Toy Pomeranian With Luxating Patellas

[Picco 13]

Hi Everyone, I am new on this site and I have been reading old posts regarding luxating patellas. My six year old toy Pomeranian, who was originally rescued by my daughter from a very bad start in life, has just been diagnosed as having both legs with luxating patellas. The right leg is a Grade 4 and I can't remember what the other one was. I had taken Fizz to have a dental check when I mentioned the skipping and hopping to the vet. She said she was not a specialist in orthopaedic conditions and to go back to see one of the other vets. Fizz does not seem to be in any pain or discomfort and loves going for walks, in fact she pulls like mad when we go out, she is so enthusiastic. I have been reading about the problems post surgery and I am quite freaked out by it all. I am also worried about finding a specialist for the job. I keep thinking, can it be managed medically and that is why I came on the site, to hear if anyone else had had any experience in going down the holistic route. Sometimes, I feel vets can push you in to ops and prescribe some pretty toxic medications. Some vets can do quite a bit of scaremongering. However, in this case I accept that this condition is real and does need treatment. She is very healthy, happy dog, although she is stone deaf from birth. She is the much loved best friend to my disabled husband who just dotes on her. This is another reason I am worried about the after care should she have the op on the right leg. My life is pretty hectic looking after my husband. Sorry for the long post. I hope someone will be able to give me some advice. I live on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. At the moment Fizz is on a raw diet, I take her for regular short walks instead of one long walk, give her plenty of sardines and she has glucosamine and chondroitin supplements. Thank you for reading.

[Rascalmyshadow]

Hi I am just going through the same thing, I also live on the Mornington Peninsula, our youngest dog Chloe is a 2.3kg pom x Aussie terrier, she has just had one patella done and wil need the other one done at some stage.

We were hoping she wouldn't need surgery but unfortunately she wasn't walking properly and we decided to do the surgery before she ended up with muscle wastage or more damage to the knee.

I know it's a bit of travel but we went to Dr Harry Corbett at Thrifty Vet in Bayswater, he has developed his own technique and so far has a huge success rate, he is a really nice vet and does numerous follow ups (unlike any other vet I know of) during recovery to make sure everything is healing correctly. I would give him a call and have a consult to see what he advises.

[Daisys Mum]

My CKCS has had both of hers done ... One was a grade 4 almost a 5 and the other one was a 3.the reason why I had them done is because she was young, 3 when the first was done and 4 with the other one.

Apart from catching an infection post surgery she came out of it fine... She had to be kept quiet for the first 6 weeks and very light exercise for the first 3 months. Sometimes she gets a bit of pain but I just give her Carprofen and she is as good as gold.

[Xyz]

Surgery is better done sooner than later, the poor wee thing will already have arthritis from them popping in and out. Use a specialist surgeon for best surgery and outcomes.

[Loving my Oldies]

Please get a second and, if necessary, third opinion.

I don’t want to scare or worry you any more than you already are, but there is pretty well nothing more over diagnosed in the veterinary world than luxating patellas.

Yes, I will now be jumped on from a great height and people will tell all the stories of how their dog was saved from a life of pain and arthritis, but there are also lots of stories of dogs who were never the same again.

Not so long ago, I rescued a pom from a pound where they would only release her if she had a luxating patella operation immediately. The vet for the pound said she had the worst case of LP she’d ever seen. This vet should be struck off because not only did this dog NOT have LP, her knees were fused - probably from birth. I had this little dog see three vets just to be absolutely sure.

[Rascalmyshadow]

A good vet will only advise to do patella surgery if its 100% necessary due to the problems that can arise after recovery, however if you have a dog that really needs it the sooner it's done the less invasive the surgery and the more likely a good outcome.

[Monchichi]

please get 2 or 3 opinions from different vets.

I had sought 4 different vets and all telling me different grade of luxating patella on mine. I even took mine to the pretty well known specialist.

at the end I decided not to do surgery for now, as my dog hasn't shown any limping or discomfort etc. you probably had read my story earlier last year when I seek opinions here in the forum :)

if Fizz really diagnosed with grade 4, then surgery is a must. any luxating patella either grade 3 and 4 need surgery as soon as possible.

all the very best...hope Fizz is better soon. oh yes, 6 weeks in crate after surgery and always on leash going to toilet etc.