# Luxating Patella (long sorry)



## TashaZ (Mar 20, 2009)

I've read previous threads on LPs but i just thought i'd get some fresh opinions and also vent about my experience.

Today i took my chis to the vet as i wanted a check on Pebbles' girly bits as she's not cleaning herself properly and had a slight infection, anyway that aside, the vet took a quick look over Pebbles and said she's doing fine then i quickly asked him to have a check of Shadow's back legs as she has been funny on walks lately. The result was that she has a grade one LP on her left leg and a grade 3 LP on her right (grade is out of 4). He said that the grade 1 won't get any worse unless she puts on a lot of weight but the grade 3 is pretty bad and suggests surgery.

Now, if any of you know me i freak out at the slightest thing when it comes to my babies and as Shadow is only 9.5 months old and only just recently underwent surgery for her spay, i freaked out even more of the thought of her undergoing surgery again!!!

I guess my question is have any of you put such a young Chi through surgery like this? Would you wait until she's older? Have any of you who have chis with LPs experienced it getting any worse if waiting? And any advice on before/after care?

I'm such a worrier and Shadow is such a shy, timid little girl that i don't know what to do. My partner is no help, i know he has a soft spot (like buying little gifts for the dogs on his boys trip away) but at times like this he's no help at all. I have axiety at the best of times so at times like this it really pulls at my heart-strings and i feel for my animals like they were my own kids 
I know you all understand so i thank you for your support in advance, any advice is helpful and money is never an issue when it comes to my babies.


----------



## *Chloe* (Feb 6, 2006)

i waited till Twig was just over 2yrs to get the surgery done shes was a grade 2 at about 7 months and it did deteriorate to a worse grade as she got older despite not letting her run excessively and jump on of furniture/or go up/down the stairs - i had it checked every few months and waited until it affected her quality of life and the vet said she was probably in pain with it  i have to say unless absolutely vital i wouldnt of had it done at 9 months they are under anaesthetic for a long time 1.5-2hrs whereas with a spay its normally under 30 mins - what did help a lot was a glucosamine and chrondrotin (sp?) suppliment i give her flexadin but cosequin is more widely available internationally i believe


----------



## FireFox (Jun 4, 2009)

Well my Peppi is kind of the same, she has her right leg on grade 2/3 (in between) and left is grade 1 . And now she is nearly 2 years old,but just had her spay,and then x-rays were done. So our Vet is sending us to the Orthopedic Specialist as i would not trust an ordinary Vet on this. She had grade 1 on both legs when she was 10 months old, then when she was 14 months her right leg got on grade 2 , but the vet said to me that she is totally fine with it and probably won't need a surgery at all. We went to two different Vets then ,but now the x-rays shocked me! Suggestions - joint supplements,fish oil (cod liver oil),swimming is great (hydrotherapy) helps to build up strong muscles, injection course (cartrophen i think), little pet stairs so she won't jump of an on sofa/bed, treats with glucosamine. 
My Peppi is not limping so far and not showing any signs of pain, so i think i will wait a little with the surgery if needed.
Yes the surgery itself is very complicated and then comes the long recovery time. It's hard,but i am ready for it if needed. 
I recently heard that if a dog has more than one surgery under anesthesia it does affect his future life. Does anyone know how? I know it's a risk while they are under,but for young healthy animals it's only around 1% for planned OP. So how does it affect their life's after? This would be then third surgery for my Peppi. Well the others were minor ones compering to PL op- baby teeth removing and spay. 
You can have a look on some videos on www.youtube.com there are many videos of dogs after PL surgery. And there is a picture of Russian Toy terrier after PL op on both legs : 

Shocking, but he was running and jumping just around 4 months after  They recover very very fast


----------



## pam6400 (Oct 5, 2008)

Frankie had LP in both legs. He had stage 4 in his right leg and stage 3 in his left. First symptoms were limping and holding his right leg off the ground when standing. His xrays were amazing, how a little dog gets around with these issues is beyond us. 
Anyway when he was 9 months old he had surgery on right leg (stage 4) and yes, it was quite a big deal. It is amazing what technology they have now, he was so tiny. The vet filmed the operation and showed us pictures.
Recovery was much quicker than I thought it would be. At first we had to carry him to pee and potty, just hold him till he finished. After about a week he was walking. He has never been able to jump up onto anything, will not do stairs either. 
We decided not to do the left leg unless we noticed that it was bothering him. He is very bow legged but shows no discomfort at all with other leg. Not sure if any of this info helps you at all.


----------



## TashaZ (Mar 20, 2009)

Thank you all, this information is all very helpful!!



*Chloe* said:


> i waited till Twig was just over 2yrs to get the surgery done shes was a grade 2 at about 7 months and it did deteriorate to a worse grade as she got older despite not letting her run excessively and jump on of furniture/or go up/down the stairs - i had it checked every few months and waited until it affected her quality of life and the vet said she was probably in pain with it  i have to say unless absolutely vital i wouldnt of had it done at 9 months they are under anaesthetic for a long time 1.5-2hrs whereas with a spay its normally under 30 mins - what did help a lot was a glucosamine and chrondrotin (sp?) suppliment i give her flexadin but cosequin is more widely available internationally i believe


Thanks Chloe, i think that limiting her movement in terms of jumping is a good idea and will definitely get some stairs, great tip! I also think 9 months is very young and i think i will try and wait until at least next year depending on how much worse it gets, if at all.



FireFox said:


> Well my Peppi is kind of the same, she has her right leg on grade 2/3 (in between) and left is grade 1 . And now she is nearly 2 years old,but just had her spay,and then x-rays were done. So our Vet is sending us to the Orthopedic Specialist as i would not trust an ordinary Vet on this. She had grade 1 on both legs when she was 10 months old, then when she was 14 months her right leg got on grade 2 , but the vet said to me that she is totally fine with it and probably won't need a surgery at all. We went to two different Vets then ,but now the x-rays shocked me! Suggestions - joint supplements,fish oil (cod liver oil),swimming is great (hydrotherapy) helps to build up strong muscles, injection course (cartrophen i think), little pet stairs so she won't jump of an on sofa/bed, treats with glucosamine.
> My Peppi is not limping so far and not showing any signs of pain, so i think i will wait a little with the surgery if needed.
> Yes the surgery itself is very complicated and then comes the long recovery time. It's hard,but i am ready for it if needed.
> I recently heard that if a dog has more than one surgery under anesthesia it does affect his future life. Does anyone know how? I know it's a risk while they are under,but for young healthy animals it's only around 1% for planned OP. So how does it affect their life's after? This would be then third surgery for my Peppi. Well the others were minor ones compering to PL op- baby teeth removing and spay.
> ...


Please let me know how your going with Peppi and when you decide to go ahead with surgery. I think you tips on suppliments and gentle exercise will help a lot, i never thought of any of those things so thank you. I would like to get x-rays and second opinion before i go ahead with anything but my vet did tell me after care would be tough at least for the first 2 weeks and then full recovery after 6 weeks. Like you i'm worried about anasthetic, Shadow got spayed and teeth pulled at the same time so this would be her second so i think i'd rather wait until i knew for sure she REALLY needs it.



pam6400 said:


> Frankie had LP in both legs. He had stage 4 in his right leg and stage 3 in his left. First symptoms were limping and holding his right leg off the ground when standing. His xrays were amazing, how a little dog gets around with these issues is beyond us.
> Anyway when he was 9 months old he had surgery on right leg (stage 4) and yes, it was quite a big deal. It is amazing what technology they have now, he was so tiny. The vet filmed the operation and showed us pictures.
> Recovery was much quicker than I thought it would be. At first we had to carry him to pee and potty, just hold him till he finished. After about a week he was walking. He has never been able to jump up onto anything, will not do stairs either.
> We decided not to do the left leg unless we noticed that it was bothering him. He is very bow legged but shows no discomfort at all with other leg. Not sure if any of this info helps you at all.


Wow poor little Frankie!! Thanks so much for sharing your story with me, helps me to understand how others got through it. 9 months is so young but as the vet said to me, young bones heal much quicker and easier then old bones do but unless 100% necessary, i'd like to wait at least until she's 1 year old. She will jump on and off our couch but never on or off anything else, she'll sit there and wait to be picked up, i always wondered why and now that i know i will be more careful and make sure i help her.

All you info has been great and helpful to me being such a worrisome person. Thanks so much and i'm sure i'll be posting again with more questions but for now i'm off to search for joint suppliments!


----------



## Guest (Jun 14, 2009)

I had a Chi who had luxating patella surgery on both hind legs, eight weeks apart. He was about a year old. He came through the surgery in flying colors and recovered quickly and completely. My Kozanna, my puppy mill girl, has luxating patellas, but the vet didn't grade them yet. She doesn't limp or show any signs that she has LP except that her toes turn inward a bit. She doesn't jump onto or off of anything. I don't let her go up or down the porch steps when we go out for a walk. She is very timid and I will avoid the surgery if at all possible. I will have the surgeon take a look at her the next time I have occasion to take her to the vet. I give her glucosamine and fish oil every day and she walks and runs fine.


----------



## TashaZ (Mar 20, 2009)

ladyj said:


> I had a Chi who had luxating patella surgery on both hind legs, eight weeks apart. He was about a year old. He came through the surgery in flying colors and recovered quickly and completely. My Kozanna, my puppy mill girl, has luxating patellas, but the vet didn't grade them yet. She doesn't limp or show any signs that she has LP except that her toes turn inward a bit. She doesn't jump onto or off of anything. I don't let her go up or down the porch steps when we go out for a walk. She is very timid and I will avoid the surgery if at all possible. I will have the surgeon take a look at her the next time I have occasion to take her to the vet. I give her glucosamine and fish oil every day and she walks and runs fine.


Wow both legs! That's amazing! and great to hear that recovery was quick and successful.

I too am being more careful with Shadow now, limiting her jumping on and off the couch etc but she doesn't think anything's wrong, she still runs around and jumps and wrestles with Pebbles so that makes me more at ease knowing she's not in any obvious pain. She's very timid like your Kozanna which makes me hesitant about surgery too but i think i will look into it early next year (1.5 years old). Over the weekend i bought a joint aid powder suppliment which i've started putting in her food (as suggested by Chloe with glucosamine, fish oil and all the rest), so i'm hoping that will help improve or at least stablize her condition until surgery.
Again, thanks for sharing your experiences with me it's so helpful to hear you're not alone and how others deal with things 


Is it important to keep the area warm to prevent artritis or anything like that? it's winter here now and she does shake a bit so i've been trying to keep her environment as warm as possible.


----------



## Guest (Jun 15, 2009)

The cost of the surgery is a consideration, of course. I paid $250 for each leg about 10 years ago when my Chi had the surgery. The surgery is $1,000 for each leg now and I think it's cheaper here where I live than in most places.


----------



## TashaZ (Mar 20, 2009)

Wow how times change and prices go up!
I asked my vet about the cost and he said that it was $1000 (i don't know comparitive areas and prices here in Australia) but i don't think that includes overnight stay, meds etc. For me, cost is no issue when it comes to a little life. I just love them so much and want the best


----------

