Doodles is limping again HELP!!!!!!!!!

Ok so here is a little background. Doodles is a 1 1/2year old blk and tan spayed female. We got her at 12weeks. Almost immediatly after we got Doodles I noticed she couldnt squat in one place to poop. I work at a vets office at the time so we shot x rays and found out that our 12 week old puppy had horrible hips. The vet took Doodles off puppy food to stop her from growing to fast and put her on Cosequin. We were told her hips would either get better and be fine once she was full grown or she would need surgery. That was Oct 2005. Then this last Christmas 2006 we took Doodles with us to Christmas in Pheonix. Well the night we left was the night after the big blizzards started to hit Colorado. Doodles was out playing in the snow as usual. When we got in the car to drive to Arizona I noticed Doodles was limping. I got her doggy aspirin and just thought it was a sprain or something from trudging through the snow which was 4ft high. We were in Arizona nine days, every day I gave Doodles her aspirin and Cosequin and tried to keep her quiet among 50 people and 3 dogs she had never met. When we got home she was still limping so I took her to the vet. They told me she had a luxating patella and they wanted me to try Rimidyl for a week and see if she felt better. Well she didnt and we ended up back at the vet. The vet took more x rays because of her previous hip problems and found out that it looked like Doodles had completely grown out of her bad hips. But her Luxation was bad and she need surgery. So at the end of January Doodles had Patella surgery on her left knee. The vet also looked at the other knee and said the other one looked normal. Well we got her home and tried to keep her quiet which isnt easy because she is the hyperist Cavalier I have ever seen. Everything was going good till yesterday. I woke up yesterday and she was limping on her right leg. I just cried! This morning the right leg seems fine but she is now holding up her left leg and seems like she is having trouble going to the bathroom. We are going to the vet tomorrow but I am horrible scared of the outcome. I love all my pets to death but this couldnt have come at a worse time. My fiancee and I waited to start planning our wedding till after we had taken care of her medical expenses. I just sent the site deposit(1500.00) three days ago. Plus Doodles little sister(Kiwi) is getting spayed next week and microchipped and her other sister who is a cat(Lexus) is getting a dental the same day. That should be around a 500.00 vet bill. How do I come up with another 1000.00? I know I will find a way to pay for it if she needs it but the stress is going to kill me in the meantime. I am also worried about the quality of life she will have if she needs a surgery on her other knee or the same one again. She is a spunky dog. Keeping her off the couch, stairs and peoples lap is virtually impossible. I feel like I ma failing her as a mom. I have always considered myself very responsible for 21yrs old and thought I did more for my pets then most people would do but I am seriously doubting myself now. I just look at her and I cry because I cant bear the thought of losing her or not letting her be herself!

I'm sorry to hear you have had all these problems with Doodles.

There are a couple of dogs here who have had surgery on two knees at once, or had the surgery for knees repeated, so dogs are well able to handle this. It is very important for dogs to be given crate rest and totally confined during recovery though -- it sounds like perhaps you haven't done this? What did your vet say? Search through the threads here on patellas and you will get many discussions onthe best way of managing dogs after surgery but always, keeping the dog confined for several weeks features as the main point from vets.

Unfortunately health costs are a key factor in pet ownership (often running far in excess of the feeding costs and costs of a puppy from a reputable breeder) -- and especially can be an issue with purebred dogs and with this breed, which has some costly breed conditions, among them hip dysplasia, luxating patellas, mitral valve disease (which nearly all cavaliers eventually get, and syringomyelia. It's one reason I always recommend taking out insurance for cavaliers.

By the way have you contacted your breeder to inform him/her that Doodles was diagnosed with hip problems at such a young age and has luxating patellas? Any dogs that are passing on both these conditions should be pulled from a breeding programe and any reputable breeder will want to know that these conditions have been diagnosed as this is crucial information for their breeding programme. Incidentally carefully researching breeders and confirming through certificates that they do proper health testing for eyes, hips, knees and herts is the single best way to minimise the chance of these problems arising. The puppy will likely cost more but this is generally 'saved' in most dogs having minimal to no health problems needing treatment -- anything other than a health-focused breeder will run a far higher risk of passing these problems on to their puppies, given the narrow gene pool of the breed.

Doodles

Karlin
We did tons of research on the breed before we got Doodles but unfortantly were young and dumb and got her from a BYB. Not listening to all the books when they said to only get them from health certified parents, reputable breeder, ect. We got puppy fever and got her because we had fallin in love! She doesnt breed anymore, thank god. Her dogs had a litter by accident after Doodles litter. I did contact her when Doodles was 12 weeks old and first had the problems. I also let her know when Doodles had Patella surgery. She told me that she told all the other people with puppies. But who knows! We know the expense of having a dog and our dogs have never gone without something they really needed. If Doodles needs surgery we will find a way to pay for it plain and simple. I am more worried about her being confined again. We did crate confine her for 8 weeks after surgery and only let her out after the vets approval. She is very unusual dog though my vet told me she was the only dog she ever saw that woke up from Patella surgery and wanted to go for a run and jump all over the place. she was then confined for about 4 weeks to the kitchen with a baby gate. Which we doubled up(making it 8ft tall) and she escaped everyday many times a day sometimes. So we ended up just taking it down because the vet thought that jumping over gates was far worse then running up stairs and getting on our bed. Which we took the frame off of so it only sat about 12 inches from the ground. My fiancee for Valentines day wasnt thinking and got me a puppy(cav) which lucky we got from a very good breeder, paid way more money for and she came with health garuntee, parents health cert. He did tons of research this time around on the breeder. He being a man, just didnt think about timing. Luckily she is very calm compared to Doodles and doesnt get Doodles in trouble. We are working with our trainer everyday with getting Doodles to calm down, stop jumping. But we are running out of stuff to do. That is just Doodles!
I will update you after he vet today!
Nichole, doodles and kiwi

She is just fine. Neck, head, knees, hips, back are all fine. The vet just thinks she might have pulled a muscle or strained being her spunky self. Yippie. now I can breathe:rah:

what a relief! glad to hear the good news.

Delighted to hear all is well!! :rah: :rah: :rah: