Luxating patella - supplements as they get older??

[Tealfish]

Hi,
Our cocker is 7 years old and has had luxating patella since 9 months. The vet said at the time that if his weight was kept down and he was managing there was no need for surgery and that he would likely get arthritis either way. Has anyone else's dog been in this situation and how was it as they aged? I'm thinking we should give him some sort of joint supplement and does anyone have any recommendations? YuMove seems to pop up a lot when I google. I want to try to keep the costs down / not waste ££ if they don't work. (This condition / or anything related will not be covered by insurance hence thinking about being preventative) Thank you

Hi, my PRT is in the same situation. Mild luxating patella. The knee doesn't actually dislocate, but there is 'maltracking' in the joint which makes him very hoppy.

He is four now and it was diagnosed at about 2. I put him on YuMove straightaway - there is a formula for younger dogs. It is expensive, though, and when the last lot ran out I opted to buy salmon oil instead. I think I will go back to YuMove, though.

It is all for preventative purposes and I don't expect it to make any changes in his presentation, so I have no idea whether it is actually helping. Can't harm though.

I think that a vet did tell me that there is nothing special about YuMove. Any similar supplement would be as good. It's just that, as you cruise through Amazon, it is reassuring to buy from a recognised brand to reduce the chances of getting some fake produce from a scammer.

ProDogRaw Flex supplement works much better for my dog than YuMove. Still expensive but definitely works and helps for prevention too

Ooh, that's interesting. I feed my dog on ProDogRaw so I could buy the spplement from them too. I'm guessing that it costs even more than YuMove though!

I do think that a raw diet means you have to consider supplements more readily, as the more UPF types of dogfood are usually supplemented in various ways so have a more predictable and consistent presence of various micro-nutrients than raw food.

My four year old cocker has luxating patellas. It was diagnosed when she was 2. Her right knee was a grade 3/4 and had to be operated on. Her left knee is nearer a grade 2, so we are hoping we won't have to have that one done.
She was diagnosed with mild arthritis in her right leg at age 3 and is now on pain relief for life.
I was recommended to give her Anitnol. But like everything else, it's not cheap.

You can get a bulk buy 2kg which lasts ages and is considerably cheaper- once you’ve tested a smaller one first obvs

supplements aren't going to help, stop being cruel and either get to the vet and ask for decent pain killers or do the humane thing.

LP is really operable. I would say unless you can hold the joint in place with physio and muscle tone I'd opt for an op to fix it. It's common in small dogs and I have known lots of agility dogs with it (trainer). Either you build the muscles to support it and then keep an eye that it's not slipping or you operate for the best chance of good quality of life.

Any signs of pain or hopping or discomfort mean that it's not mild tbh. You need to ask for a referral. It's common but not normal and is really painful.

@Newpeep My dog was hop, skipping on her right leg and flicking it out sideways to pop the knee cap back in. The specialist said straight away it needed operating on. She walks normally and shows no sign of discomfort on her left leg, so we have left that one for now.

I'm worried now by the posts just above that suggest an op is needed if signs of hopping/skipping are there.

When my dog first started showing the behaviour (aged about 20 months) I took him to the vet, and also got a referral to a more specialist vet service. On the basis of a scan, watching his gait and manipulating the joint they said that he did have a problem, but that it was limited to 'maltracking' rather than dislocation.

Although they said that I could opt for an operation if I wanted to, it was clear that their own position was to leave well enough alone. They also said explicitly that he wasn't in pain. (I made it clear he was fully insured and that we could afford an op if that was in his best interests.)

He had a course of hydrotherapy, but the therapist said that he was basically fine despite the hopping.

That was two years ago. I'm wondering now whether I should seek a new referral to review how things are for him?

If he were mine I’d be seeking a referral. LP is SO painful. If the joint can be stabilised by the muscles then fine but if it’s slipping then it’s doing a lot of damage.

I would find a really good physio and see what they think. My spaniel is young (just turned 1) and was diagnosed with LP at the start of the year. Our physio is incredible and is way more knowledgeable about the condition than our vets as she’s a specialist. My boy has laser and physio sessions and I’m hoping that will be enough to ward off any surgery for a few years to come. Definitely get a second opinion if you are concerned.

Thanks, @YorkshireFelix . Agree that physios can be much more perceptive and helpful simply bcs of their v specialised skills and experience. I think I will get it looked at again.

I could just go straight to another course of hydrotherapy, which is provided at the same specialist vets that made the assessment. The woman there was so good at analysing his movement, I'm sure she would be able to tell me whether I needed to consult with the vet again about surgery.

@RandomlyGeneratedTriad Typed a long reply to this this morning and then lost it. I'll try again.

My dog started showing signs of being in pain, so I took her to the vet. The only thing they found was her luxating patellas. I hadn't noticed her hopping, but when I looked at videos I had taken it was obvious. She would do a hop, skip and flick her leg out to the right to pop her knee cap into place. This happened frequently throughout the walk.
We saw a physiotherapist first, but it didn't help. Her knee cap popped out of place on the water treadmill, and she was unable to pop it back in. Her leg got dragged backwards by the conveyor belt and she cried her way through treatment.
We saw a specialist and he said straight away that her right knee was a grade 3/4 and needed operating on. Reading up, this means her knee cap was out of place more than it was in.
Her left leg is a grade 1/2 and we are hoping we won't need to operate on that one. This sounds more like the maltracking that your dog has been diagnosed with. However, she shows no signs of limping, hopping or skipping on that leg.

At the end of the day, we have to put our trust in the people who see and treat our dogs. If the specialist vet says your dog's condition can be managed through physio and exercise, then they know better than people on the Internet who haven't seen your dog.
It took my dog a year to fully recover from the operation, as she had complications. And at 3 years old, she was diagnosed with arthritis in her right knee. But I've recently taken her back to the physio for a check up and she's very happy with her.
If you are worried, I'd book an appointment with the physio for a check up. I intend to take mine for yearly check ups just to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Thanks very much, @SpanielsGalore . That's helpful. I'm sorry your dog has had such a hard time, both with the condition itself and with the recovery from the surgery.

That's something that frightens me a lot - the possibility that surgery might bring its own problems. Clearly your dog needed the op, so the risk of complications was an appropriate one to take, but I think my dog's condition was just a grade 1, and the specialist vet clearly felt that the risk wasn't worth it for him.

It's def time for me to get a professional review of the situation now, though. I'm definitely going to book an appt.

I'm glad your gog is doing ok now. Best of luck with her future wellbeing.

I don’t think I was suggesting definitely an op - I was advocating for seeking specialist help and a review if it’s been a while as things change.

I know two agility dogs with LP very well and both are kept stable by physio.

@Newpeep No you weren't. You agreed it could be managed with exercise and physio, and that the condition should be monitored. It was more the posts commenting that the dog must be in pain when the vet and physio said he wasn't that I was referring to.