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Luxating patella

349 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  mss, 
crazylady
Hi all. It’s been a while since I’ve been here and I hope all is well with everyone. I was just on here the other day when today I noticed a little problem with Sugarplum. As many of you regulars on this board know, she is a puppy mill survivor, and when I took her to the vet after adopting her, they said she was otherwise healthy except that she could stand to gain a small amount of weight, her teeth desperately needed a cleaning, and the Dr did also mention she had LP on her left hind leg, (I think it was either grade 2 or 3) but didn’t seem overly concerned about that. As a matter of fact, I had forgotten about it because I have had her for more than three years now, she had been doing so well and made such an amazing transformation from a puppy mill dog to a pet dog, and that knee hasn’t given her ANY problem until now, however, she also doesn’t appear to be in any pain. None at all. That leg is slightly bent and not touching the floor, and she is running (yes, running) with a hop, so I’m pretty confident it’s the LP. I did Google the condition before posting this, and it stated that it usually isn’t painful for dogs, and that it oftentimes realigns spontaneously. Anyone care to share or advise from past experiences?
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M
Does she ever use that leg? I had one dog who apparently made his patella pop back into place by stretching. Another, now 18, skips a little from time to time but is not bad at age 18. But if your girl is going on 3 legs all the time, that would indicate a problem. It might actually be a damaged cruciate ligament. Going about on 3 legs all the time could be stressful for the "good" leg.

I'd suggest a checkup with her vet to see what is recommended by him/her.

P.S. Bless you for adopting and giving such love and care to her! 💓
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crazylady
mss said:
Does she ever use that leg? I had one dog who apparently made his patella pop back into place by stretching. Another, now 18, skips a little from time to time but is not bad at age 18. But if your girl is going on 3 legs all the time, that would indicate a problem. It might actually be a damaged cruciate ligament. Going about on 3 legs all the time could be stressful for the "good" leg.

I'd suggest a checkup with her vet to see what is recommended by him/her.

P.S. Bless you for adopting and giving such love and care to her! 💓
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crazylady
She’s always used all four legs with no problem whatsoever. I have had her for three and a half years and it’s never given her any problem until now. As a matter of fact I had almost forgotten about the LP because I’ve had her for quite a while now and she has made such a drastic, unbelievable, positive transformation. I was also kind of concerned about putting too much stress on her good leg as well.
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maggieh
Sweetness had an LP most of her life and we treated her with supplements and acupuncture. Both my primary and holistic vet were against surgery because it's not always 100% successful and she didn't appear to be in any pain. She would often pop it back in herself by stretching her leg, and the vet showed me how to do a gentle stretch on her to help.
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pippersmom
Pipper has had luxating patellas since he was very young and he used to hold his hind leg up all the time, never putting weight on it. I started him on Cosequin DS sprinkle capsules when he was about 2 years old and a few weeks after starting the Cosequin he never held his leg up again. He's now almost 12.
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crazylady
Good, those are all reassuring. Sugarplum is about eight and a half as they estimated her age to be about five years old when I adopted her, and this is the first time I’ve seen it in her. Surgery is concerning for the reasons Maggie stated, and she truly doesn’t appear to be in pain. I’ll probably take her in sometime this week.
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Snuggle's Mom
Our little Laci (Yorkie) has two luxating patellas; one a grade four and the other one I am not sure of. So far she is quite mobile and runs all over the place and does not miss anything that might just fly by!! She is only 2 1/2 pounds and will be four years old next month. So far so good and hope that it stays that way since our Vet that she is not a candidate for surgery due to her very small size.
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M
Assuming you were able to get an appointment already, what did the vet have to say?
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