General Question Luxated patella/ slipped kneecap

[PearlandChumdog]

Hello, i am new to the site but have had bulldogs for many years. My oldest dog chumley is a year and 3 months old. Very recently he has started limping occassionaly. When he wakes up or has been sitting for a while. We took him to the vet yesterday, and were told he has a stage 2 or 3 luxated patella which will probably require surgery. Has any one had experience with this? Is it something that can change and heal over time as his tendons ligamints and bones develop? Will supplements help or is surgery the only option for a full recovery? He is a very healthy dog otherwise, the limping is only occassional and most of the time he is running and playing perfectly fine and very happy.

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

Hi! First of all..welcome to the site. I'm sorry, I have no experience here but I will try and get you some with experience.

[MENTION=2894]2BullyMama[/MENTION]..[MENTION=2071]Davidh[/MENTION]...[MENTION=1714]Sherry[/MENTION]

 

[JLBURCH31]

Hello, i am new to the site but have had bulldogs for many years. My oldest dog chumley is a year and 3 months old. Very recently he has started limping occassionaly. When he wakes up or has been sitting for a while. We took him to the vet yesterday, and were told he has a stage 2 or 3 luxated patella which will probably require surgery. Has any one had experience with this? Is it something that can change and heal over time as his tendons ligamints and bones develop? Will supplements help or is surgery the only option for a full recovery? He is a very healthy dog otherwise, the limping is only occassional and most of the time he is running and playing perfectly fine and very happy.

My son's bulldog was diagnosed with luxating patella when he was about one year old and fully expected that he would require surgery. Per vet instructions he started giving him daily supplements (Glyco-Flex III). Within a few weeks, no more limping. He continued with the daily supplements and after approx. 6 months re-check showed significant stabilization of patella. He is now 3 years old and has had no limping issues for over a year.
I know this will not work for all cases but imo certainly worth a try.

 

[Sherry]

Hello, i am new to the site but have had bulldogs for many years. My oldest dog chumley is a year and 3 months old. Very recently he has started limping occassionaly. When he wakes up or has been sitting for a while. We took him to the vet yesterday, and were told he has a stage 2 or 3 luxated patella which will probably require surgery. Has any one had experience with this? Is it something that can change and heal over time as his tendons ligamints and bones develop? Will supplements help or is surgery the only option for a full recovery? He is a very healthy dog otherwise, the limping is only occassional and most of the time he is running and playing perfectly fine and very happy.

I keep my gang on a supplement called Regenex, I will pm you the site, you can take a look at it. Since I have multiple bully's I use a horse strength and add to their meal with and eye dropper . We haven't had so much as a gimp or limp since early summer when I started giving them this. My vet has approved this.

 

[PearlandChumdog]

Great ! [MENTION=1714]Sherry[/MENTION] [MENTION=3775]JLBURCH31[/MENTION] thank you very much. I Really dont want him to have to go through surgery and i believe with a proper diet excerise and supplements, he could make improvements.. The vet we go to kindmof rubbed me the wrong way, he gave no suggestions other than surgery, and for chumley's check up he did not examine his eyes, ears, tail folds or reproductive organs. Im not sure if this is routine but i feel as if he could have been more thurough.

 

[Sherry]

Great ! @Sherry thank you very much. I Really dont want him to have to go through surgery and i believe with a proper diet excerise and supplements, he could make improvements.. The vet we go to kindmof rubbed me the wrong way, he gave no suggestions other than surgery, and for chumley's check up he did not examine his eyes, ears, tail folds or reproductive organs. Im not sure if this is routine but i feel as if he could have been more thurough.

Your vet wasn't very thorough that would rub me the wrong way too. Looking for the $ probably, we should never look at surgery first. but lots of vets do, they try to sell you the dog food they keep on the shelf too. Not to worry, try this place first, there's so much experience in this site, you're going to love it here.

 

[2BullyMama]

The experience I had with Nitscke was associated with a torn ACL, so the surgery was required. In reading the other responses, I would go the supplement route and keep an eye on him.

GOOD LUCK and keep up posted

 

[PearlandChumdog]

Thanks [MENTION=2894]2BullyMama[/MENTION]. Chumley rarely ever limps i just find it suspicious that the vet would recomend surgery right off the bat with no mention of supplements. Im very glad i found this website, we will be giving him the joint support supplements and starting to feed him eggs. The vet also said this was hereditary and to not breed chumley. We were planning on breeding him, he is a very beautiful dog with no health problems at all other than this occasional limping so this was very sad news to hear....I talked to the breeder and he said none of his dogs or puppies have ever been diagnosed with a luxating patella.

 

[2BullyMama]

Thanks @2BullyMama. Chumley rarely ever limps i just find it suspicious that the vet would recomend surgery right off the bat with no mention of supplements. Im very glad i found this website, we will be giving him the joint support supplements and starting to feed him eggs. The vet also said this was hereditary and to not breed chumley. We were planning on breeding him, he is a very beautiful dog with no health problems at all other than this occasional limping so this was very sad news to hear....I talked to the breeder and he said none of his dogs or puppies have ever been diagnosed with a luxating patella.

May be think about doing a second opinion so you have ease of mind in regarding to the breeding and hereditary. I also thought it strange since Chumley is so young.

 

[Davidh]

Since he is only occasional limping, I would try the supplements first, but if he gets worse then surgery will have to happen. I also would find a good bully vet, one you like and trust. We took in a foster a few years back and he had a limp all the time and he was diagnosed with this and we have a excellent bully vet that we trust and he told us that if he did not get the surgery, that he would eventually become lame in that leg, so we had the surgery done and then found him a fur-ever home.

 

[izstigspunks]

My Punkin has luxating patellas on both knees. The left is a grade 1, the right is a 2 but very possibly a 3. He's 5 years old now, and by looking at him and carrying him, since this didn't get fixed when he was younger, most of his weight distribution is to his upper body. His back legs aren't as formed as our younger bully's. He's only joined our family a year ago and because of his age and energy level, we opted to skip surgery and proceed with low laser therapy and glucoseamine. The supplements are for the arthritis that formed because of the previous lack of care. He still gets around well, but a limp is noticeable and he favours his right leg.

Since one of his knees is a grade 3, I would look for a second opinion from a trusted vet and see what they recommend. I'm guessing that since your boy is still young he's energetic and likes to run and jump around. I'd watch for further injury if so. A grade 3 is when they need assistance in pushing the knee back if it pops out so you'd really need to watch him. The advantage of getting surgery while young is that his body is strong, so rehab will be swift. But also I agree with others about taking the glucoseamine supplements. This is to prevent arthritis, which is painful from what I've heard from humans. Also control his weight so that you can avoid unnecessary pressure to his knees.

Hope all goes well. Let us know how the 2nd opinion goes.

 

[LynnA]

Hello, i am new to the site but have had bulldogs for many years. My oldest dog chumley is a year and 3 months old. Very recently he has started limping occassionaly. When he wakes up or has been sitting for a while. We took him to the vet yesterday, and were told he has a stage 2 or 3 luxated patella which will probably require surgery. Has any one had experience with this? Is it something that can change and heal over time as his tendons ligamints and bones develop? Will supplements help or is surgery the only option for a full recovery? He is a very healthy dog otherwise, the limping is only occassional and most of the time he is running and playing perfectly fine and very happy.

Did he diagnose that from an x-ray> I took my Otis this morning for the same limp (left front leg) and he said to keep an eye on it, give him some pain meds and if if wasn't better in a week - we would have an x-ray done.

 

[PearlandChumdog]

[MENTION=2071]Davidh[/MENTION] [MENTION=1209]savemejeebus[/MENTION] [MENTION=4763]LynnA[/MENTION] , no he did not do an x ray, or even reccomend having one done. The vet said that the one leg that is affected by the slipping knee cap is either a grade 2 or 3 but he he is not sure but he recommmds the surgery. We got chumley a glucoseamine supplement today so we will be trying that out to see if there is any improvement. Thanks for alll your advice

 

[kazzy220]

Our foster bully, Bella, who will soon be 4 years old was diagnosed with luxating patellas in her two back legs. We knew that something was wrong as soon as we got her from the owner surrender and took her home. As soon as she went into the backyard her back leg would occasionally give away from under her almost as if she was drunk!! Also, when she did a pee she would put all her weight on her two front legs and her two back legs would often totally lift off the floor. She was quite overweight and there was obviously no strength in her lower half at all. When I put my hand around the thigh of her back leg my middle finger coudl touch the tip of my thumb .. that is how wasted her back leg muscles were. The vet we used for the rescue was one we hadn't used before and I wasn't paticularly impressed but he did diagnose the patellas, and said that he would recommend the supplements and physical therapy before he ultimately did the surgery. Not knowing much about luxating patellas at the time we didn't ask what grade it was. I'll be honest... I was expecting a diagnoses of hip dysplasia!!!

So we've had her since July and put her on a Glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM supplement called Dasuquin .. love this stuff!! Within 3-4 weeks we could definitely tell the difference and on top of that she spent all summer and fall running around our big fenced yard and her back leg muscles have now easily doubled in size.

She still seems a little stiff sometimes, but she's not falling around like a drunk bully now. She can also go up a step without collapsing and jump on the couch without help .. even if she pretends she has to be lifted up!!

She will need a more thorough exam on the back legs, but right now I'm happy that it may not be as bad as we had once thought it was. However, surgery is still something that will probably need to be considered at some point and before any more damage has been done. In Bella's case she has had it all her life and it has never been treated by her previous owners so I'm sure some damage has already been done.

 

[Gemma]

This is really useful information -great to see! Archie was 6 months old when he dodged a puddled and pulled his back right leg. The vet advised us to avoid surgery until its a last resort. he is now nearly 2 years old and after prolonged exercise he still limps on his back right leg and never puts full weight on it. I'm limiting his time off the lead to 20 mins but he thinks he's a sheepdog the amount he wants run so I don't want it effecting his quality of life. After reading this feedback I think I will try the glucosamine again! Thanks guys