My staffy appeared to injure her leg the other day and has now been intermittently limping.  we went to the vets today as I couldn't see or feel anything stuck in her foot and after a bit of feeling about the vet has diagnosed a luxating patella.  she screamed the place down as her leg was being manipulated and the vet found it easy to dislocate her leg but not put it back in place (dog did that herself when on the ground).

The vet told me that this is a functional problem and I totally understand the mechanics of it but am unsure how to progress now.  the vet said no medication or supplements will work (fair enough) and what she needs is to build up more muscle in her back legs to support the kneecap.

I have since done some reading on it and checked the search facility on here and am unsure whether she needs to be rested to prevent more damage being done everytime it slips or lots of exercise to build up the muscle which will support it and stop it slipping out.

All advice gratefully received about how to get my dog to do lunges and squats lol! I am also unsure if it makes a difference whether the luxation is medial or lateral.  Can I tell by the way her leg flicks out?

So many questions and fingers xed someone on CD has the answers for me.  If it helps with anyones thinking her hips are ok and it only appears to be the back left leg at the moment.

bumping this up coz I'm really in need of some advice.  Don't want to damage her knee any more than is already done.  Anyone got any advice?

I would seek a specialist opinion as from what I gather the problem gets worse as the groove is to shallow and often more muscle pulls the kneecap more to one side or the other making the problem worse.

thanks Barbara, I'm going to seek a second opinion as would hate to do more damage.  Google hasn't turned much up as I've only been able to find quite generic information.

Sorry, not been on for a bit. I have a dog with luxating patellas - larger breed than yours. Originally he was on rest and building muscles up to see if we could avoid surgery. He actually improved quite a lot on anti-inflammatories (and was rested for a bit while they took effect) as it was partly inflammation and swelling round the knee joint making the problem worse, and his kneecap came out a lot less (right worse than left) once he was on those. We did swimming to build his leg muscles up - was meant to be hydrotherapy but couldn't find anything decent round here so it was just swimming, but it didn't work and he ended up having an op..... only on the right knee though, the left's only ever come out about 3 or 4 times.

Friends with his half sister, who also turns out to have a luxating patella but a lot less severely, had no problems with her till she was several years old. Shortly after the problem developed their dog was on anti-inflammatories and antibiotics for a wound that had been stitched, and her knee settled down - or has done so far, and it was a couple of months ago.

What sort of information did the vet give you? Did they suggest anything?

The vet didn't give me any information just said to leave it as it operating can cause more problems.  there is another vet near me who has an orthopaedic specialist so I am going to phone them tomorrow and see if they can shed any light on what to do.

From the reading I have done, if I am to use exercise to build her legs up I would need to use different exercise depending on whether it is medial or lateral as if one side is built up would it push the kneecap to the other.  Aaargh I'm totally baffled.

I also don't know whether to put her on glucosamine and chondroitin (sp) as a precautionary measure against any discomfort from potential arthiritis or just leave be.  She currently gets garlic and fenugreek tablets and vegetable tablets so that may suffice.  It's good to hear of your experiences with a breed larger than a toy breed. thanks.

Operating caused a lot of problems in my dog's case - but it's apparently due to the length of legs (ie smaller body and longer legs) as well as just the weight that can cause problems with ops. Duibh's patellar luxation is medial, and that is meant to be the case for most. You could ring the vet and ask - they should know, having examined your dog!

A lot of people give dogs glucosamine even when they're healthy as a preventive - I have both mine on it.

And I would say the orthopaedic specialist sounds like a good idea for the most informed up to date advice.

Good luck, may not be about much over next 2 or 3 weeks but PM me if there's anything you want to ask.

thanks Terry, I really appreciate it

a quick update.  I saw the orthopaedic vet tonight whose advice was to operate straight away rather than wait until it gets worse.  I'm now unsure what to do as he says it won't get better as it is a conformation problem and would prefer to do the op before any more damage is done.
I'm going to have a think over xmas and decide but it takes 6-8 weeks to recover from the op so definitely not a quick fix.

I was quite impressed with the vet I saw and am now thinking of changing vets but not sure what the process/etiquette is for changing vets.  Do you have to notify the current vet or just change?  Is it more like changing GP or hairdresser?
theres also a hydrotherapy pool opening up in January near me so although it won't help her leg at the moment it might be good after the op (if I get it) to give her non weight bearing exercise.

More like hairdresser.  It is entirely up to you if you want to use one or more vets depending on your needs.  some vets do not like to treat you if you are registered with another practise, more to keep good relations between neighbouring practises.

I use two vets one for treatment and another for vaccinations and spaying, the latter was a low cost clinic, but has been taken over by one of the big local practises and they offer a slightly cheaper preventative treatment clinic.

I think staffies are meant to have more success with the ops than bigger breeds. If I was you I would press him about potential complications - like I had with Duibh (ligament pulling the bone off twice and needing an external fixator) - and how much risk there is of that. With a successful op it's meant to reduce future problems like arthritis so if it's very very likely to be successful I would probably go for it (but if not I would think twice as if you do get bad complications they are bad...). HTH.

And changing vets is just a question of giving them the contact of your previous vets so they can get the dog's history. It's up to you what vets you want to use, you're the one paying!

Thanks Terry, I will look on the net for usual and unusual complications and get a list of questions for the vet.  I was going to book in for the op today as her knee has been popping out a lot since last night but decided to check my e-mails first - really glad I did.  Thanks.

The vet told me there are 2 possible ops he could do and it would depend on what he saw when he opened her up which one he would do.  He said to me it is a really common op for him to do which was reassuring.  Thanks for the changing vet advice too.  I've had a few near misses recently with my current vet where they were wanting to amputate her toes when she had interdigital cysts (I got a second opinion there too and she still has all of her digits!) and now this so think it is time to change.