Our adorable year old Australian Shepherd, Dexter, has been diagnosed with a luxating patella. He plays incredibly hard and has been very healthy...yet accident prone...so we are uncertain if the issue is injury related or genetic...but we are being faced with the possibility of corrective surgery. Right now we are going through a month long "keep him quiet and calm" period to see if the condition will heal itself (if it is indeed injury related). But, seeing that his knee keeps popping out (albeit less) we are trying to prepare ourselves for the possibility of surgery and a long recovery.

Is there anyone out there who has a pet that has had this surgery, and if so...how successful was it?

We understand that our plans to begin endurance training are now permanently shelved. We just want our boy happy, healthy and in no pain or danger of further injury.

Thanks in advance :-)

Kim, Jim & Dexter

Thanks SO much Meg. What you explained is pretty much what our vet told us (in detail with visual aids and a printed handout to take home I might add *LOL*). That makes me feel good to hear the same thing.  We actually have two vets that we use at the same practice...and the main one that we've been seeing for about 15 years is very experienced in this surgery...so I feel confident there. Dex is right at 50 lbs...so that would qualify him as a medium sized dog. Being pretty experienced dog owners we had him mostly diagnosed before we got to the vet. Both vets suggested we give it a couple weeks on anti-inflammatories, try to keep him as inactive as possible (difficult with a young Aussie but we're doing the best we can) and then re-evaluate with the surgical vet. I'm guessing we will have to go the surgery route to insure his comfort, ability to run and play... and eliminate the risk of repeated reinjury.

Being that it is his left rear leg I'm a bit concerned with his comfort and mobility during recovery. Since I work at home that is some help...but I want to make certain we can keep the experience as non-traumatic as possible. He is just SUCH a wonderful, obedient and incredibly smart dog, and I don't want to have anything break his spirit....if that makes sense.

Thank you again SO much! I'll post again when we get to the decision making point.

Kim, Jim & Dexter

Thanks R. We're confident that he'll come through everything just fine. It's us that will be a wreck. *LOL*

At this point he's pretty oblivious of his injury. He plays and romps when we aren't watching to call him down...and if his knee pops out he just stops and sits down...popping it back in himself. He's just so agreeable.

Will be sure to keep ya'll posted :-)

You are so welcome! I'm glad I was able to give you helpful info! Sounds like you are set as far as your vet goes concerning the surgery, that's great that he's such an experienced surgeon! I understand your concern for Dexter's spirit, but if he does have to have the surgery, it really sounds like he's the kind of dog that'll be alright! He's lucky to have such responsible and caring owners!!!

I'll look forward to hearing how everything goes!

Meg

We have an appointment to consult with both vets and get Dex's x-rays tomorrow. As he isn't improving (but has learned how to pop his knee back in place by himself *LOL*) we'll be scheduling him for surgery in the next week. My Husband talked with the assisting vet earlier today and she felt very confident that with Dex's personality and his young age he should recover quickly and with little problem. Our biggest challenge will be restricting his activity level during rehab and recovery. When we got him neutered he wasn;t slowed down at all..and if possible, was more active! *LOL*

Thanks again for checking in. I will absolutely keep this thread updated.

Kim, JIm & Dex

Just stopping in to note that our Dexter is scheduled for surgery to correct his Luxating Patella on Tuesday May 6th. We're taking him in at about 7:30 a.m. and he'll be staying overnight. I'll keep this thread updated with details in case there is someone else out there who is faced with their pet having this type of surgery. Looks like we'll have 6 weeks of strict recovery and a full three months until he is back to "normal". We'll also be putting him on Dasuquin joint supplement to improve his recovery and all over joint health.

Someone asked us the other night what we were going to do about the expense (right around $1,100 including today's x-rays). We had planned to use one of our credit cards (which we thankfully have open balances on)...but the vet presented us with the option of a 0 percent interest pet health credit card through CareCredit. So anyone facing an expense like this should ask their vet if they offer this prgram.

While we are sad that Dex has to go through this, and won't be able to compete in agility trials...we know that there is a reason he became part of our family. Someone else might not know to look for the symptoms we spotted...or be willing to commit to the care and expense to make him well. We consider ourselves very, very lucky that he is ours :-)

Just an update here. Dexter is out of surgery and doing well. The surgery went perfectly, and we will be meeting with the surgeon to pick up our boy tomorrow at two o'clock.

I'll post an update on his progress after he gets home and gets settled.

Thanks again for the information and support

Thanks so much!! Wow...a whole hip replacement. THAT is HUGE!! Even in a human it is tough. I went through it with my Mom...so I know what you are going through somewhat.

Dex is home! Yay! He is sore...and has a naked leg...but for the most part he is doing fantastic! They did not have to groove out the area under his knee cap....but did some reworking of his knee. He had become very used to getting around on three legs prior to the surgery...so he's doing fine really. Much better than we expected. His staples will come out in a week...and we will start physical therapy then.

Just sooo happy to have him home.

I'll update as he progresses...but as of now it appears that the surgery was a huge success!

I'm so glad to hear Dexter is doing so well!!! Keep up the good work taking care of him, and keep us posted!

Remarkably...this morning our Dex is gingerly using his repaired leg. You can tell that he's a little uncomfortable...and I think quite put out about his post-surgical hair-do ;-) but the pain meds seem to be helping. His appetite is good, all the bodily functions are up to speed and we started him on Dasuquin supplement last night.

So far so good :-)

Once he gets his staples out next week we'll start him on aqua-therapy. I'll post some pictures later next week.

Thanks again to everyone who has responded.

Glad to hear Dexter came through with flying colors He will be good as new in no time.... the modern technology Vets have now for surgery is just amazing.

Dexter goes in today to have his sutures removed. So far it appears that he is recovering too well. Keeping him sedate and low movement is almost impossible. He had maybe two days where he wasn't himself...but since then he's been ready to burst with energy. Two days after surgery he was already walking on the leg....and now only lifts it up (doing the three-legged walk) when he runs. We'll find out this afternoon if that is a good or bad thing. He shows no discomfort when we flex the knee, but he does have some swelling. We shall see.

***Update***

The vet was impressed that Dexter is recovering so quickly. Too quickly actually. We need to restrict his behavior even more if possible. He had some fluid on his knee (some of which was expected...some from him being a spaz) that the doc removed. We go back in two weeks for another follow-up. But since he is so frisky and happy the vet says that is a great sign that he isn;t in any pain. Yay!

Glad to hear Dex is doing well.  Iggy had the same surgery though it was due to a birthdefect in his knee and I had a wonderful surgeon.  The one thing that I did that I believe helped him was moving the knee without putting any weight on it to keep it moving and strengthen it  Iggy did great with it and only had one physical therapy session where I told the lady what I did and she said to keep up the good work.

Iggy and I send our best to Dex.  Give him lots of hugs and treats!!!

Awww thanks!! We believe Dex's issue was also present from birth. It just became more apparent as he grew older and became more agile in his play activities.

We're doing he same thing with Dex's knee...and we get to try aqua-therapy this weekend. Our main problem right now is convincing HIM he has to slow down...which is a HUGE struggle.

Thanks for the post, and our best to you and Iggy!

Is Dexter still doing well?

Thank you for asking!

Yes...remarkably so! Within a week after the surgery we were having to physically restrain his activity. He seems to have no clue that he is "recovering" from major surgery.  I was seriously considering looking for a doggy straight jacket last week! *LOL*

He is just a slight bit "gimpy" when he walks, and is on and off with the three-legged thing when he runs...an activity we work like mad to restrict to a minimum until after his next check-up on the 26th. Aussies are NOT low activity family members :-) *LOL* But he is back to his loving, affectionate, bouncing off the walls self. He has a large fan club at the vets...and now every time we are there EVERYONE has to come in to get some Dexter-Lovin'. *LOL* We are sooo fortunate that this has gone well.

Thanks again for checking on us :-)