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ilovemypet100
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03-10-2008, 10:41 AM

Can You Help? My Dog Has Luxating Patella!

My Dog Has Luxating Patella

Hello!
My 13 month old mixed breed dog FLOPPY- king charles spaniel and jack russell has just been diagnosed with LUXATING PATELLA-when the knee cap (patella) slips out of the groove. My poor babe lifts his rear leg up every time when he comes downstairs and sometimes he limps after jumping and running. My VET offered operation to do next week, despite the fact that we havenot done X ray yet.
Now the is the problem with our PETPLAN insurance.
I am on BUdget plan, which apparently does cover only first 12 month after illness. But Floppy , as i have been explained, may develope arthirites later on in life.
I am not sure what to do. Shall i go for no operation route- glucosamine and hydrotherapy. What to do with insurance?
I did some research on internet but still dont know how to cope with it.
HAS YOUR DOG THE SAME PROPLEM?
PLEASE HELP!
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honeysmummy
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03-10-2008, 01:22 PM
Hi there!

Sorry not sure about your dogs problem exactly but my dog had a problem with her cruciate ligament, which is the knee.

I had to have an op with her as it would never have healed by itself - I guess your dog has the same problem.

She wasnt insured so cant advise you on that, but what I can say is that the vet has to warn you about the possibility of arthritus but it should be a LONG way down the line if at all!! So dont let that put you off having op!

My dog has a new lease of life and is back to running round like an idiot again ( i didnt think i would see the day) but she only had op four months ago.

Maybe someone else can help with the isurance side??
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Fernsmum
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03-10-2008, 03:53 PM
From my understanding of th situation your dog might get athritis later in life either way . At least if he has the operation he should have good quality of life for a long time . I don't think they really need to x-ray to know what the problem is in this case as they can feel it popping in and out of place . They probably will x ray it before they operate as I believe there are different operations they can do .
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Pita
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03-10-2008, 05:03 PM
In small dogs it is not always necessary to have an operation because the dog will develop muscles to help stabilise the join, if it is really bad then an operation is probably best sooner rather than latter. Lets face it whether or not he has the operation there is a likelihood that when elderly he will get arthritis anyway particularly if he was castrated young and lives to an old age.
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henry06
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03-10-2008, 07:15 PM
Hi my dog has had this operaton but on both legs. You could hear Henrys knees popping in and out and the vet could feel it without doing an xray. The vet will x ray his legs so he can monitor his legs after the operation. I think it is worth having the operation done as henry does seem better now on his legs we were told that he would probably get arthritus and after the op henry still has serequin which is a joint suppllement and has hydrotherapy as they need this to build th emusle back up.
I was really worried before he had his ops but he coped with them really well. I suppose the bonus for us is that we do have the highest level of pet plan support which is unlimited cover for any condition so his tablets are paid for as are his checkups etc...
Maybe before the op you could ask them whether you could up the level and then you will be covered better for the future (not sure if you could do this now)

Hope you sort it out and good luck
If you need any more info i will be glad to help if i can

Sarah
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drmark
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06-10-2008, 06:04 PM
this is a surgical correction. easily palpable by your vet. no xray is needed.
glucosamine etc will not help
dr newkirk
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honeysmummy
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07-10-2008, 09:53 AM
Originally Posted by drmark View Post
this is a surgical correction. easily palpable by your vet. no xray is needed.
glucosamine etc will not help
dr newkirk
Looks like you could come in useful on Dogsey!!
Welcome!
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ilovemypet100
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07-10-2008, 03:48 PM
Thanks for advice, i am going to see the vet again next week for Floppys booster vaccination and i will ask about the grade of luxating patella he has. If it is grade 1 or 2 i still wiill probably hang on with OP. It is very painfull for dogs and costly -more then £1000 on each leg! No wonder vets are so keen on this! Money are coming in!
Best wishes,
Anna
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henry06
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07-10-2008, 07:35 PM
My dog has had both of his knees done and it is very costly. He was also born with Perthes disease so he had the ball of his femur off when he was a puppy. Henry does still hop but i think thats his hip more than his knees. He had a specialist orthopedic surgeon operate on his second knee and also he checked his hip op and he said he was pleased with the result. Pet plan has definatly come in very useful for us as we must have had about 6-7000 pounds now in ops and treatment and he is still only 2!!! It will probably help if you dont let him jump up an things or go on stairs. We had a ramp out from the backdoor for Henry and this also helped after the op as they are a bit reluctant to put leg down at first which is understandable.
Good luck and just take advice from vet and go with what you think. I do trust my vet 100% and yes he is trying to make a living but he genuinly cares for animals and looked after my other dog for 10 years and he was 15 when he died so he had good innings.

Good luck

Sarah and Henry xx
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