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Posted by eup on April 18, 2008, 1:58 am
68.57.243.139
Re -
Subluxation of patellae is by grade- one through four. One being fairly minor, four being the kneecap is constantly out- we don't know the grade of this dog's slipped stifles. However, surgery on knees of grade one thru three- has a rather good success rate of recovery. It is a costly surgery- depending on what must be done to repair the knee, from five hundred dollars to around two thousand dollars- and per knee. Lux pats do not heal themselves. Instead, they worsen over the years without surgery. Also, one may have a successful surgery, but the knee may be so damaged that secondary arthritis has presented - causing the tell-tale typical hop-skip, and some further pain.
We have had small poodles for decades and all have had sound knees, save this last one- who has had surgeries on both back legs- (two grand plus) She is a tiny- under five pounds. I don't think an ortho would have a problem with a dog of at least three pounds- and the little fuzz unit you are thinking of adopting certainly looks more substantial of bone than would be a three-pounder. (Our gal was at four pounds when the skilled ortho fixed her chicken bone knees. *G* She does walk at least a mile a day- (she is now nine years old. Has some secondary arthritis in the back knee that was the worse of the two. I doubt if the reason the shelter says no surgery is dog's size- but rather the expense, or perhaps she is at grade four. In any case, I'd not want a general vet to do the eval of the knees- but rather an orthopedic surgeon, one who sees those chicken bone knees and repairs them with great skill from years of experience. These lux pat dogs may sometimes do great- but we do need to eval and then figure out the course of action- (surgery, or not, limited exercise, no jumping, joint meds- so forth.)
My double lux pat gal walks on hind legs, oh yeah. *G* But the surgery is costly, and recovery time depends on individual dog- involves crate rest, gentle exercise and so forth. May be daunting to a novice to poodles- but it is do-able. (You need an ortho's eval of those knees.) BTW- it is rarely only one back knee, it is usually both, with one being worse than the other- so the dog learns to shift weight upon the better back leg. There are two types of subluxation of patellae- medial and lateral - with either type being possible for any breed- but more often with toy or mini poodles- it is the medial lux pat. Lateral is sometimes caused by injury. Medial is usually an inherited problem. (overly general- *G*) OK! I may try to fetch you some links- depends on if I manage to get this message into the joint, so to squeak. *G*
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