Luxating Patella!??

[schnzrluv]

Well when it rains it pours. Chloe is just getting over the terrible urinary tract infection and now we are on to the next problem. About a month ago she took a nasty spill on the stairs when she was chasing her ball. She stood her favorite rug all hunched in pain and shaking. I took her in and it was decided that she had a compressed spine. She was on steroids and a pain med and in a few weeks she was fine. Well Friday night she was comming up the steps in the garage way too fast (like always) and she bumped her leg. She did the same shivering whining thing again with her back leg lifted. She seemed to be fine in just a few seconds. Then it happened again last night, but seemingly for no apparent reason. She was just walking around and all of the sudden lifted her leg and began her spell. I thought maybe it was just sore from bashing it the night before, but just as soon as it started it stopped and she was fine. Today she seemed fine again but when we went for our walk (About 2 miles or so) I had to carry her at the end becuase she kept stopping and sitting down not wanting to walk anymore. It never dawned on me not to walk her because she seemed fine this morning I am taking her in this week to the vet in the meantime I am keeping her quiet. Not only do I feel aweful about walking her so far, but I am concered she might have a Luxating Patella. I always try to have an idea of what could be wrong before we go in becuase Chloe is extremely stoic. I don't know much about this condition but thougth it may possibly be the problem. Does anyone with expierience think this may be it? Or am I overreacting? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Lindsey

[Beryl]

The vet will confirm it easily by moving the kneecap around.

Latte had it badly on one knee so he had the surgery in December. He wanted to run/jump after a couple days but he needed to be kept still for a few weeks.

[calgal]

It sure sounds lik LP! My Zada had both knees operated on 10 months ago. She was laid up for 8 weeks.

[Beryl]

Wow calgal. I can't imagine both knees. Makes it a little hard to get around, potty, etc. You must have stayed close to her during the recuperation. No?

[Rivsky]

I know nothing about LP but just wanted to wish Chloe all the best in finding out what's wrong with her poor girl

[Swiftwind]

Abby had luxating patellas. We noticed Abby had stumbled going up some steps, and she was limping around and looking very sorry for herself. She wouldn't put any weight on her left hind, and her leg looked like it was bent underneath her a bit.

A few years ago she had to have surgery on one kneecap, and the other seems to be completely fine now. The surgery is expensive, but well worth it - especially to stop your baby being in pain.

Good luck working out what's wrong with Chloe.

[calgal]

I kept Zada in her expen attached to her crate, a foam pad down and a wee-wee pad. For the first two weeks I never took her out except at night when we sat down to watch TV. and I would hold her or let her lay next to me and chew a nice femur bone.
After the two weeks, I started taking her out in the back yard on the leash twice a day to walk around for about a couple minutes each. The fourth week I took her out on the leash three times a day for a couple minutes each time. The fifth week I took her out four times a day, the sixth week I took her out five times a day, the seventh week I let her loose for five minutes five times a day, week eight I let her outside every hour for a few minutes and then week nine she was on her own as long as she didn't do any jumping. I watched her like a hawk.

[Beryl]

That is a LOT of work calgal. Big ups to you for doing it so well. I'm sure she appreciated have a LOT of pain at one time rather than 2 sets of pain.

It was a chore keeping Latte still. The very next day after surgery, I thought Latte was nicely resting on my bed. I went downstairs to put Boo outside. I came back up and he had leaped off of the bed, went to the bathroom on his upstairs wee-wee pad and was on his way downstairs!

For the following 2 weeks, I would put him in a crate whenever I left his side. He would put toys on my lap for fetching and it was hard to refuse him. He wanted to run and play with Boo but couldn't. Boo was cool with that and was glad not to be pestered for a couple of weeks.

[schnzrluv]

Thanks so much for the replies. I ended up calling the vet emergency line last night becuase Chloe was not doing too well. The vet called me back and had me give her a childrens asprin and a left over muscle relaxer from her back injury. She was fine all the rest of the night but woke me up bright and early this morning in a ton of pain. I took her in as soon as the office opened and they squeezed me in ( I LOVE my vet!) and didn't even charge me the emergency fee even thought they were booked solid for the day. I told the vet about how Chloe was holding up her back leg, and how she would be fine one min. and in agonizing pain the next. She manipulated her knee and Chloe seemed fine, but when she moved her hip she became really uncomfortable. She determined that it was her lower back that was the problem. I was so relieved that it wasn't her knee. She is back on a regimine of steroids and muscle relaxers along with a pain med and continued antibiotic for the UTI. No running, jumping, stairs or long walks for at least 2 weeks. She is going to go stir crazy and drive me nuts but hopefully she will get better. Thanks for all the info and well wishes I can't tell you how good it makes me feel that I can post here and get such nice replies and good advice.

Thanks again!
Lindsey

[calgal]

I'm so glad to hear it wasn't the knees. I do hope she mends quickly. Do you know what caused her lower back to be in such pain?

[TinyAlbinoDancer]

Lindsey, it sounds like what I'm going through with Missie. Except we can't pinpoint where the pain is so it's making it difficult (and expensive!) to diagnose. She's on steroids right now and we go in tomorrow morning to figure out our other options for diagnostics. It's so horrible knowing they're in pain (especially when they're fine one minute and shaking the next ) and you just don't know how to fix it. I wish you and Chloe all the best! Hugs from me and Missie!

[Rivsky]

Big cuddles to Chloe - I hope she's feeling better really quickly!

[schnzrluv]

thanks!! She is doing much better now that she is on the meds. I have to carry her up and down the stairs and last night she was running all over! It's definatly gonna be hard to keep her quiet! Calgal-She made up a fun game of "toss the ball down the stairs" one night where she would pick it up and throw it, then chase after it down the stairs. It was a month or 2 ago when we had a lot of nasty weather so I guess she was bored. She went flying down and slammed head first into the wall at the bottom. I took her in and the vet said that she had compressed her spine. She was on steroids, pain meds, and a muscle relaxer for about 2 weeks and it seemed to be much better. I hadn't had any problems since, until Friday night. She doesn't have any fractures or majior injuries that can be treated, just a lot of pain. She is very clumsey and always going a million miles an hour. I have all the sets of stairs in my house gated because that's what happened on Friday night, she went flying up the stairs in the garage (there's only 3 of them) and tripped.Hopefully she will heal up completly and we can leave the back problems behind!


Lindsey