Luxating Patella

[Buster]

Hi,
I've been lurking for some time, but the time had come to post.

We just picked up Zola from the vet's last weekend after having had her patella groove deepened and the corresponding tendon centered.
She's recovering well (even the vet was surprised the couple of days she was in after the op how quickly she was putting weight on it) and is in excellent spirits.
In fact that's part of the problem. Normally I'm not windy at all, but I'm terribly afraid she will burst her stitches or damage the work done on her leg with her exuberance. Try as we might to get her to be calm, it's proving very difficult. She's not a badly behaved dog, in fact, she is very well behaved, but as I said, she's lively and just wants to play and give kisses ALL the time, when I just want her to chill for the next couple of weeks while she recuperates.
The fact that she's not getting her walks may be contributing to this, we even have to put her on a lead to take her out the back for a pee and a poo.
I'm not sure what I'm asking for, maybe just some reassurance from some people who've had this done in the past?

[Ruth]

It is vital that you keep Zola quiet even if it means resorting to a crate. It will be terribly hard, but it is so important. Nothing at all off the lead, not even for a second.
I've been there and done that and even got the T shirt, but seriously it is so important that her exhuberance is curtailed.
Warm wishes,
Ruth

[Cathy T]

I went through this a year ago with Shelby when she was a year old. And the surgery didn't hold and had to be redone...another 8 weeks of recuperating!! What a nightmare. But you know...I got through it. We put a x-pen in the family room and if Shelby wasn't in our laps (tightly held on to so she couldn't jump) she was in the pen. She got so that she automatically went to her pen when we came in from potty (always on a leash). It's really a pain but it is possible. And then...freedom sweet freedom. Don't let her jump or run...very vital. We put a bed and some toys in her pen and she did great. The hardest part was keeping her and Jake from playing. It got so that Jake would lay down right outside her crate and "talk" to her through the gate. Once in a while he would go in there and lay down with her. It was really cute.

I'm just so glad it's over. But it was so worth it. You should my little mountain goat climbing the hills and bounding around.

[Karlin]

Shelby had that cute pink cast too, didn't she? I didn't realise she'd had to redo the surgery; ugh!

[Buster]

Thanks for your comments.
Had to replace the sticking plaster around the stitches last night, which was fun! Poor little girl was so good. It's like she knew it had to be done and she just took the discomfort of removing the old plaster. She's a lot calmer now as well and she's really milking the fuss being made of her!
To think she'll have to go through this all again in January for her other knee!

[Cathy T]

I feel for you!!! Luckily, Shelby will not need to have her other knee done. In fact, our surgeon recommended not doing it because of the problems with the first knee. Of course, if she needed it, we would suck it up and do it.

Yes, Karlin, she had that little pink wrap on her leg. We went through 8 weeks of restraining her and then noticed she was walking funny about the last two weeks. Sure enough, the surgery hadn't held and was redone. She was such an angel through the whole thing. Shelby is the most patient little dog. I don't know what we would have done had it been Jake who had the surgery! Aye yi yi!



How old is Zola? Tell her Shelby says she will feel so much better when she's all healed.

[Buster]

Zola was one last July.
She's being brilliant, not once has she complained. Already she's dying to get out of the house for her walks. Everytime one of us goes to the door without her, you can see her poor little face drop......

[Maxxs_Mummy]

Oh Cathy, that pic of Shelby is so cute. Her little spotty tummy all bare and she's just laying there feeling sorry for herself. poor little love icon_heartthrob

Buster, I hope Zola is OK and soon recovers. I think the X-pen is a really good idea - if you haven't got one then have a look in the local free-ads paper for a babies playpen.

[Buster]

Zola is going for her check up on Thursday morning, so fingers crossed. She seems to be doing really well, limping for a minute or two after she gets up from lounging around, but other than that, putting more weight on the leg as the days go by. She as adjusted better than i expected to not getting her walks in, but that may have to do with all of the spoiling she is getting!

The first pic is of her post-op, but you can't see the leg (other than a bit of the shaving if you look closely)
The second one is pre op, but just one of my favourites

[Ruth]

I would just like to add out of interest that my old ruby boy started life with slipping patellas on both knees, one in particular used to pop right out and I had to pop it back. Now he was a poorly puppy with what I now know was Episodic Falling and although he had ECG's and various tests nothing was showing up but I was scared to put him through an anaesthetic to repair these patellas. A friend of mine who is a vet told me to gently exercise him up hills (he was about 6months old at the time). This I started doing, putting him on a lead and steadily climbing hills with him (fortunately I live in a hilly area). It actually has worked, his muscles and ligaments strengthened and tightened up and from about a year old his knee caps never popped again and he is 12yrs old soon.
This isn't told as an option to surgery, sometimes the groove is so shallow that surgery has to be performed. Just thought it worth mentioning.
Warm wishes,
Ruth