Chihuahua has slipped knee joint!* UPDATE* Pictures

[wolfsoul]

My friend's chihuahua has a luxating patella. He is getting surgery to correct it. The vet said that's the only thing that will help -- if she keeps it the way it is, his knee will keep being ground away at.

Good luck!

[Dorothy39]

My friend's chihuahua has a luxating patella. He is getting surgery to correct it. The vet said that's the only thing that will help -- if she keeps it the way it is, his knee will keep being ground away at.

Good luck!

That is what two seperate Vets told my daughter -in-law as well.

I'm just so darned worried about dear Miura. I'm praying that she will lead a long and healthy life. Such a sweetheart of a dog!!!!

[mruffruff]

Did they say why they couldn't spay at the same time as the leg operation? I would think they could do both and save $$ and another anesthesia.

[Dorothy39]

Now that you mentioned it, thats a good idea.
Miura's Vet recommended this surgery be done in one of two places, either by a specialist in Grand Rapids, or, at M.S.U.

She had a standing appointment at her regular Vet to be spayed on the 27th.

I wonder if this specialist , in Grand Rapids, might do both procedures? Hummm, Good point!!! I'll have them check on it. Thanks!!!!

[juju]

The same thing happened to my cavalier king charles last week. The vet was able to put the Patella back in place, and informed me that they would only operate if he couldnt get it back in by hand. I have just bought a magazine and in it was a write up about luxating patella, it says that swimming is a very good exercise for the dog. And keep there weight down.
Hope your dog gets on ok.


julie

[juju]

It can be a hereditary condition or the result of a trauma.

[Dorothy39]

Miura had her surgery this morning and we have since heard from my Son and Daughter-in-law.

Oh, poor little "Meer-Cat will have to stay over night there. The specialist told them that this is a genetic /breeding condition and was due to happen at any time. The tendon in front of her knee joint was mis-aligned , so, she eventually would have laxating patella, or, crocked joints , pain, etc. if this had not been done now. Her other knee joint appears to be fine according to his findings.

I told my Son about the dangers of Rimadyl, as that is the anti-inflammatory medication that was given to her since this trama occured. I was reasured that Miura will be taking it for a week or less. Still, given the fact that she had this abnormality, the chances of her having several more might be quite possible.

I'll just use the nick-name, Abby Normal , for her until she gets better. I have to rely on my sense of humor when I get overly worried.

Thank-you for your concerns and your replies.

Prayers for Miura!!!

[Daisy and Delilah]

Hi Dorothy, My Daisy has a luxated patella and she's had it since she was about one year old(she's 5 now). My vet doesn't recommend surgery for her right now but it could happen eventually. She gets around great with it but I do have to help her get on top of the sofa/chair/bed sometimes. I have foot stools and steps all over the house for her. Me and my vet don't think she's having alot of pain so she is ok for the time being. I understand that this condition is fairly common in Chihuahuas. One of my son's Aussie's has a luxated patella also and his vet has trained him on putting the knee back in place. He gets around great also and is like a rocket dog most of the time. I wish your son best of luck with his little Miura. I'll pray for a quick recovery for her.

[DebbieSue]

Hi Dorothy!

I'm new to this forum. I was surfing the net researching slipped knee problems and found your thread. I'm so happy to hear Miura is doing well.

I have a 9 year old Yorkie who started limping this week. We took him to the vet and he says the dog has slipped knee joints on both back legs. Said the dog must have put the one leg down when it was slipped out of joint and ripped the tendons in the leg.

Now he is advising 3 surgeries, starting with the 'well' back leg. The first surgery to fix the slipped knee problem on the good leg. The second surgery to fix the ripped tendons on the bad leg. The third surgery to fix the slipped knee problem on the bad leg. He says it could take up to a year to get it all straightened out.

Needless to say, we're not thrilled. Our yorkie, Toto, has heart problems due to a collapsing trachea. So we worry anytime he has to have surgery. He had surgery about 2 years ago for bladder stones. He recovered well from that one.

We lost a Pomeranian about 3 years ago, due to congestive heart failure, which stemmed from a collapsing trachea. Now my other Pomeranian, Maxie Monster, is showing signs of the same problem.

Vet says he understands if we don't want to do the surgeries, due to health fears. He says little dogs adapt to walking on 3 legs easily. However, he says that with the other knee cap slipping, at any time the tendons in his good leg could tear, and then the dog would have use of neither back leg.

So I'm trying to do some research, and possibly considering getting a second opinion. I don't like the idea of the poor dog limping around for the rest of his life. It looks so pathetic. But I hate the risks of so many surgeries. We have an appointment for x-rays tomorrow.

Toto is a full-bodied yorkie too. I think it's rare for a yorkie to be stocky. And I worry that he'll be carrying around more weight on that single back leg than the average yorkie would, making it even more likely that he'll rip tendons.

My other Pomeranian, Foxy, who passed away due to the heart problems 3 years ago, also had the patellar luxation. But it only slipped out once in a while, and vet never advised surgery. (She was another stocky dog.)

Toto has not shown any signs of pain, other than not using the leg. But I know some dogs just don't vocalize pain. They simply quietly deal with it. So I don't like the idea of just leaving the dog to deal with this for who knows how many years that he might have left.

Toto is a good natured dog. Not very smart, but very, very cute!

Just not sure which way to go here. Trying to get as much info as possible in order to help us make the right decision, I guess.

I'm leaning toward the operations myself. It feels abusive to me to watch my dog hop around on only 3 legs, even though I know the surgeries are especially risky for him. I think I just want to be sure that the surgeries are the only option for correcting the problem.

At any rate, I could identify with your posts on your daughter's Chi. My daughter's Chi lives here with us. Tiki is a handful. (We call her the grandchild, as my daughter, an only child, has no children and thus far, does not plan on any).

So far, Tiki is healthy at 3 years of age. We were told she would grow to be about 6 pounds. At the last weigh-in, she weighed 12 pounds (not one ounce of fat on her). So much for breeding nowadays...

I hope your Miura continues to do well. You sound like a great doggy grandma!

Debbie