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Limping 7 month old

Maggie's Mom

Active member
I have a 7 month old cav puppy. She has started limping on rear paws. She tends to slide on harwood floors and her legs slip and then she will start to limp for 1 or 2 steps. All of the posts on Pattella subluxation are making me very nervous. Breeder has told me that there is no family history at all. Has anyone had slipping and limping issues that were not patella problems?
 
If she has hair covering the pads of her feet try trimming the fur away from the pads o she can get better traction. She might just be spraining her leg from sliding around on the floor.
 
Patella luxation can be caused by injuries to cavaliers who have no family history of patella problems.

My India injured her knee as a puppy, and developed luxating patella. The vet did not know the cause until he performed surgery; he found a torn cartilage was the problem.

Your vet will be able to determine whether the patella is normal by feeling it.

If your dog is slipping, try trimming the hair between her paws - it might make a difference. Also, throw rugs can help.
 
Do get her right away to a vet -- this does potentially sound like patellar luxation but whatever the case, needs to be investigated. Does the breeder have certs for patellas that you have seen, and does she actually test for them, or is she simply saying there's 'no history'? If the breeder doesn't actually health test for this, then she is is probably unlikely to know whether her lines are at risk from this problem; most breeders do not keep track of every puppy they home (and wouldn't be able to) and many owners will not return to report problems to the breeder (though people always should as a conscientous breeder will base breeding decisions on such information).

If the pup is limping, it is a clear sign that she is in pain and needs to be seen by a professional; only a vet can make a proper medical diagnosis. A pup will notstart to limp unless something is definitely wrong. They also will not limp just from playing on hardwood floors -- I have hard floors throughout my house and many breeders have tile floors or hard floors without any problems. Mine also will slip around when playing (though do keep hair between feet clipped short to minimise slipping. However she needs her knees checked and any other possible cause for the limping). (y)
 
Our little Cooper was also diagnosed with luxating patellas at about 8 months of age and had his first op 3 weeks ago. He seemd to start limping out of the blue too and it gradually got worse over the next few weeks. He would hold his back leg out straight to try and get the patella back in place. The limping would last a few seconds and then he'd be ok.

There was also no family history that the breeder knew about and they do documented health checks. So unless an owner didn't report the problem to the breeder, this came out of the blue. When we rang them to let them know, they hadn't heard of any problems with the rest of the litter either. So from personal experience - no family history doesn't mean that it is impossible to be a congenital problem. I hope it's just a strain but I would definitely get her to a vet. Just in case. Cooper went from a very occasional slip - to nearly 3 weeks later just before the op having a lot of trouble.

On another note, our elder cav Fergus tried to jump on a bed that was too high for him at about 7 months and was limping after that. He had just hyperextended his leg and some anti inflammatories settled him down quickly so it may not be patellas, but definitely get it checked.
 
Maggie's Mom said:
I have a 7 month old cav puppy. She has started limping on rear paws. She tends to slide on harwood floors and her legs slip and then she will start to limp for 1 or 2 steps. All of the posts on Pattella subluxation are making me very nervous. Breeder has told me that there is no family history at all. Has anyone had slipping and limping issues that were not patella problems?

Hi Diane. I saw in your other post, on the Harvey broken tibia thread, you said Maggie had a hairline fracture of a leg when you first got her. Is it the same leg that's limping? I hope you can see a vet right away to clear up what's going on and get her some help. good luck, i hope it's not too serious.
 
She will be going to vet on Thursday. Maggie actually had a hairline fracture of her front paw. Now having problems with rear. She will only hold paw up for a few secs. Never even yelps. The rest of the time she runs and plays normally. She is fine when there is carpet, but has trouble on wood floors. I am having her groomed Friday. They will trim paws, if vet can not do it.

I am just hoping it is the strain from paws slipping or anything else. I have insurance, but not for anything congenital. I need to change my company.
 
I agree with Karlin. Go to the vet straight away and get it checked out. The sooner the better! :xfngr: If it is the patellas it can be treated and in the vast amount of cases successfully. Daisy Boo was diagnosed at 9 months and is perfect now at 17 months.

Good luck :flwr:
 
Maggie saw vet and they think it is crucial ligament. On rest and anti inflammatories. Will recheck in 2 weeks. I guess it is slightly better than Patella issue, but still has an 80% chance of surgery. I could cry. :sl*p: She is such an active puppy that it is so sad when she has to be confined. We have 2 cats and she thinks she can do anything they do.
 
Sorry you got some bad news Diane. The upside is that it is something that is fixable. Keep us posted on how she does.
 
I have been doing more research on Ligament injuries. My vet said 80% required surgery, but several sites state that dogs under 20 pounds do well with rest and anti inflammatories. I think the vet may be rushing to judgement. Anyone out there with ligaments that healed without surgery???
 
I don't know anything about dogs with torn CLs, but know a bit about people with 'em...could be similar, but could be very different. In people with torn Anterior CLs (ACL), most orthos try a conservative route first to see if the tear will heal itself with out surgery. Since the ACL has a decent blood supply, and that's what's needed for it to heal/repair, steroids along with a month of zero pressure on the area i.e. NO walking or weight-bearing, may do the trick. Since no further damage will be done by delaying surgery, this is definitely a great option for folks who can live on crutches for 6 weeks. After the ACL is repaired, either surgically or by rest, a few months of physical therapy is prescribed.

OTOH, tears to the MCL have little to no chance of repairing themselves with out surgery because of the very, very small blood supply to that ligament. Surgery is the standard protocol for torn MCLs, followed by physical therapy.

My daughter had a torn ACL. We followed the docs advice and had her hobble around on crutches for 6 weeks followed by 3 months of physical therapy. The only thing she can't do is the required kick for breast stroke...and she's a competitive swimmer and her best stroke is...you guessed it, breast stroke. But since this is her last year to compete, I don't regret the decision to avoid surgery. She was able to regain her activity level with out surgery.
 
I would go along with the vet's recommendations, possibly getting a second opinion. Your cav is young and getting this repaired will most likely improve her life in the long run.

When I was researching patella problems, I found that some vets want to treat small breeds different than the larger breeds when it comes to orthopedic problems, and I disagree with that! The little dogs like cavaliers are as deserving of a normal, active lifestyle as any large breed.

When India had the luxating patella, I researched and found that avoiding surgery causes future problems like premature arthritis and additional wearing on the bones. Once there is arthritis in the knee, patella surgery cannot help it.

Her surgery was successful, and she is like a normal dog. It really makes me happy to see her running at top speed with the other cavs. :)
 
Cathy Moon said:
When India had the luxating patella, I researched and found that avoiding surgery causes future problems like premature arthritis and additional wearing on the bones. Once there is arthritis in the knee, patella surgery cannot help it.

Cathy - that is precisely why I went ahead with the surgery on Shelby's knee. She was just a year old at the time and my vet wasn't pushing the surgery either way. The possibility of serious arthritis and further damage is what pushed me. I couldn't stand the thought of her being in pain from arthritis in her old age because of something I chose not to do. Doing the surgery was the best decision I made.
 
Cathy T said:
Cathy Moon said:
When India had the luxating patella, I researched and found that avoiding surgery causes future problems like premature arthritis and additional wearing on the bones. Once there is arthritis in the knee, patella surgery cannot help it.
Cathy - that is precisely why I went ahead with the surgery on Shelby's knee. She was just a year old at the time and my vet wasn't pushing the surgery either way. The possibility of serious arthritis and further damage is what pushed me. I couldn't stand the thought of her being in pain from arthritis in her old age because of something I chose not to do. Doing the surgery was the best decision I made.
Exactly why I opted to have surgery on one of my cavs for lux pat. Lux pats can't be repaired with out surgery. Same with a torn MCL. There's never a good reason to leave a dog in pain.
 
Maggie's vet said it was just a slight tear that might heal on it's own, but did not test in any way. She just felt her leg and gave an educated guess. I plan to see an orthopedist before we do anything. Just don't trust the 2 minute visit with the regular vet. Vet did say patella's were normal.
 
Just an update - Maggie has been doing well since the Anti Inflammatory treatment. We carried her around for a few days, because there is no way from the Family Room to the outside or up to bed without a full flight of stairs. She has not limped in days. She is now running all around, up and down stairs. She will be going back to Vet next week and hopefully they will be happy with her progress. :jump:
 
:updte:

Unfortunately, not such a good update. Maggie was doing really well after her anti inflammatory treatment. Now she is limping badly. We are making appt with an orthopedist for next week. She is only 8 months old and I feel so bad. Saw snow for the first time today. She was so excited, but running was so hard for her. I will crate her for the rest of the day to rest her leg and wait for dr to decide what to do next.
 
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