My 2 yr old chihuahua has luxating patella in BOTH her kneecaps. She went through a few weeks of being lame and holding up one of her legs, so we took her to the vets and after x-rays they told me her kneecaps were popping out of place.They said that it is very common in her breed and some dogs quite happily live with it, or need the op later in life or never need the op at all. Now here is my dilemma- I have had a very nice person offer to help me with the costs of the op to get her sorted.The vets said that if it is effecting her day to day then I am better to get the op done as she is likely to get much worse in the future and especially as she is only 2!! The thing is, some days you wouldnt even know she has dodgy knees! she zooms round like a loon then  the odd day she wont put one of her legs down and yelps if you go near her back end. The vet told me about the possible complications of the op and that it was quite complicated as they have to pin the joint etc and she has very small joints. They said that she could get an infection in the bone which would be really bad. Also she will need to have one knee done at a time and so would need a month cage rest after each op. Meaning a total of 2 months strict rest. Sounds awful. She manages to get around ok at the moment but do I do the op whilst I have the offer of finacial help as that is unlikely to come round again! and because she is only two and lkely to get worse-I dont want to leave her until she can barely walk before doing anything about it, but what if I let her have the op and something goes wrong I am going to feel really awful. What do you think??

I don't to subject my dogs to operations if they're not in pain or their problem isn't life threatening.  Unless the luxation is very bad, dogs can often build up muscle to support the joint over time and make the operation unnecessary.
But I would stop her jumping on/off furniture and going up and down stairs.
I'm sure that others will give you a different view. :)

My lad really had no option but to have it done as even after therapy it was still popping out most of the time, he was only 8 months old and compared to all mny other dogs he never joined in when they were running riot and could not do simple things like climbing up on the sofa or even standing on hind legs (which is a favoured activity with my breed :) ) yes it took a good few months to recover and someone always had to supervise him but now he is a different dog and i love to watch him play with the others.
I think you have to take it on its own merit, is she spending more time in discomfort than she is in comfort? have you tried hydro and or supplements?
The most important thing if you choose to take the medical approach is to follow all instrutions from the vet r.e recouperation process.
I wish you well with whatever you decide.

I just want to wish you good luck tomorrow with whatever you choose.  Patella ops are a simple procedure but the recouperation isn't and NO exercise means exactly that, your dog will not be able to walk down a step to go outside for toileting and will not or should not jump up or use stairs - I cannot emphasise how important this is. 

Smaller dogs seem to mend easier than larger dogs but it still isn't something to be gone into lightly - which I am sure you haven't.

My last dog (golden retriever) had patella problems and his first two ops went wrong, on his 3rd op he was given an external fixator to keep his leg completley straight he had this on for approx 12 weeks, and it did eventually mend. But, it took almost a year from the first op to the fixator being removed :(

I have a friend who has a small breed dog who decided not to have the op and his legs are now perfect.

Good luck with whichever option you choose.   

My experience of this op!

I do have the same breed as you - but have never had a patella problem in a Chi!  I do think we have differing experiences, depending on breed size though.

However, I had a Toy Poodle that needed the operation - this was many moons ago.  I lost her 18 months ago at 17 years, and I have never for one moment regretted surgery.  It was the best decision for my girl.  She could still do a standing jump to my shoulder at 14 years.  Although I wish I had not had the operations so close together.  She was 11 months for the first op, and my vet at that time wanted to do the second op 6 weeks after.  I know you say that you have been told to rest a month - I am horrified!    I have , 10 days ago, had a very small Yorkshire Terrier undergo this surgey.  She has to have CAGE REST for 12 weeks, before attempting her second operation. 

I know that someone has said that this is an easy operation. It is not!  The girl I have just had done was the most difficult that my vet had ever seen.  He admitted that if it had been at the start of his career, he would never have been able to work his wonders.  Every vet that I work with tells me that it is major surgery.  Sorry to disagree with someone, but I have heard of so many that are not straightfoward, and need an orthopaedic expert.  (Just glad I have got one!)

I would most definitely take advantage of the financial help, I know that £700 per leg is pretty average.  And the younger your girl, the more success, as she should sail through it.  However, due to the nature of the surgey, you can do huge damage and rip the pin out if you allow any sudden movements (it's why my girl is caged, as she wants to race like a loon, and she could do untold damage.)  At £700 it seems daft to undo all the vets work.  If she carries on being a tornado, I shall end up nailing her feet to the floor.  :-)   I have to put her lead on for a wee, as she would be running like a maniac.

I would definitely leave 12 weeks between operations personally (I have asked loads of vets what they recommend.)

I agree my boy had all 3 procedure, deepening of trochlear grove, tightening of ligament and tibial crest realignment, this was done by a specialist and he couldn't emphasise enough how serious it was. However a almost crippled puppy is not a pretty sight so for ke it was essential and worth the long and slow recovery process.
It may well be a good idea to have someone to hand for first week to help with toileting and keeping her comfortable.

my pug george has this in both back legs,he is almost 8 and was diagnosed age 2,i said no to the opp(he has other health issues and going under is a no no)i found by being very carefull with him ie no jump on and off furniture,or up and down stairs,no really long walkies etc and most of the time you cant tell he has it,ok,if he isa really cold,or has done too much running in the garden then yes,his knees click and he walks odd,also a good diet with plenty of fish oil and keeping georges weight lighter than he should be really helps
jo

I think it all depends on the effect it is havnt to start with, my lads was a full grade 4 so no question of having op, yet I have a girl who is 4 now with grade 1 in one leg and I just keep her weight low and hive her glucosimine and she does just fine.

Thankyou for your replies, phoebe had her op today and poor thing is in the crate with her teddys. I have been given loxicam for pain relief which she has already had maximum dose but still seems uncomfortable. I asked about cage rest and the other vet I spoke to said about 6 weeks and then review to have her other leg done but after reading this I think I will leave it a little longer for her current leg to heal more. She is prone to zooming around so is in a large crate and picked her up and stood her on the grass to wee but she didnt want to go. There is a puppy pad in the crate incase she needs to go so hopefully this will make her life a little easier for now! I really hope I have done the right thing for her and I guess only time will tell. Its just hard watching her stuck in the crate looking so sad :-(

> my boy had all 3 procedure, deepening of trochlear grove, tightening of ligament and tibial crest realignment

My girl too Boody, and as she lived a very long and active life after it, I am so very pleased that I made the decision for her.

And, as you say, to anyone considering this, take seriously the fact that it really does need a long and slow recovery progress to give the dog the best results.

fingers crossed for you little girl ...just tell yourself you are doing it for a better quality of life for her and it will get you both through this difficult time.

best of luck

roni

> She is prone to zooming around

My girl is exactly the same.  She is a positive tornado if allowed to be, but I have to be cruel to be kind.  She is on day 14 tomorrow, so we only have 10 weeks to go!     

It may seem like a long time, but my girl is young like yours.  Just remember that she has many years ahead of her, with much better mobility at the end of it, so you can't afford to let her undo the good work.

My girl was on antibiotics for a week after surgery, but I did give her morphine twice a day for the first 3 days after she came home.  She has had one daily dose of Metacam since surgey, and I shall let her continue until the bottle is finished.  I am sure that we would want pain relief for much longer if we had such invasive surgery!

My girl was on antibiotics for a week after surgery, but I did give her morphine twice a day for the first 3 days after she came home.

My main bug bear with immidiate aftercare with my vets was i felt that they never gave him enough pain relief and in the end i wnet back first thing in the morning for him to have decent relief as like you say jean we would not be left to manage after a major leg op with some bog standard paracetemol, once we sorted that it was much easier to keep him crated and relaxed as he's never been the most energetic of dogs lol

I had it done on my staffy and although now 2 years on she has arthritis in the leg that was operated on it is still much better than she was with the patella.  There are quite a few threads on here from people who's dogs have had the surgery so the search facility will give you more info.

I hope the op went well and like some of the others have said, complete cage rest means just that.