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Vet visit

edel

Well-known member
I took Lady to the vet last night and told him that the treatment for her scratching does not work. And also that she fell off the sofa and hurt her leg and now she sometimes has a limp in her back leg. After examination my vet said that both of lady's legs have luxating patellas. :cry: Im very upset to hear this and feel so bad for her. He said that he does not want to operate on her, that if she seems to be in pain he will give me painkillers and that she would most likely have arthritis later on.

He said because her scratching wasnt causing any obvious pain and she was not breaking the skin, to leave her alone and not to worry. I showed him the SM articles printed off from here and he glanced over them. He said he had not heard of this illness before and she could possibly have it but it did not seem to be severe so he didnt think any further action was necessary.

Am i missing something here? I just felt a bit fobbed off or maybe Im just crazy over my dog. What do you all think?
 
With luxating patellas, a lot of them tighten by the time the dog is mature and they are a common problem for toy breeds, but often don't need any interference. Did he say what grade he thought they were? They grade them on a number scale, with 1 being the mildest. Usually they don't operate on a grade 1 and often not a grade 2 or even a 3 at Lady's age. The vets usually will wait til she grows into her joints then reassess. There's some more info on them here: http://www.cavaliertalk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=523

If she has a low grade she will likely be fine with no arthritis issues at all. Dogs have a high incidence with arthritis anyway so don;t worry too much about that.

Your vet is probably right that if Lady is only scratching and it doesn't bother her much, that there's no point investigating SM further at this time. The only way to get a definite diagnosis is with an MRI and in Ireland they cost around €1000. She may also have PSOM -- glue ear -- that might make her scratch; this is common in cavaliers and both mine have it. It caused Jaspar to scratch enough that I had him MRId for SM (though he was clear). You can read a section on PSOM on my SM website where you got the other info.

On the other hand it does sound like he could take you a little more seriously. I can give you the name of a really great vet down near Cork who would be quite open in discussing issues you are concerned about. I think he is just outside of Cork proper; I'll get his name for you.

You might consider getting or making a little step so lady can get onto sofas and beds without having to jump on and off as this will put strain on those patellas.
 
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