My poor doggie! He had slipped out of the garden last Thursday and when I found him, I scooped him up and carried him back home, scolding him. When we got through the door, he wriggled out of my arms, leapt down, and landed wrong. He started to whimper, which is very, very unlike my tough little Jack Russell Terrier. I took him to the vet, who diagnosed a dislocated knee, and recommended an orthopedic clinic. I’ve got an appointment with them for Wednesday morning, and pain meds to give him each day until we decide what has to be done.
The vet didn’t seem to think that the fall was the cause of the dislocation, which took me by surprise. It seems that small dogs are prone to dislocated knees and it was just going to happen someday. The other knee (hind knee? Do dogs have knees on their forelegs? Suddenly I feel extremely ignorant) seems to be okay, so maybe that won’t turn into a problem. It looks very like he’ll need surgery on the dislocated knee, but we’ll see if the orthopedic vet on Wednesday has a different take on it.
Has anyone had any experience with this in their own dogs? Did they have surgery, and how long of a recovery time was it? Does this ever just take care of itself? Why do bad things have to happen to good dogs?
I’ve had dogs tear their CCL and have to have surgery to repair it. 6 weeks of crate rest and leash walking for the last one, this January. Expensive, but a good result. My vet said smaller dogs are mmore likely to heal without surgery than big dogs.
StG
I’m assuming it’s luxating patella and that it’s going to be an ongoing problem. One leg is usually the worst. Surgery is a cure and if you do it, it helps lessen the chances the dog will develop arthritis, etc.Two of my close friend’s dogs have had the surgery, and while it’s a pain the ass to totally limit their movements/make sure they don’t jump, both healed well.
My Yorkie had this problem earlier this year (subluxating patella). I can’t remember what the meds were, I’m thinking pain and steroids. But the important part was strict crate rest for a week to ten days. Only out of the crate for potty runs. It really sucked for the little gal (and my sanity with all the whimpering) but she healed up from that just fine.
I was told that it will likely happen again and if it does, surgery might be required. The groove that the patella slides through isn’t deep enough in some dogs, so the patella slips out. At least part of the surgery is to deepen the groove.
Update: I was at the animal clinic this morning with my Sammy dog and he does indeed need surgery. The problem is a luxating (or subluxating? I’m translating from the German here) patella. He’ll have the surgery in several weeks so that his recovery time will be in the summer vacation. He’s not supposed to jump for weeks after the surgery, but Sammy’s quite bright, so I’ll just sit him down and explain that he needs to take it easy for a while, and I’m sure that’ll be no problem.
He was such a patient, brave, tough dog at the vet’s, while he was poked and prodded and flipped onto his side and had his kneecaps manipulated. I hope this whole experience won’t be traumatic for him. He’s a wonderful, sweet, loving boy.
Oh dear. Good luck with the surgery. Keeping a Jack Russell from jumping is going to be a chore. Let us know how it goes.
My little Papillon Cricket had the surgery when she was under a year old. She healed right up and has never had a problem with it since. >knock wood< She had a hot pink cast on it, my dad and I called her pegleg, and the funniest was when she had to squat to pee- she would sling it out to the side to get it out of the way! I have a picture of that somewhere…
One thing you can do to ease the period of immobilization is to keep the dog cuddled up in your lap for at least part of the day so he’s not just stuck in a crate for weeks, but you can still keep him largely immobile.
When Simone had a foot injury, I sat in the big recliner chair in front of the TV with a blanket and Simone in my lap and we knocked a bunch of movies off the DVR.
Sammy doesn’t actually have a crate. He has several baskets around the house, a favorite spot at the top of the sofa, and, although it is expressly forbidden by my husband, a most favoritest spot under the covers of our bed when my husband isn’t home. I figure he won’t be all that mobile right after the surgery, but as soon as he starts to heal … I wonder if they make a dog equivalent of those things you can strap to your front to carry a baby around. I greatly prefer the idea of a comfy chair and stack of DVDs, but that could be a hard sell to my family. For sure, I’m going to have to hide his soccer ball so he doesn’t chase it around the yard as usual.
Dang, keeping him from hurting himself post-surgery is going to be a new level of challenging. I’d better get a good source of bubble wrap ASAP!