Could my dog have 2 disclocated knees and show no signs?

[esselle]

DH took our dog to the vet last week for her annual check up. The first thing the vet did was put her in the table and grab her back legs. He then announced after a 10 sec examination that she had 2 disclocated knees and would need surgery costing about $2000. Apparently it is a common genetic problem in these dogs - according to vet. He didn't check anything else beyond this.

Needless to say DH was pretty shocked as I am because we had no idea!! Dog is a 2 yr old Westhighland Terrier and very active. At any moment she is happy to run about and we have never noticed her limping or showing any discomfort in her rear legs. Is it possible for her to have this problem and us not notice??

Is our vet just after some extra money for Christmas?? We simply cannot afford this expense atm but maybe in a couple of years if her condition worsened or she was in pain we could sort something out.

Thank you so much!

I really thought that she would be screaming in pain if her knees were disclocated but I guess that is not the case.

We will definitely get a second opinion.

My dog has re-occuring episodes of her knee popping out of place, the vet said it is up to me what to do as she isn't in any pain and could live with it as it doesn't case any problems, BUT when hers does pop out it hangs when she walks/runs it seems impossible for her to put it on the ground, so imo you would see a problem but i am not a vet i can only tell you my experience.

I would get a 2nd opinion, preferably from a none profit organisation such as PDSA or RSPCA. If you do get a second opinion do not mention it, see if they pick up on it from examination.

All i know is by me the RSPCA clinic do not now ask for proof of benefit, it used to be that way. They upped the donation so anyone can use it.

I am just stating what i know and what i would do. I had a bad experience with a vet once that WAS out to get money pure and simple, i went to another vet who said nothing like the same thing, and treating my dog quickly without all these blood tests etc that the other vet had mentioned! so not only was they trying to get more money they wanted to leave my dog with no treatment for god knows how long!

my dog has the same problem, gets worse if she is overweight. Doesn't seem in pain, happily running around, and if she starts walking strange it corrects itself in a few steps. She is 10 years old now and the problem doesn't seem to be worse than it was 8 years ago.

She may benefit from the surgery but I think, after having my dog having surgery twice (not because the knees but because she keeps swallowing things she shouldn't), I wouldn't put the dog through such misery unless it was STRICTLY necessary.

No i am not going to say, i came on here to give my help and experience to the op not take the thread off course.

I also think there are alot of vets that go all around the houses to gain as much money as possible, it also happened to my parents. I think some vets know what they are doing and its not assuming or guess work, they are just more professional than others who play on peoples emotions, and see the pound signs on the heads of families who love their animals.

Thanks for all your advice and shared experiences.

I am leaning more towards doing something about it when she needs it ie. is in pain/discomfort. Plus she has been a little messy bugger running mud through the house and weeing all over the place all week! We aren't best friends atm so my sympathies for her are low!! Or maybe I'm just 7mo preg and crabby!!

We could and would pay for any surgeries which need doing but it has just come along at a tricky time, Christmas, moving house and DC3 due all in the next 3 months. A bit overwhelming when nothing seems to be 'wrong' with the dog IYSWIM.

I am not in the UK so the charities mentioned aren't available to us. Not that I would use them anyway, there are many people less fortunate than us who need them.

I guess this is one of the joys of pet ownership!!