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Luxating Patela

Mavis

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Came home for lunch today and Bambi was fine. Next thing I know, she is hopping on three legs! :ohmy: I called the vet and have an appointment for tomorrow if I need it. I think it's her patella. When I took her for her well visit in January, the vet said she had luxating patellas in each back leg - one leg was a two and the other a three. Vet tech today on the phone said that it may work itself back in, which it has thank goodness. She seems okay now. Although she has always seemed to walk fine, she sits a lot and is always stretching out both legs from a standing position. I have been taking her for short walks about three times a week and her back end seems to be a little stronger (doesn't sit as much as when we first got her), but I am thinking she may need surgery at some point. I think she pretty much lived in her crate at the breeders. Anyone ever had that surgery for your frenchies? Did it work? How was the recovery?
 
I have seen a good many dogs that have had that surgery and they do well. :)
 
I have heard the really important thing is the recuperating time after surgery.
 
I had this done on one of my Bulldogs.... it did work and he did very well, it was along with a torn ACL, but the recovery is key -- no, running, jumping, exercise for like 6 weeks. We emptied a bedroom and made it a big doggie bed then took turns sleeping with him
 
My bull terrier had this surgery and he did great. It never bothered him again and he lived for almost 13 years. The difficult part is the recovery because of the limited activity following the surgery. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
 
I'm looking at this right now with my 17 month old frenchie. He has a grade two in his left and grade 4 in his right. I was advised to get his left repaired first because that was the side giving him the most problems. He was lame for a solid month! It's going to cost me $2600 per knee and the "breeder" said she's never had this issue with any of her dogs. I have him on a joint supliment daily and anti inflammatory when it's acting up. I have a follow up on the 21st since he has done better the last couple of weeks. I really only want to do surgery as a last resort.
 
I'm looking at this right now with my 17 month old frenchie. He has a grade two in his left and grade 4 in his right. I was advised to get his left repaired first because that was the side giving him the most problems. He was lame for a solid month! It's going to cost me $2600 per knee and the "breeder" said she's never had this issue with any of her dogs. I have him on a joint supliment daily and anti inflammatory when it's acting up. I have a follow up on the 21st since he has done better the last couple of weeks. I really only want to do surgery as a last resort.

Thanks, everyone. Purpledoggy, good luck.
 
My one pug had this surgery and she did great.

Interestingly enough, in Calgary we have a canine physiotherapist, and according to her, "vets are 20 years behind when it comes to recovery after surgeries". She DID encourage our pug to walk afterwards, and right away. The trick was to walk very slow so that Gladys was forced to use the leg that had surgery done on it. (If you go too quick, she would lift her leg and hop, of course) Another trick was to walk her up hills (slowly), which again, would force her to use her leg.

She put it to us this way, "When humans get this type of surgery done, we go to physio immediately. Why not dogs?" Just fyi, she was a human physiotherapist and then transitioned into animals, and is quite renowned in Canada for her work. So, just saying... I trusted what she had to say! ;) Our pug recuperated just fine and did really well.
 
My one pug had this surgery and she did great.

Interestingly enough, in Calgary we have a canine physiotherapist, and according to her, "vets are 20 years behind when it comes to recovery after surgeries". She DID encourage our pug to walk afterwards, and right away. The trick was to walk very slow so that Gladys was forced to use the leg that had surgery done on it. (If you go too quick, she would lift her leg and hop, of course) Another trick was to walk her up hills (slowly), which again, would force her to use her leg.

She put it to us this way, "When humans get this type of surgery done, we go to physio immediately. Why not dogs?" Just fyi, she was a human physiotherapist and then transitioned into animals, and is quite renowned in Canada for her work. So, just saying... I trusted what she had to say! ;) Our pug recuperated just fine and did really well.

I'd imagine a small amount of physical activity a day would help! Like walking slowly to go potty, going potty, and slowly back etc instead of carrying since they're small and it's a possibility.
 
I'd imagine a small amount of physical activity a day would help! Like walking slowly to go potty, going potty, and slowly back etc instead of carrying since they're small and it's a possibility.

That's exactly what we did. My bully was too big to carry (70 lbs) but we would walk him on a leash in the backyard to do his business.
 
We rescued an English bully that needed that surgery, we had it done and he is doing fine now. Our vet told us to ice it several times a day and take him for short walks, and also move the joint for several minutes in between the walks.
 
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You betcha! We didn't take her for long walks by any means, but we just had no clue WHAT to do with her once she had her surgery done. What was enough? What was too much? That's why we sought the advice of a physiotherapist. I wish I could remember what she said re: how many times a day and for how long, but geez, it was many years ago, and I just can't recall. :(
 
I'm considering adopting another Frenchie. She is almost five-months-old and has been diagnosed with Grade 2 or 3.
I'm pleased to see that the surgery seems to usually be a success.
Does anyone know of a dog that got the surgery and it did NOT work?
If you have the surgery done, does it still cause lameness e
Later in life?
 
I'm considering adopting a five month old with this condition. It seems like the success rate is pretty high. Does your vet agree?
 
The condition is pretty common as well as the operation. It's nothing difficult and many doctors do it. The equipment used and the procedure is rather simple(fixing the patella in her grove so that it doesn't slip out anymore) and the success rate is close to 100% as long as there is no additional damage to the knee joint from over use or maybe a birth defect.
To have an idea of what a luxated patella is, imagine a small bonnie cap(knee cap or patella) that is connected by two tendons, one at each end, and slides in a grove-marked in red in the picture(imagine it like the groove between your knuckles) every time the leg extends and flexes at the knee. Our bullies being the little pieces of joy they are (and due to lots of selective breeding) have very shallow trochlear grooves and the little patella slips out of it when lateral forces appear during locomotion (e.g.:sharp turns, sudden burst of running, etc.). So the operation is done in order to put the patella back in its place and make it stay there using different means depending on the situation (stitching it to adjacent tissue in the opposite direction of the slippage, deepening the trochlear groove, repositioning the bone were the patella attaches to the tibia, etc.)

So i wouldn't worry :)

Patella.webp
 
I was told by my surgeon that surgery is usually always successful but any dog with this problem will develope arthritis in his knees and should be on a joint supliment for life.
 
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