Any Vets? Need patella advice.

[Yorknees]

Hope somebody can help me out here.

My Yorkie has been diagnosed with patella and is booked in for TTT surgery at the end of this month.

I am dreading it, I haven't slept with worry.

I'm terrified about post-surgery. I'm worried that he doesn't really need surgery.

XRays showed grade 2.4 in each leg.
His leg hasn't locked for weeks and he's showing no lameness.
He is 1 year old.

Has anybody got experience of this surgery?

[Floralnomad]

My dog has bilateral grade 2 , first diagnosed about 6 /7 yrs ago . He has a joint supplement and we keep him fit , we opted to not have the surgery as they don’t seem to bother him , he’s very rarely lame and when he has had previous surgeries we’ve had a hard time with bleeding and getting things to heal

[SqueakyChicken]

Mine also has grade 2 although only in the one leg. He’s 11 now and never needed surgery. Lame very occasionally.

I always thought surgery wasn’t recommended until grade 3 or 4? Is it because he’s so young that surgery has been recommended?

[Yorknees]

Thanks for your responses.

I always thought surgery wasn’t recommended until grade 3 or 4? Is it because he’s so young that surgery has been recommended?

This is what's bothering me. The vets seem very keen to operate but I'm not sure why.
They have prescribed a daily dose of Metacam. I said he's not in pain but they said it's for inflammation which I can understand.

I am going to ring them on Tuesday and ask to speak to another vet.
We can't speak to them face to face so after his x-rays recently he was handed over by an assistant, and we were given a call by a very fast talking lady with an accent so I need clarification.

[Floralnomad]

If you are in any doubt hold off on the surgery and see how it goes , I’m lucky that I have a very non interventionist vet .

[Yorknees]

I have been hoping the lockdown would go on so they would delay but they deem it 'essential'. The cynic in me is questioning is it just to bring money in.
Surely they can't force me to go ahead.

[Floralnomad]

Of course they can’t force you to go ahead and I’m staggered that they deem it essential .

[Yorknees]

Exactly Floralnomad it seems nuts. I'll ring them on Tuesday.

[Phwooooar]

My Scottie/westie cross was diagnosed with grade 3 and 4 in back legs. She’s 2 years old. The vet recommended surgery. This was last summer and I thought I’d see how she goes, stop her chasing her ball much and take it from there as I dreaded surgery. She’s been absolutely fine up until the last few days when I’ve noticed a slight limp. I massage her knee joints and they click back into place. I think I’d only resort to surgery if I could see she was really suffering.

[Yorknees]

Yes I agree Phwooooar and at 2.4 I don't see it as essential.
We only noticed it at the beginning of March and at the time he was locking several times a day for a week. After we took him to the vets it stopped totally.

[Floralnomad]

I would have thought any joint surgery will increase the risk of arthritis in the joint which is another reason why I personally wouldn’t have any surgery done on a young dog unless it was absolutely necessary because their quality of life was affected or they were in pain . I would be starting him on a good joint supplement ( if he’s not already on one) and seeing how it goes . I was told that going up and downstairs was good for strengthening the surrounding muscles etc .

[Yorknees]

They said the bones in both hind legs haven't formed properly so they don't have a dip/groove in.
They'll be making a V shape in both bones. One leg at a time.

Although, very contradictory they said based on the success of the first surgery they might not need to do the other leg.

I'll look into supplements, good idea.

[Phillipa12]

My working cocker did have surgery on a luxating patella but not sure what grade it was though he was adjusting his gait when exercising so was necessary. The surgery went well and i was over cautious with his recovery, but his surgery was7 years ago, hes now 13 and has just retired from pheasant and grouse beating, well retired from the groundwork aspect, he now lords it up in a pick up and joins in at lunchtime if he can be arsed! He is not on any supplements and knee is solid still, vet very impressed.

[WeAllHaveWings]

Our labrador had surgery for a luxating patella 2 years ago. Don't know what grade but his knee was popping out every couple of days while we were on the waiting list for surgery at the vet hospital we were referred too. While it mostly didn't seem to bother him too much and we could pop it back in, the vet told us dogs aren't like humans, they naturally hide pain/weakness, but a knee popping out is going to be sore!!

If you don't trust your vet get a second professional opinion.

[Yorknees]

That's the thing, his leg hasn't popped out for weeks.
He's running and jumping fine with no noticeable differences.

I'm going to ask the vet if we can just monitor for now instead. I've read surgery is only recommended for grade 3 or 4.

[Floralnomad]

I think it’s also different in larger breeds .