hi ,
im writing here to see if any one can give me some advice, i have just found out my 17 month old chihuahua tyler has luxating patella's in both hind legs.He doesnt seem to be in pain or have any problems with his movement. Except over the last couple of weeks i  have stopped him from agililty due to the fact his bones started clicking(before i knew about his knee's), as the breeder never mentioned any in her line had this problem i never thought it could be this. The big problem is he loves agility and he's a very active dog i've been adviced by the vet to stop any strenuous exercise and all of his agility, which if at all posible i dont want to stop him completely in the future

i would like to know if any one else has this problem with their dogs if they could give me some advice,
what sort of treatment herbal,leg supports etc you might of tried on your dog
if anyone has continued to train their dog in agility wit this problem and if there anyway in the future i could continue his agility as he loves it so much.

Yours L Henry
bleucoral@hotmail.com

Your dog being light may well manage without treatment but surgery is the only way to sort the problem altogether. Would not continue agility with the dog though, every time the kneecap slips it does a tiny amount of damage and can cause arthritis in latter years. What advice did the vet give you.

The vet adviced me to stop his agility and most of his exercise for the moment atleast. He's also put him on metacam to see if it helps at all. Then he wants to see how he goes, thats all really i knew about the opp as my papillon had a completly slipped her right knee around 2 years ago and does run fine at agility now. its just i didnt want him to go through the surgery as he is just under 4 lbs and also as i saw how it stressed out my papillon trininty.
louisa

Dogs are to stoic, they put up with pain which would cripple us without batting an eyelid! Matacam will not help the problem, only relieve the pain. As Jackie says, every time the patella slips there is a small amount of damage done.

Sorry but you have no options as far as the agility goes. A friend has a Japanese Spitz with Luxating Patellas which she used to show. With this and just the usual amount of exercise (She was an elderly lady so maybe slightly less than the usually amount of exercise!!) the dog lived out a full and happy life. A lot depends of course on just how bad the dog is. Only time will tell you that.

Best wishes, John

We were warned, at Christmas, that about 3 sessions with Metacam was as much as you could subect a dog to:  after that.heior bodies appear to become resilient to the effect that Metacam produces.   

We've had 2 sessions so far:  hopefully the summer will help before we need the 3rd......

Margot

Have never found it worked at all, there are other products that can be tried, a lot depends on the age of the dog how much the vet is happy to let it have it. Having said that if it is a case of the dog living in pain or the medication doing damage in the long term I know what I, and I am sure most people, would choose.

There is no herb or med that can fix a lousy, shallow socket. One of my Chihuahuas had surgery on one of his back legs because of this condition. I would also most definitely advise against hard exercise until it is fixed. Surgery is the only way to fix it. He did have pain when it would go out on him. It's perfect now and will not ever have that problem in that leg again. The other leg I can feel is very possibly going to have the same problem some time in the future. The surgery is not fun. The first day or two home, he was in terrible pain, but very quickly thereafter recovered beautifully. I did have to keep him from wild exercise for several months. He now goes on very long hikes and runs, leaps and everything works perfectly. Good luck.

Carrie

My staffie was diagnosed at 18 months old with slipping patella. His was not serious enough for the op but the vet recommended swimming at a hydro pool (which i now work at) But jumping around should really be avoided as it puts more pressure on the joint.
In april last year he had a op for a ruptured cuciate lig on the other leg, a month later he had knee surgery for slipping patella on the same leg he has arthritis in the knee and is fine to be walk (on lead) and i just be carefull now not to let him go mad.