Brian,
I am a surgeon in the US, so here are my thoughts:
. A medial patellar luxation is a very common problem. There is not really a specific age to diagnose it. This whole business about "being late" is just not accurate (with all due respect).
. You can read about it on my web site, so you can educate yourself (for free).
. The success rate with surgery is EXTREMELY HIGH.... in the right hands.
. It scares me that they're "gonna try sutures first." Again, with all due respect. I don't think that's appropriate. I would say that most patellar luxations would benefit from a tibial crest transposition. If they don't do that, you shouldn't go there. Deepening the groove and adding sutures if typically not enough.
. You seemed scared and confused because you're getting 50 different opinions. That's OK, there is no emergency situation here.
. So what would I suggest? That you seek a referral to a board-certified surgeon, and trust them.
. This is where it gets very confusing for our friends in the UK and Ireland. There, a "veterinary surgeon" is a vet.
. What I mean is, you should get a 2nd opinion from a SURGEON, ie someone who does surgery ONLY (for example, I fixed 4 patellas just in the past 2 weeks!). So, ideally, a board-certified surgeon, either ECVS or ACVS certified.
. There is no way to be confused, these are the only letters you should be looking for. There are plenty of board-certified surgeons around.
. ECVS = European College of Veterinary Surgeons
. ACVS = American College of Veterinary Surgeons
. As a conclusion, patella surgery is not hard to do. It's hard to do well.
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Good luck and keep us posted.
drphilzeltzman (doggie surgeon in the US)
www.drphilzeltzman.com