Anyone's dog had luxating patellas?

[havaneselover]

My almost nine year old Havenese has 2 grade 3 luxating patellas (basically her knees aren't where they belong and you can put them where they belong but they slip right back out). Surgery is indicated but our vet (who is phenomenal and I trust completely) is recommending trying weight loss (she's gained a lot of weight over the past five months which is my fault because I've been trying to keep weight on my 13 year old Bichon and they steal each other's food) and anti inflammatories. The surgeries will be expensive (she said about $1,000 each if she does them and $2,500+ per knee if an orthopedic vet does it). The recovery also seems to be extensive (basically I will have to be a physical therapist to a dog for a few weeks!). Anyway, I love this dog tremendously and will do what needs to be done to get her in better shape. I was just wondering if anyone else has been through this or has any advice.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

My cat has patellar luxations in both of her back legs. It is less common in cats, but I got a weird one. I had the surgery done on one of her legs when she was 4. I old had it done on the leg that caused her pain. The knee would pop out and not pop back in on its own. The recovery was 2 weeks and wasn't too bad. She is 15 now and has arthritis in that knee, but we expected it. The knee has not popped out since the surgery. We never had her other knee fixed because it doesn't cause her pain and easily slides back in to place. The vet recommended that if it didn't bother her don't put her through the procedure again. He wouldn't do both knees at once because it would have made it impossible for her to get in her litter pan.

 

[havaneselover]

My cat has patellar luxations in both of her back legs. It is less common in cats, but I got a weird one. I had the surgery done on one of her legs when she was 4. I old had it done on the leg that caused her pain. The knee would pop out and not pop back in on its own. The recovery was 2 weeks and wasn't too bad. She is 15 now and has arthritis in that knee, but we expected it. The knee has not popped out since the surgery. We never had her other knee fixed because it doesn't cause her pain and easily slides back in to place. The vet recommended that if it didn't bother her don't put her through the procedure again. He wouldn't do both knees at once because it would have made it impossible for her to get in her litter pan.

Thanks for responding. I know one is definitely causing her pain and both can't be done at once so I may need to get one done and see how the other one does. I did order her a nice dog bed from Frontgate today since she can't get up on the couch anymore. Hopefully that will cheer her up because she definitely seems sad.

 

[RedHatDisney]

Best of luck to your furbaby and you.

 

[gracie1]

I had to have both of the back legs done on my chihuahua. Did the first leg at 1 year and then the other got so bad had that one the following year. She had no problems at all!! It was a very costly surgery though - I remember the shock still!!! Lol.
Good luck to you and your fur baby!!

 

[Tiggeroo]

My corgi had one knee done. They deepened the knee socket and put in supporting fishing line around it. It's been good for 3 years so far. 1500.

 

[PlutoPony]

One of our labrador retrievers has it in at least 1 back leg, not sure about the other. Believe it's a grade 2 from what the vet said. He's ~ 7 and a rescue so we don't know how long this has been going on. Seems to have a high tolerance for pain and it hasn't slipped out in the 18+ months we've had him, leading a normal life at this time. This is a big, tall lab but not overweight and we know we need to keep him that way. Am hoping we don't get to a point where we have to make a decision about surgery or not given the $$.

Are you at all close to a vet school that could do it? Around here, people take a lot of their dogs down to Virginia Tech for ACL's and in general their ortho dept is considered very good. I hear similar good things about Purdue. Am sure there are others, these are just the ones I know people have gone to. We used VT for a different surgery for another lab several years ago. Of course it was much more involved than we expected but we were very pleased with the care he received and thought it was a very good value. They assigned a graduating vet student to follow each animal there and they communicate with you several times a day with updates. We are several hours from the school and had to take him down and leave him for a couple days. You might be able to save some money with this approach, if you have a good school near you that has expertise in this.

Good luck!

 

[havaneselover]

One of our labrador retrievers has it in at least 1 back leg, not sure about the other. Believe it's a grade 2 from what the vet said. He's ~ 7 and a rescue so we don't know how long this has been going on. Seems to have a high tolerance for pain and it hasn't slipped out in the 18+ months we've had him, leading a normal life at this time. This is a big, tall lab but not overweight and we know we need to keep him that way. Am hoping we don't get to a point where we have to make a decision about surgery or not given the $$.

Are you at all close to a vet school that could do it? Around here, people take a lot of their dogs down to Virginia Tech for ACL's and in general their ortho dept is considered very good. I hear similar good things about Purdue. Am sure there are others, these are just the ones I know people have gone to. We used VT for a different surgery for another lab several years ago. Of course it was much more involved than we expected but we were very pleased with the care he received and thought it was a very good value. They assigned a graduating vet student to follow each animal there and they communicate with you several times a day with updates. We are several hours from the school and had to take him down and leave him for a couple days. You might be able to save some money with this approach, if you have a good school near you that has expertise in this.

Good luck!

Thanks! VT might be the closest for me and I'm about three hours from Blacksburg. My vet is pretty reasonable and knows I'm a single mom so she does everything she can to keep the costs down (I have another dog she's operated on three times in four years). We also have a low cost surgery option in Richmond but honestly they aren't much cheaper than my vet.

The physical therapy was what concerned me the most. I work full time and am running the kids to activities after work and it sounds involved.

 

[loves to dive]

Our yorkie has it in both front knees but the vet said it's not bad yet and might not get that way. We try to keep her from jumping off the couch and bed, she has steps for each but she loves to jump off the bed half the time. Thankfully she has no weight problems since she seems to have one day where she will eat everything not tied down and the next day eat next to nothing. She is 19 months old and acts like a puppy still, really active and playful and full of energy. I know if the time comes we won't hesitate to get the surgery since before we had her fixed her liver numbers were odd and the vet thought she might need surgery for that. They were so odd she had to send the tests to her old professor at the vet school and let him look at them because she couldn't figure out what it could be. The surgery was probably going to be $2000 and DH didn't even blink. Turned out to be nothing thank goodness, I don't hubby could have survived it. I had to take the day off work the day she got fixed because he couldn't handle her in pain and I'm a mommy.

 

[PlutoPony]

. My vet is pretty reasonable and knows I'm a single mom so she does everything she can to keep the costs down (I have another dog she's operated on three times in four years). We also have a low cost surgery option in Richmond but honestly they aren't much cheaper than my vet.

The physical therapy was what concerned me the most. I work full time and am running the kids to activities after work and it sounds involved.

That's great that your vet is reasonable. Huge help! I do hear good things about the Richmond surgery center. Off topic but do you know anything about low cost dental in Richmond? I'm going to need that for the same lab. The other rescue is just coming out of heart worm treatment but the rescue paid for that. Gotta love rescues.

Are you in the Richmond area? If so I'll ask around the lab "network"..... know of some RVA people and will see if they have any suggestions for lower cost PT for patellas.

 

[havaneselover]

That's great that your vet is reasonable. Huge help! I do hear good things about the Richmond surgery center. Off topic but do you know anything about low cost dental in Richmond? I'm going to need that for the same lab. The other rescue is just coming out of heart worm treatment but the rescue paid for that. Gotta love rescues.

Are you in the Richmond area? If so I'll ask around the lab "network"..... know of some RVA people and will see if they have any suggestions for lower cost PT for patellas.

Yes, I'm in Richmond. The vet has been a huge help. My budget is tight and having two dogs in not great health is not cheap.

Actually my Havanese also needs her teeth cleaned (just did it last year). I have my vet do it (I think I paid about $400 last year with no extractions needed) but I think Helping Hands (low cost surgery center) does it a little cheaper. The SPCA also has a clinic and does it very reasonably but last I checked they weren't taking new clients.

 

[havaneselover]

Our yorkie has it in both front knees but the vet said it's not bad yet and might not get that way. We try to keep her from jumping off the couch and bed, she has steps for each but she loves to jump off the bed half the time. Thankfully she has no weight problems since she seems to have one day where she will eat everything not tied down and the next day eat next to nothing. She is 19 months old and acts like a puppy still, really active and playful and full of energy. I know if the time comes we won't hesitate to get the surgery since before we had her fixed her liver numbers were odd and the vet thought she might need surgery for that. They were so odd she had to send the tests to her old professor at the vet school and let him look at them because she couldn't figure out what it could be. The surgery was probably going to be $2000 and DH didn't even blink. Turned out to be nothing thank goodness, I don't hubby could have survived it. I had to take the day off work the day she got fixed because he couldn't handle her in pain and I'm a mommy.

I think this is genetic but her weight exacerbated the problem and she also used to jump on and off of everything (beds, kitchen table, couch, etc.) She's huge for a Havanese and gained six ponds in five months when I tried to keep my Bichon over eight pounds. My other dog has had seven surgeries so this one is doing pretty well all things considered.

 

[gracie1]

Thanks! VT might be the closest for me and I'm about three hours from Blacksburg. My vet is pretty reasonable and knows I'm a single mom so she does everything she can to keep the costs down (I have another dog she's operated on three times in four years). We also have a low cost surgery option in Richmond but honestly they aren't much cheaper than my vet.

The physical therapy was what concerned me the most. I work full time and am running the kids to activities after work and it sounds involved.

The vet showed me how to do the physical therapy and it wasn't bad at all. The problem is my dog still jumps off of everything - beds and couches. Haven't had any problem and it's been 7 years since her surgeries.

 

[havaneselover]

The vet showed me how to do the physical therapy and it wasn't bad at all. The problem is my dog still jumps off of everything - beds and couches. Haven't had any problem and it's been 7 years since her surgeries.

That's a relief that the PT isn't too bad. I'm thinking I may try to schedule it around Thanksgiving so I am home with her for several days. And I'm sure I'll have the same problem with jumping but it's great to hear this should get her through the rest of her life.

 

[Tiggeroo]

the biggest problem I had with recovery is the fact that I live on an upper level condo. My dog had very limited activity for 12 weeks. They told me if he did anything wrong early he could undo everything. So he wasn't allowed to walk on steps for a while. And walks for the first 12 weeks were only to the bathroom and back. No play or running. This was tough to do. Initially I had to use a sling to keep weight off of his back legs. Rehab involved gradually increasing activity. We also spent a lot of time on the beach in the water.

 

[PlutoPony]

OP - do you have a crate for your dog? If not, you might try to find one to borrow or buy for the recuperation period. It's a great way to keep them from over doing when you're not right with them. I've got a rescue going through the "quiet" period from heart worm treatment and the crate has been a big help in keeping my dog confined and not hopping around when I'm not beside him.

 

[havaneselover]

OP - do you have a crate for your dog? If not, you might try to find one to borrow or buy for the recuperation period. It's a great way to keep them from over doing when you're not right with them. I've got a rescue going through the "quiet" period from heart worm treatment and the crate has been a big help in keeping my dog confined and not hopping around when I'm not beside him.

I have one in the garage that I think is still in decent shape. I can keep her in my kitchen/family room but if that's too much freedom a crate is an option.

 

[SC Minnie]

My cat has patellar luxations in both of her back legs. It is less common in cats, but I got a weird one. I had the surgery done on one of her legs when she was 4. I old had it done on the leg that caused her pain. The knee would pop out and not pop back in on its own. The recovery was 2 weeks and wasn't too bad. She is 15 now and has arthritis in that knee, but we expected it. The knee has not popped out since the surgery. We never had her other knee fixed because it doesn't cause her pain and easily slides back in to place. The vet recommended that if it didn't bother her don't put her through the procedure again. He wouldn't do both knees at once because it would have made it impossible for her to get in her litter pan.

Same thing with out cat-- the gray one in my sig. She was about 4 or 5. We had both knees done. She's 11 now and hasn't had any other issues with them. The recovery time wasn't very long. We kept her in a pack n play for a couple of days until she hopped out, then kept her confined to one room. After that she was back to normal. Surgery was $2500 on a cat that was a freebie. She's lucky we love her.

 

[havaneselover]

the biggest problem I had with recovery is the fact that I live on an upper level condo. My dog had very limited activity for 12 weeks. They told me if he did anything wrong early he could undo everything. So he wasn't allowed to walk on steps for a while. And walks for the first 12 weeks were only to the bathroom and back. No play or running. This was tough to do. Initially I had to use a sling to keep weight off of his back legs. Rehab involved gradually increasing activity. We also spent a lot of time on the beach in the water.

12 weeks? Ugh. And she will have to go through this twice

I live in a two story house but can carry her up and down stairs. Our deck to the yard has stairs so I can carry her up and down them (our other dog is completely blind so she already gets carried to the yard).

I'm wondering if I can bring her into work with me (our office is somewhat dog friendly) and keep her with me during the day.

 

[havaneselover]

Minor update: the vetprofen has kicked in and she is walking much, much better. She is jumping on and off the couch again (probably not a good thing). She's also been on a strict diet for a week and her weight hasn't budged but I know I need to give that some more time.

I am concerned about the vetrofen (generic rimadyl) and how long it's safe for her to be on that.