Luxating Patella Grades

[Kristi]

Aug 14, 2011 21:32:52 GMT brodysmom said:

This is so scary to me because Brody is the energizer bunny and he has no fear. He runs and jumps and LEAPS off of couches, beds, etc. He races up and down the stairs. He is sooooo active. I have tried the pet stairs and he just leaps off right next to them instead of using them. I should have never let him get on the bed/furniture as a baby. He is incorrigible and unstoppable!! I'm so afraid he's going to injure his knees/hips with all the running and jumping he does.

I worry about this with Trigger too! It's even worse because at 7 lbs he has JUST enough extra size to get ANYWHERE he damn well pleases, and then go sailing off of it I just keep him on supplements and am trying my best to teach him to stop jumping...we put an xpen around our livingroom area so they couldn't jump on/off the couch...he jumps up the back of the couch, and off of it ONTO TILE...ach...

I have heard if their knees are sound at age 2, then anything from there on out that happens w/ their knees is not genetic but rather injury related.

[Paula]

Aug 14, 2011 21:09:51 GMT Kristi said:

She is so light and small, that even if there were something wrong, I wouldn't put her through the surgery and recovery again, it is SO HARD on them, The recovery was definitely stressful and NO FUN.

Yes, the recovery is so stressful. I think most on here know that my Roo had grade 3 in both back legs. Pip also has LP, but it's low grade. I will not have surgery on his as he uses his legs normally for the most part with an occasional skip.

I personally would only have surgery if the dog really was not using the leg at all or in obvious pain. I don't think even occasional skipping is enough to warrant it.

Kristi - have you been able to keep Oakley from jumping? Do you keep all of your furniture blocked off?

[brodysmom]

Aug 14, 2011 21:35:00 GMT Kristi said:

I have heard if their knees are sound at age 2, then anything from there on out that happens w/ their knees is not genetic but rather injury related.

Really?? Oh, maybe I can give a sigh of relief since he will be 3 years old next month?! Before we came to Washington, and I had his titers drawn, he had a thorough exam and the vet tried to luxate his knees and they wouldn't. So he said they were 0/0 and said that was rare in toy breeds. We were spending a lot of time talking about it and I told him that occasionally Brody runs down the stairs on 3 legs so he thought we should x-ray his hips. So he had both hips x-rayed to check for Legg Perthes and they are firmly seated in their sockets with no sign of Legg Perthes. He also x-rayed his knees just to make sure that everything looked fine there. I feel like we were so lucky.

Of course he is genetically blind in the left eye, so we weren't totally lucky. ha.

[Kristi]

All of mine go down the stairs on 3 legs lol, I've always thought it was hilarious! I guess since you just have one you don't have others to compare the behavior too, but I think that's pretty common for them to go down the stairs that way? IDK why though.

Yeah, if his knees were solid and he's almost 3 you probably don't have a lot to worry about. The latest genetic LP will show up is around 20-22 months. MOST dogs will clear at age 1, but it's best to not use a dog in a breeding program until they are almost 2 or 2 years of age to be sure of the genetic status of their knees. If they develop a problem later, generally it does not mean they need to be removed from a breeding program because it wasn't genetic, but rather due to the dog's activity level or a freak injury. It is rare there are problems in them once they hit 2 with solid knees tho

Paula -- no, I don't even try anymore. We do have our furniture blocked off, but she jumps on and off of it when she wants to. I don't let the rest of my pups but I just can't seem to stop her! She jumps on and off of our bed all the time, too. If we don't pick her up onto whatever she wants that we have blocked off she will jump as high as she can and crash down on her little rear legs over and over til we put her where she wants to be. It drives me NUTS!

[Kristi]

Oh, the other thing is, generally between 9-10 years old, even the healthiest knees move to about a grade 1. That's just a normal part of aging and the wear and tear on the knee over time...but nothing to worry about and nothing that will even warrant surgery esp at that age. Birdie's granddaddy (the dog she is linebred on) still tests at 0,0 at 15 years of age, which I think is really cool!

[rosiesmum]

I think a lot of breeders pass off patella luxation in the pups they sell as injury related, it's just another cop out according to the vet we used. Most breeders are also in denial that it is an issue in the UK (like heart issues), in some surprising places ....

When I told orthopaedic vet that J's breeder insisited it was injury related and not in her dogs, he rolled his eyes and said "They ALL say that"

[Sarah]

Lotus is due her vaccs this month (1 year ones) so I am gonna get her knees scored then. I did daisy at 6 months after her spay where we had the loose kneecap :s and then at 1 where they were solid :s I routinely get them checked at their annual check up!!

Kristi idk about the states but over here I noticed a few judges are v v thorough with manipulating hocks and knees when going over them. Like they are trying to see if the knee will pop out? One if Lotus critiques says she's v firm in her hocks so I think in the ring at least they are starting to check for things more!

Louise said one judge was counting teeth!!

[rosiesmum]

They just need to take a stethescope in with them now to sound the dogs heart's

Seriously though good the dogs are being so thoroughly gone over, it's also the dogs at home that need to be checked by a vet to check these things (heart and knees) out

In my thoughts.