Has your dog had a Medial Luxatting Patella?
I am not sure what this all involves. I've googled and the vet's office gave me some info about surgery. But the vet did not give her a grade. How serious is this? What will her life be like? What will I be faced with...daily care if it is bad? How much is a knee surgery? At this point we have not noticed her limping, or using it carefully. Seems to look normal. I made the breeder aware, but nothing back from them yet. |
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| Ty had a medial luxating patella with surgery in October (he is a maltese you will recall) It is apparently common in small breeds.
The intervention depends as much on the symptomology as the grade. He has LP in both knees, the right worse than the left. HOWEVER, it was the left leg he would not bear weight on so that was the leg we did surgery on first. Originally the Vet was sure the right would need to be done soon. SOME vets but not many will do both at the same time but it is my understanding that it is better NOT to do both at the same time. Whe Ty went back for his 12 week check up on the left I asked the Vet how long we could put off the right (it was pretty expensive surgery and I wanted to recover financially). The Vet examined Ty and said that we could wait until he showed symptoms in the right leg, and that there was a possibility that ne might NEVER need to have it done. Alot depends on the reason the patella luxates. In the majority of cases the patella groove is not deep enough, the ligaments on either side may be lax. This results in the patella slipping out of the groove and the ligaments are unable to pull it back. The main sypmtom is a skipping in the hind end or in Ty's case one day the knee cap slipped and he refused to bear weight on that leg from then on. Surgery involves deepening the grooves, tightening the ligaments and in some cases pinning the leg. We were lucky that Ty did not need pins. Putting off the surgery in a symptomatic dog will result in arthritis and permanent lameness. A dog with unsymptomatic LP may just developearthritis in the leg as he gets older. Ty is not quite 2, I expect we will watch him closely and have the second leg repaired at the first sign of lameness. The Vet did say that there is a chance that he may never need surgery He gave us suggestions for ligament strengthening exercises which include controlled walking on a leash and walking up and down stairs (slowly). If I can give you any more information please don't hesitate to PM me! Hugs to Zoe (ty says not to worry, if you need surgery they give you GOOD drugs and you get treated like ROYALTY for weeks!). Here is my little boobala right after surgery:  |
| I thought you were getting rid of Zoe? |
| I want to inform new owners as much as possible of what they may face. or I will take her back to breeders...they have not returned my e-mail yet. So I don't think they will be much help...but we'll see.
I've been watching her closely since the vet said this, and I don't see any problems. And what info they gave me, said she could be fine the rest of her life and develop arthiritis in old age. And the other option was surgery. I still have her, and still getting things figured out before I give her away...I don't want people to think I want "to get rid of" her. I do enjoy having her around, but with all her issues and quirks...she would be better in an adult only home, still with a dog companion. I still love the little thing, she spends almost all her time with me and the kids during the day...and nowmore in the evenings too ...she is making improvements daily...I am doing my best for everyone. Thanks Ginny for the info, that's too bad Ty has it in both knees, I hope he doesn't get worse. My vet said it was common too...in all small breeds. |
| It's a common problem in small dogs, but some will never need surgery to help correct the problem.
I'm not sure your breeder would take the dog back, or even help out with the cost of sx. |
| Someone was breeding Bichon mixes? That weren't an accident?
It sounds like Remy really needs to be a solo dog in your household. It sucks that you've had to get rid of so many dogs. |
ButtersStotch wrote: Someone was breeding Bichon mixes? That weren't an accident?
It sounds like Remy really needs to be a solo dog in your household. It sucks that you've had to get rid of so many dogs. It does, I hate it, and I am very ashamed about that. I grew up with animals on the farm, had them until they died. Hubby has NEVER had a pet until he married me. His family has this thing against animals in the house, and it shows when they come over how uncomfortable they are. It's very stressful for me to find a pet for all of us to love and accept. Jake is our first cat he is almost 10 yrs, we got him at 8 weeks from the spca, Amy is 8 yrs also from spca at 8 weeks, and Remy will always be here, she is 4 1/2 and has been an amazing dog to have lasted. It is more common to see Bichon Shitzu's they are litterally everywhere and I think these guys are the only ones that have the Bichon Cocker X. The people who bred Zoe have been breeding this combo for 13 years I think??? I did do my research and found many people who really like their dogs from them...one is in my vet's office. Another was a girl featuring dog food, started talking about her dog...and their name came up again. The receptionist at the school has one, and so does her neighbour. I met a guy at the doggydaycare, turns out same breeder....they all have good things to say...but none of them have the same parents as Zoe. Because my neighbour liked Zoe they got one...and their's is fine. Zoe is the only that has temperament and knee issues. At this point her temperament is still changing, and she is improving. We continue to try and find ways to socialize her, but she has alot of fear and I don't know where this is coming from. |
| By the way Bev, I didn't answer one of your questions, the surgery is pretty expensive. The price varies from area to area but it seemes to be in the same range. Ty's ONE knee cost $2300. We were given an "estimate" of $1800-$2300, we went to an Orthopedic specialist who had a physical therapist AND and accupuncturist on staff. He had 24 giyr care and Ty was in the hospital for three days. I have heard some regualr Vets do the surgery and send them home the same day which I am sure is less expensive. But Ty is now 100% and I don't regret spending the extra money. |
| The cost usually runs anywhere from $1000-$1500. Depending on how bad they are and how long the surgery takes.
Yes we send them home the same day, and it usually takes the dog about 3 to 4 days to start touching the foot to the ground again, but about 6 weeks to be totally healed. Usually if we see the dog back for limping, it's because the other leg needs sx. |
Hannah wrote: The cost usually runs anywhere from $1000-$1500. Depending on how bad they are and how long the surgery takes.
That must be geopraphically mediated. On my maltese forum there is alot of discussion about LP surgery because it is such a common problem. I've never heard anyone have it done for less than 1500. I also believe from my own and the experience of others that you are much better off going somewhere that has 24 hour Vet Care and keeps the pup for 2-3 days. During that tiem period Ty received Physical Therapy, Accupuncture and round the clock medication as needed. In larger dogs it is an easier surgery simply because of the size of anatomy. My recommendation for a small dog would be to find an orthopedic speialist. My own Vet who I trust completely told me he could do the surgery but that he would prefer to refer me to a specialist. We could have gone with a lower cost Vet but I don't regret for a moment paying the extra for the care we received. |
| I agree with your vet if he felt you should see a specialist. That tells me he a great vet but doesn't feel comfortable performing this procedure.
It all depends on the vet. A hospital with a specialist in a certain field, 24 hr care, a physical therapist, and accupuncturist is the reason your est is higher. You are paying a specialist to be a specialist. With the pain meds that are available today no animal should ever suffer. When we send a dog home the same night, it's with medication and instructions on what to do in an emergency. Our vet is on call if the owner feels there is a problem. Whether your vet feels comfortable with the procedure or if you use a specialist, the end results will be the same. |
Hannah wrote: Whether your vet feels comfortable with the procedure or if you use a specialist, the end results will be the same. Sorry I don't agree with you there. Your Vet may be very qualified to do this surgery but there are alot of Vets out there doing general surgery, that they may be trained in a specific procedure but it doesn't mean it is what is "best" for the animal. LP, although a common problem in small dogs is not a surgery that the average Vet does alot of. The smaller the dog the more difficult the procedure. We were advised by Cornell Vet College to go to an orthopedic surgeon. Even they told us that they could do the surgery but recommended that we go to a specialist (who happened to be an ex Dean of the Vet college). If you use a regular Vet I would ask specifically how many of these surgeries he (she) does in a year and what % of those are on a dog the size of Zoe. We discovered that the speciallist actually did more LP's on dog's Ty's size than even the Vet college. The price here was pretty consistent whether you went to a regualr Vet, an orthopedic Surgeon or Cornell. Again, I suspect that the cost varies greatly from one geographic area to another. |
| We were quoted about $2000...but they go with all the IV meds, fluids, after care, she would spend the night.
But I also found out she was given a grade of 2...not serious enough for surgery and will probably not need it. However, she is likely to have arthritis in time, and still may chose not to use it, and live with her own way. Her advice was to feed a diet with glucosimine, or a specific joint formula dog food. She also said if she does start to refuse to use it, the deterioration may have gotten worse, so surgery is still possible. I could have her x-rayed to confirm how bad it is, but she said it may tell us nothing. She is doing fine, and I've been watching her like a hawk for 3 mths, because she is forever jumping on and off the furniture, and we have a long set of stairs for her to go down to the grass to pee. As it stands she is staying with us, hubby is okay with it as long as the kids and I keep her busy and active during the day so our evening is family time...not pet time. And I have to train her...or I should say continue to train her. Such as the barking outside (his biggest pet peeve)...so we'll see, that's gonna be tough. Without debarking her. She is getting spayed soon too, but I had to find a more reasonable price...even the spay clinic uped their price to over $215. So I am using the same vet who did Ziva, at a more reasonable price of $170. My reg vet wants $260. Ziva came out of it perfectly and never had a problem. |
| You might want to ask about exercises to do to strengthen the ligaments and muscles. The way the Vet expalined it to me was that those muscles can help to keep the patella where it belongs and prevent luxation.
Walking on a leash so that the dog is forced to walk slowly (as opposed to flat out running) is one way to strengthen the muscles. We also "do stairs: slowly because that helps. You may want to consider glucosamine and other "arthritis prevention" supplements. It sounds very reasonable to wait. |
| She doesn't get long walks, just little short ones. Aside from doggydaycare, I don't let her off leash. We have a bi-level so we have 2 short sets of stairs, one carpeted and one laminate.
With her scarediness, she would hightail it the other way if a dog scared her. So at the off leash park she is not allowed off, until she is 100% reliable in coming to me when called. We are getting better, we practise in the field behind our house. |
| Help. We have a four year old Cairn Terrier whom we love dearly. He has been diagnosed with a luxating (?) patella. We saw a specialist who has determined that surgery is necessary. He has quoted $4000 for the surgery and post-op care PLUS four to six months of either being on a lease (even in the home) or in his crate. I am concerned that this is an exceptionally long period of time for him to recuperate. Also, can this problem be solved by wearing a brace? I don't think so, but thought I would ask... |
acornartist wrote: Help. We have a four year old Cairn Terrier whom we love dearly. He has been diagnosed with a luxating (?) patella. We saw a specialist who has determined that surgery is necessary. He has quoted $4000 for the surgery and post-op care PLUS four to six months of either being on a lease (even in the home) or in his crate. I am concerned that this is an exceptionally long period of time for him to recuperate. Also, can this problem be solved by wearing a brace? I don't think so, but thought I would ask...
$4000 seems pretty high for this type of surgery. Usually it's about $2500 per knee, but usually it's relative on where you live. Usually recovery time is about 6-8 weeks, not 4-6 months. How severe is the problem? There are different levels of luxating patella, from a Grade 1 being a knee that has to manipulated to come out of socket to a Grade 4 which is lameness. If it's a lower grade you may not need the surgery, ever. Cairns are such small dogs, a lot of them can really live a symptom-free life. You should start giving your dog glucosamine/chondroitan each day along with an Omega 3 fatty acid supplement if you are not doing so already. This will go a long way. Also, there is a terrier discussion list out on the web that I'm sure you can get some more advice. You can look into and/or join it by checking out this link. http://www.lsoft.com/scripts/wl.exe?SL1 ... .LSOFT.COM |
| My Papillon is not even 1.5 years yet, and in two days she'll be operated on for MFP in both legs!
The prices you guys have quoted for surgery are a bargain, my orthapedic vet costs $2900 for one leg, $3500 for both. Given that she is a Grade 3 in one leg and 3.5 in the other there was no way around it. Poor baby! Anyway, she's clearly in a lot of pain despite her Rx. Last night I went to Petco and loaded up on chewy jerky and the like to help her take the stress of pain out. Does anyone have any other advice for increasing her comfort and easing the pain?  |
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