# Took Chassie to the vet...



## FurKidMommy (Nov 13, 2010)

The vet couldn't get Turbo and Chassie, both, in today, but I got Chassie in. Since she's weak in her rear and we just picked them up on Saturday, I wanted her seen ASAP. She is doing well, weighed in at 7.58lbs (she's a little overweight and still drying up from the puppy she had given birth to), but does have severe luxating patellas in both of her back legs. She's going to need surgery to repair, though. Her back legs bow really bad when she walks and the left, literally, twists sideways. Anyway, I thought those that are keeping up with them would like to know. We're looking at surgery and then 6wks to recover for each leg. The left is the worst, so it will be the one done first. Here is Miss Chassie...


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## flippedstars (Dec 16, 2009)

They should do both at once, if your vet won't, I would find a specialist that will. It makes recovery much easier on them. The care you'll have to provide for her will be much more intensive for the first few weeks, but she will be on cage rest anyway and its well worth it.

Pisses me off people bred her, that puppy will have problems too 

I'm just glad she has you to take care of her now


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## FurKidMommy (Nov 13, 2010)

flippedstars said:


> They should do both at once, if your vet won't, I would find a specialist that will. It makes recovery much easier on them. The care you'll have to provide for her will be much more intensive for the first few weeks, but she will be on cage rest anyway and its well worth it.
> 
> Pisses me off people bred her, that puppy will have problems too
> 
> I'm just glad she has you to take care of her now


Well, he mentioned doing them separate, because the left leg is the worst and they won't bill the account. They want the full amount at the time of surgery, which isn't as high as many vets, but it's still a decent amount. I trust this vet completely. I've been seeing him for over 20yrs and he's always been great. He's one that will not advise anything unless it has to be done. He's not just out for the money (telling you all of these unnecessary things that need to be done), which is not the easiest to find anymore. 

Anyway, the deal with the pup...Chassie is one that was listed in the rescue section. The man that had Turbo and Chassie lost his wife and they were her dogs. He came home from work one morning to find a puppy with Chassie. He says that he didn't even know she was pregnant. Anyway, we were supposed to take all 3, but they sold the pup at 7wks old.  

Thank you.


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## flippedstars (Dec 16, 2009)

I remember their story  

I still think they should do both at first, and even if your vet is fabulous, LP surgery really is a specialist surgery. Many regular vets only move some ligaments a small bit and do a tuck of them and say its as good as better, but if its as bad as yours sounds, make sure he also is deepening the knee groove, and that he has/does pin the tibial crest if it needs to be done. In extreme cases of LP, it almost always needs to be done, but regular vets only do the first tuck bit, and thus don't solve the problem :-/


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## FurKidMommy (Nov 13, 2010)

flippedstars said:


> I remember their story
> 
> I still think they should do both at first, and even if your vet is fabulous, LP surgery really is a specialist surgery. Many regular vets only move some ligaments a small bit and do a tuck of them and say its as good as better, but if its as bad as yours sounds, make sure he also is deepening the knee groove, and that he has/does pin the tibial crest if it needs to be done. In extreme cases of LP, it almost always needs to be done, but regular vets only do the first tuck bit, and thus don't solve the problem :-/


Ok, thank you! He really is good. He's the main vet at that clinic and he's on the board of directors. Even the site states, 


> we offer doctor’s appointments, in-house laboratory, radiology, surgery, dentistry, preventive care, and boarding. Special surgical interests include laser, orthopedic, and other intensive procedures.


 If necessary, the University of TN is about 2hrs from us and they are one of the top vet schools in the country. Their vet office handles any specialty surgeries, CERF testing, etc.


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## flippedstars (Dec 16, 2009)

Sounds good, also, it is a lot better for them to only have to do the anesthesia once versus twice, and it should cost less to do it at once rather than separate...it was $1401.01 to have one of Oakley's legs done that she injured (he knees were fine/checked/etc, and she smashed it on tile), and they had said if it were both it would have only been about $600 more for the 2nd leg versus the $1400 2x.


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## FurKidMommy (Nov 13, 2010)

Yeah, the anesthesia is one of my big concerns. I actually have some fellow rescuer friends that are helping to fundraise for her now, so we can schedule to do them both at the same time. It's not a life and death situation, so I'm going to keep her activity limited, and try to get it all together. I want it done next month at the very very latest. You know how this economy is, plus being right after the holidays. That pricing doesn't sound bad. We're looking at $1100 for the surgery on both. Of course, that doesn't count any pain meds or anything extra that may come up.

Let me ask you something, if you don't mind. I completely forgot to ask my vet since we were focused on her knees. What about spay? How long should I wait to have that done, because I don't think they're going to want to do that at the same time as knees, would they???


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## flippedstars (Dec 16, 2009)

No don't do it the same time as knees, my first though was oh she should get spayed too...but I think that would just be too stressful for her, others here might have a dif opinion though?

You could have her spayed 1st, then do the surgery a month or so later, on her legs, or the other way around. 

I hate to think of the poor sweetie being put under 3 times, let alone 2 poor baby girl.


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## FurKidMommy (Nov 13, 2010)

flippedstars said:


> No don't do it the same time as knees, my first though was oh she should get spayed too...but I think that would just be too stressful for her, others here might have a dif opinion though?
> 
> You could have her spayed 1st, then do the surgery a month or so later, on her legs, or the other way around.
> 
> I hate to think of the poor sweetie being put under 3 times, let alone 2 poor baby girl.


Oh I know. That's why I'm worried about her. If everyone agrees, including the vet, then I'll get her spayed. Once she has plenty of time to heal from that, then I can get her knees done.


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## flippedstars (Dec 16, 2009)

I would just really campaign for her to have both knees done at once as thats one less time she has to go under.

If she needs dental work/dental cleaning, I'd pair that with her spay...I know she is a rescue though and you are just trying to get her to an adoptable point and man its already looking pricey  Poor sweet baby.


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## FurKidMommy (Nov 13, 2010)

It really is. She's young and super sweet. She deserves a long good life, though.


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## LadyJ (Aug 20, 2010)

Bless her little heart, she has a lot facing her, but these little ones are tougher than they look. I've been through luxating patella surgery with a Chi and he got along great. His weren't too bad and the surgeon did them one at a time. He said having surgery on one leg wouldn't put a bad strain on the other leg while it healed. Later on, I had another Chi that needed luxating patella surgery and the same surgeon said he would do both of hers at once since they were bad and he didn't want to put any more strain on one leg. Sadly, I lost that little one before we got to the surgery. Your little one is young and will get excellent care, so she has a very good shot at getting through everything and coming out on the other side with good results. BTW, my surgeon made a deeper groove in the kneecap (don't know the right term) to make it fit better rather than just tightening up the ligaments. He also tightened everything up and in a few weeks you couldn't tell the dog ever had surgery. The vet school at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville is state-of-the-art and one of the best, if not THE best facility in the country, so if you wanted to take advantage of that, I would highly recommend it.


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