Patellar Luxation in Dogs - My Dog Midnight's Knee Surgery
My Dog Midnight's Knee Surgery
This is my dog Midnight who is also referred to more frequently as Arfy. He is a Miniature Pinscher/Dachshund mix and weighs just over 10 pounds. Midnight is currently 5 years old. He had to have surgery on both of his legs due to a luxating patella, or dislocated kneecap, when he was a little over a year old.
The entire experience of the idea of surgery, the surgery itself, and then caring for a dog who has had any type of surgery is not fun or easy. Even though it was such a horrible experience, he was quite the trooper and still looked cute as can be all the while. Not only did I decide to share the picture and story of Midnight's surgery because the picture was just too darn cute, but also to share our experience with other dog owners or those thinking of getting a dog so you can be familiar with a common problem dogs can have.
All photos contained on this page are my own personal images.
A Good Dog Bed
What is a Luxating Patella?
Patellar luxation is when the patella, or kneecap, dislocates or moves out of place. A dogs kneecaps are located on its hind legs, so essentially, the kneecap on one or both of the dogs hind legs dislocates. Typically the dogs patella dislocates due to the groove where the kneecap sits not being deep enough causing the kneecap to easily slip in and out of place or dislocate.
Patellar luxation is common in dogs, especially small breed dogs and miniature breeds. Some of the breeds that seem to be predisposed to patellar luxation are miniature and toy Poodles, Maltese, Jack Russell Terriers, Yorkshire Terriers, Pomeranians, Pekingese, Patterdale Terrier, Chihuahuas, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Papillons, Boston Terriers, Teddy Roosevelt Terriers, and Labrador Retrievers.
A luxating patella is usually a congenital defect (meaning it existed at birth), but it can also be inherited or caused by obesity. Very rarely is a luxating patella caused from blunt trauma. There are different degrees of a luxating patella, which are measured by grades with I being the most mild case and IV being the worst. Patellar luxation with grades of II or higher require surgery to fix, and take it from my own personal experience, it is not cheap to fix. Even if your dog has a luxating patella, some dogs show no signs at all or they may show only mild signs, such as a slight limp from time to time. In more severe cases, such as Midnights, he could barely walk on his right rear leg and when he did he had a severe limp.
Midnight's Knee Surgery
When Midnight was a little over a year old he was jumping and playing and let out a horrible cry that sounded like a scream. I picked him up and after about 30 seconds he stopped. I didn't know what had happened, but he went back to walking like normal so I didn't think much of it.
A few weeks later, on what happened to be the morning of Thanksgiving, he was running in the house, and again let out the same horrible cry. This time, after he stopped crying he began to limp on his leg. I felt so bad and I was ready to ditch cooking Thanksgiving dinner and to rush him into the vet even though I knew it would mean an emergency vet visit being that it was Thanksgiving. Since he stopped crying I thought I would watch him and if it happened again that day I would take him in, otherwise, the visit could wait until the next day.
I took him on several walks that day and noticed that he was limping pretty badly, and at many times he was lifting the leg completely up and not using it at all even though there was no more crying associated with it. So, first thing the next morning I took him into the vet. They did an X-ray and diagnosed him with a luxating patella on his right rear leg. They said they could perform the surgery there, but suggested that I take him to a veterinary specialist, so that is what I did.
Upon visiting the specialist, they not only looked at and tested his right knee, but also tested his left knee as well. They said that the left knee was not as severe as the right, but showed me how the kneecap on Midnight's left knee slid easily out of place as well. He explained that the surgery would entail deepening the grove where the patella sits and then repositioning and reattaching the ligaments of the knee and putting small screws in to hold everything in place. The vet left it up to me to decide whether to do the surgery on just the one knee or on both, but told me that it was very likely that the left knee would probably get to the point that the right was and eventually need surgery. Since it was less expensive to have both knees done at once, and also only one recovery period, I opted to have them both done.
A few days later Midnight was scheduled for surgery. He had to stay the night for two nights as a result of his size and how long it was taking him to come out of the anesthesia and respond to the pain medication. When I picked him up from the vet, this is what he looked like. He had a cone on his head to prevent him from biting or licking at his legs, and both of his legs were wrapped in bandages. They also gave him a little bandana, and on top of that, poor Midnight had to have his butt and legs shaved, so needless to say, he had quite the goofy haircut.
After surgery, Midnight was to be kept from jumping and running around for 6 weeks. If you have a small dog, then you know how hard it is to keep them from running or jumping. He was allowed to be taken out on a short walk to go to the bathroom a couple of times a day, but I had to wrap his legs in plastic bags to keep the bandages clean and dry.
About a week after surgery he had his bandages and stitches removed, but he still wasn't supposed to lick the area until it fully healed to prevent infection. It has now been about 2 1/2 years since his surgery and he walks and plays as he did before the surgery. Every once in a while when we are on a walk I will notice a slight hitch in his step on the right leg, but I can honestly say I am glad I opted for the surgery.
One word of advice I have for anyone considering getting a dog, especially a small breed dog, is to look into pet insurance. I know it may sound silly, but you have no idea how much money I have spent on my two small dogs for vet bills related to this surgery and other problems.
Here is Midnight walking like normal after recovering. Even though we live in Las Vegas, he go the rare opportunity to see and play in the snow.
Luxating Patella in Dogs
This is not a video of Midnight, but this is exactly what happened to Midnight and how he would walk around prior to surgery.
This Lens Was Blessed by SquidAngels - Thank you for the blessings!
