My mate has a 3 year old jack russell, Hes a very active dog but "skips" every now and then on his back leg. She took him to the vets and he said that he needs an operation on his knee to correct it or he could lose the leg, WITHOUT an xray and he barely even examined him QUOTING 1300 POUND to correct it plus there was medication plus xrays and consultaions after the op, so by the time it would be done shed have a bill of about 2000 I was with her and let him carry on till I had enough and pointed out he cannot make a diagnosis like that by litterally bending the knee twice. he then got very anooyed and said hes the vet and know what hes talking about and this should not be happening, So I got frustrated and asked him if he had been exposed to some sort of radiation which gave him xray vision, then pointed out alot of short legged jaacks have the problem and live long healthy lives with the "skip". I personally think he was just after the money because I called a few other vets in the area and was quoted several different prices, ther highest with complications relating to the op, would cost 1000 with after care, and an xray, medication ect
Just wondered what anyone elses thoughts were about this? He runs around litterally from morning to night, and in the whole time he may only skip once, he doesnt do it wll the time and he never ever skips or limps when running, normally its when hes winding down for bed, if he does it! I gave her the advice of keep an eye on him maybe get an xray (at another vet), and not to put him though the op unless its a must because its so painful and takes a long time to recover, and being a jack he never sits still, so would either end up depressed or causing more harm.

The Jack Russell 'skip' is down to a condition called 'luxating patella' where the kneecap slips out of position. When the happens the leg cannot straighten properly until it goes back into the proper place; this causes varying degrees of pain. Yes, this can be diagnosed by bending the leg once or twice and feeling the kneecap so the vet was quite right about that. However it's very unlikely that non-intervention would result in the loss of the leg, but surgery to repair the deformity would make the dog much more comfortable.

Luxating patella is a hereditary condition and dogs which suffer from it should never be bred from.

Agree with JG this is undoubtedly a case of a slipping kneecap and it can be repaired by operation. Some small dogs can manage without treatment so it really depends on how often this happens and how distressed the dog is.

It does not need an x-ray you can feel it easily if you place one hand on the knee and flex the leg, this is the way to correct it too if is has slipped but be very gentle with the flexing. And yes, a vet would have no trouble at all telling what the trouble was even without touching the dog, the way you describe it is just so typical of the problem almost anyone who have seen a case would know what it was.

See this threadhttp://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/board/topic/125280.html

My Tiva has Luxating patella, but her knee didn't started popping out till about 6yrs old I think, more so thats when I noticed her running kinda funny. Thats when she was diagnosed with it. My vet to just moved her knee around and felt it pop in and out. I have never done surgery on her, I just don't over do her- well now she's not to much into running, she will still chase the frisbe but takes rest and we only go at her pace- now 12yrs old.

As others have said this sounds like a luxating patella.  This happened to my Staffordshire Bull Terrier (she was a rescue) and she was playing/jumping when she went lame.  My vet wanted her rested for 10 days and then re-examined, she hadn't got any better so she was operated on - about £250 (4 years ago).  over the last 18 months her knee pops out but does not seem to cause her any discomfort.  She is now 7 1/2 and really struggled to recover from her last surgery so unless absolutely necessary I won't have her operated on again.

i understand the knee cap slipping (or popping). The dog is not in any discomfot at all, he may skip once or twice aday at most, he was running round with my one dog the other day and the whole time never even so much skipped once! I personally dont think its fair on the dog to undergo the surgury if hes not bothered by it!

I have felt and bent the dogs leg and I can feel no difference between my dogs knee and his Im pretty good with tanimals health ect havig always had animals! Not a vet but as with anyone whos owned animals all there life they know when som,ething isnt right and when it is(obviously its slipping but I dont think its to a degree that even needs pain meds let alone surgury).

He didnt wexamine he leg properly he litterally rubbed his hand down it twice whilst the dog was standing up, and an xray should be taken before surgury could go ahead (what anotehr vet told me) unless the owner says otherwise!

Hes booked in to see my vet on Monday morning, so well see how that goes! thanks for your advice

How did he get on at the vets??

Many terriers, my own included do a little skip as a matter of course.

My Patterdale is an agility dog and has been thouroughly checked out but every so often she will do a little terrier skip.

I am sure that I have seen other threads on here that refer to the skip not necessarily being a sign of luxating pattella

My Newfy boy had luxating Patela at 4 months,he had correective surgery and we have not looked back since

> she hadn't got any better so she was operated on - about £250 (4 years ago).  over the last 18 months her knee pops out

I'm absolutely gobsmacked that it pops out after surgery.  My Toy Poodle was operated on at 11 months - both knees - ops 6 weeks apart.

She was totally restricted from exercise for 12 weeks.  And many years later, you could still see the pins quite clearly on X-rays. 

I lost her last year, just before her 17th birthday.  She could do a standing jump to my shoulder well into old age.  Although I did use an orthopaedic surgeon, and payed more than you all those years ago.  I do think it's a specialist surgery.

Ahh maybe my Staffie had slightly different surgery - she never had any pins or anything like that in her leg.  Basically she had a deeper groove made in her leg where the knee cap sits - i can't remember the exact details as it was so many years ago but she definitely didn't have pins or anything like that.

All that happens now is occasionally she does a little skip but does not show any discomfort.  If she was in pain or this happened all the time I would take her back for surgery but she is absolutely fine and don't want to risk putting her under again after she struggled coming round last time.

Typing fast at work I probably didn't explain myself properly!

Ahh maybe my Staffie had slightly different surgery

You are correct there are two different stages to the operation to deal with this problem, the first is to deepen the groove in which the tendon runs the second also deepens the groove but also moves the piece of bone to which the tendon is attached so that it is in line with the grove and the knee cap is not pulled to one side every time it is flexed. The small prominence of bone if moved has to be screwed in place and it is for the protection of this that the cage rest is required because if the dog manages to pull the small re-sited piece of bone from the shin then there is a danger that it will be broken up by the screws and repair will not be possible.

Thanks Nova, yes my girl just had the op where they deepen the groove!  She did still have plenty of cage rest and lots of work to build her leg up again.