite wide. I am setting up a facebook page to link you to photos and videos. I am inept at the computer and can not work out how to post pictures here (I also accidently erased a message here yesterday so this is my second attempt) Her papers say nothing about her being a mini - we didn't even look at them for weeks after we got her. Please excuse our naivety regarding obvious purebeed issues . We had a bully X cattle ( I call a Battle ! ) for 15 years before we got Peanut. She was in a pretty bad way when we got her, with a major ear infection, sunburnt nose , dermititis etc etc. We think it is us who are lucky to have found her . "tremendous fun " alright ! We call her 'the bounce back bully ' as she has blossoms each day and reveals more of her spunky yet sweet personality. Thanks for your concern and wisdom.. I hope you get to see her soon . She is AdoraBULL!! We love 'love' love' her! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
periannath Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Periannath, sorry for the late reply, when I read your post, I freaked out, researched PLL and other bully issues. Peanut had a sore squinty eye a few months ago which has made me even more parinoid. Our mobile vet thought she had a scratch on it. He is coming over tomorrow so I will tell him our worries ,as well as the specialist surgeon on wednesday when peanut goes in for her op. Hopefully her eyes are ok at the moment but I looked up eye specialists in melbourne and we will get them checked as soon as she is up to it. Peanut is 40cm tall , about 45cm long and quite wide. I am setting up a facebook page to link you to photos and videos. I am inept at the computer and can not work out how to post pictures here (I also accidently erased a message here yesterday so this is my second attempt) Her papers say nothing about her being a mini - we didn't even look at them for weeks after we got her. Please excuse our naivety regarding obvious purebeed issues . We had a bully X cattle ( I call a Battle ! ) for 15 years before we got Peanut. She was in a pretty bad way when we got her, with a major ear infection, sunburnt nose , dermititis etc etc. We think it is us who are lucky to have found her . "tremendous fun " alright ! We call her 'the bounce back bully ' as she has blossoms each day and reveals more of her spunky yet sweet personality. Thanks for your concern and wisdom.. I hope you get to see her soon . She is AdoraBULL!! We love 'love' love' her! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
periannath Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 No problems at all we all have lives . 40cm is tiny these days for a bully and only a couple of cm's oversize for a mini.Since there is no height and weight limits for bull terriers only minis it is certainly possible she is a bully but 'queen anne fronts' are much more common in minis .We have a DNA test now for PLL.If you want to test her I can send you a swab pack from the AHT. I will PM you so you have my contact details. Please don't apologise for lack of knowledge about purebreds.You have rescued a girl who obviously was in dire need and I'm sorry that you are experiencing problems with her health. My first bully was a bully X cattle and she too was a ripper.I still miss her... once you get the bully bug you rarely get over it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huck house Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 Hi! No life , just hopeless! I still cant post pictures here ( kB too large? whatever that means) I started a facebook page! - HuckHouse and I will get a friend to help post pictures here. I looked up AHT which was another eye opener . One of the sites I looked at re- PLL was a : UK A layman's guide mini bull terrier . Lots of info and tips but it said PLL is hard to diagnose so a DNA test would be a good idea. I think Peanut has a slight greenish hue colour to her beautiful dark eyes, but again , it's easy to be parinoid... What does bother me is the genetic component to the diseases and that Peanut has been bred with. On our way out to meet her , in mid december an hour into our journey, the owner rang to say she thought Peanut might be pregnant . Luckily it was phantom as the owner said she'd need a caesarean , plus we know NOTHING about breeding, welping or how to find the right homes for Bullys . Im thinking of ringing her origional breeder on the papers to ask a few questions... Ultimately Im just glad Peanut isnt being used as a cash cow anymore and hope her puppies were problem free. We still miss our first girl too , it was a full year before we were ready to get another dog.... no regrets though, she gave us the bully bug! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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