Rosie's Patella Problem - Help Pls

Hi

While with Mr Deutschland at Chestergates fo Rosie's for her MRI , and when she had her pre scan manipulative inspection he commented that she had luxating patella and that if it wasnt fixed in a reasonable time she could later in life suffer from bad osteo athritis .
The patella problem was pointed out to me last year on an annual vet vist and I posted about it on CT ,my local vet then immediately recommended surgery which I decided to laeve for a bit and watch and wait and I have noticed nothing at all wrong since .But what is totally confusing me know is that Mr Deuchsland then commented "that Rosie appears to have had the patella problem for a period of time "and I of course said "that during the last 12/15 months she has given no visible sign of anything wrong and certainly no sign of pain or discomfort" he then commented "that she must have learnt to live with it :shock: How can this be! are our Cavaliers so stoical and have such a high threshold of pain .

Help Pls ,this has totally thrown me. How could I have missed this

Cavaliers can be very stoic, but you are such an attentive owner to your Flower Girls that I am sure you would have noticed if Rosie had shown any sign of discomfort.

we are at the end of mischa's first post op week ,we first saw the classic pull up leg straight out thing when she was ten months ,looking on the web we arrived at the conclusion it must be LP so xrays and exams where went through ,the conclusion was she was fine ,was most likely a pulled muscle so rest was advised ,few days later she was fine and stayed that way till sept this year when she had 3 episodes in the space of a week , its a weird thing to watch them pull up in pain then ten seconds later carry on as though nothing has happened ,but with the LP issue in mind we took her back and a new vet after manipulation diagnosed LP ,when we said about previous xrays we where told it would have been very mild but as it is degenerative and the older they get with usage and natural wear and tear it will get worse the specialist malcom ness told us the same thing ,he said there was some cartlidge damage as well but after the (successfull ,everything crossed ) surgery this wouldnt get any worse ,but it confused us till it was explained why it never showed up on the first xrays and during the intial exams

I n my experience it does indeed get worse as they get older - so often they don't start pulling up until they are 4 or 5...

They can learn to put it back themselves so you might not even notice...

Cavaliers are very, very stoic - especially bitches. Wild animals do not show weakness and manage even with severe injuries etc


It is better to have the surgery done - gives them the best chance of a pain free life, although obviously they are more likely to have osteoarthritis in the future.

Margaret C said:

Cavaliers can be very stoic, but you are such an attentive owner to your Flower Girls that I am sure you would have noticed if Rosie had shown any sign of discomfort.

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Very much agreed! I am amazed at how they seem so happy because I think they just want to please and are so extraordinary. I get a papercut and I scream and Ella gets her eye out of the socket one big yelp and nothing. Here I am limping around with a bruised pinky toe and hopping around. Anyway, I got my Cavalier magazine and was going to try and catch up on other health issues. I am sorry you and Rosie are going through this but I agree with Margaret. You are an exceptional person to your "flower girls". They could not ask for anyone better.

Hi
Sitting back at Chestergates with Rosie waiting to see Martin but
With more knowledge and questions this time so I will ask
And listen closely

Hey Brian,

I am thinking of you! I don't know about knowledgable questions, I just keep coming back here. There was one saying about owners of pets who always call and keep concerned about their pets. It doesn't matter because I will call and call if I did not get everything out and forget something!

Hope it went ok

Hows My Annie

We attended Chestergates at 4.30 pm saw Mr Martin Deutchland , and once more he manipulated her body but especially over her back and again my calm little Rosie took it all in her stride and didn't utter a sound , he was very pleased .He concluded more rest and a slow gradual build up of exercise of maybe up to six weeks and for me to ring in about two weeks if theres any changes for the good or worse ,and that she can go on limited walks but only on the lead so to build her up body over the next six weeks .Keep giving the Rimadyl but from now on only one 100 mg Gapaentin daily and for her to be off them all at the end of this course.He wouldn't commit himself as to the disc problem being either degenerative or just aself inflicted injury through playing but hes fairly happy a good rest and then slow build will help .I asked about giving supplements to assist building her bones up but hes not a believer of them ,and then I asked him advice about her patella which he advised that its only her left one but he was caeful with his comments as to what action I should take saying hes a neurologist and not an orthopedic surgeon but as she has lived quite well and managed it for 15 months he thinks poss surgery might not be the way to go just yet but to see my own vets and ask for an x-ray to clarify the severity of it .So I don't think I could really have had a better appointment.

PS I messed up my email and my new one is [email protected]
thanks