Floating kneecaps

My seven month old has just been diagnosed with a grade 4 luxating patella on her rear right leg and she's going for surgery on Wednesday.

The vet also said she's got a grade 2 on her left knee, so she will be needing surgery on that one too in the near future.

I just hope my insurance is going to pay out because it's costing me £1200 per leg.

Oh my what a shock. We have had a few dogs here that have the op, one of which had both done at the same time. I don't know enough about it but they all recovered well after time.

With the insurance see what amount they cover per condition per year.

I so hope all goes well, very worrying I am sure Xx

We've had a couple of staffords on here that have had their patellas done & I'm pretty sure they were done on the insurance. Just check your policy.

Sorry I've no experience with this, I hope the surgery goes well on Wednesday, hugs for you both ><

I hope it all goes well

I've not slept properly since I found out.

Try not to stress, easier said then done but from what I heard the op is pretty simple, but the recovery is slightly harder. Xx

Oh no, poor Maddie

I hope it goes well, keep us updated

and >< >< for both of you

Maddie had her surgery yesterday. They kept her in overnight on a morphine drip I was able to collect her this morning at about 9.30am, because she'd eaten her breakfast, had a little walk/hobble outside to relive herself and was dealing with the pain really well.

She looked really sorry for herself when I brought her home.


She on strict cage rest for the next week. I bought her a lovely deep duvet so she can stretch out in comfort.


Her scar looks lovely and neat.... which is amazing considering the extensive work that she had to have done.



She's on loads of meds for the next week to ease the pain, inflammation and prevent infection.


It's no wonder she flaked out in the sunshine earlier!

Awww, thanks for letting us know. She looks like she's fairly comfortable so hopefully it'll be plaib sailing from here on. Apart from keeping her quiet for a while - good luck with that!

Bless, little turkey drumstick! So pleased all went well, now for recovery Xx

Eight weeks of no running or jumping around is going to be a tough one.
That's the bit that's worrying me, once the anaesthetic has really worn off and she's back to her normal cheeky self.

That's going to be the hard part Kelly. Just a warning (from bitter experience) - don't whatever you do let her lick at the wound, put a cone on her if need be.

Get well soon Maddie ><

Luckily she's paid the wound no attention whatsoever so far, so fingers crossed it stays that way.

Can they lead a normal, active life once everything has healed properly?

Update......

Maddie went for physio yesterday and the surgery has been 100% successful. Her kneecap is gliding beautifully in the groove now, however she's got 60% muscle wastage on her right side and 30% on her other leg (which will also need surgery in the near future).

She's got lots of muscle building exercises to do over the next 2 weeks, then she should be able to start hydrotherapy. The outlook is good, but it's going to be a long drawn out process getting her back to full strength.



The good thing is the physiotherapist seemed to think that she'll still be able to do her agility and tear around as normal..... it's just going to take some time. I feel that the poor little mite has lost out on most of her puppyhood.

Thats great news, Sounds like maddie is well on the road to a full recovery hopefully as the physio says she'll return to 100% again. Thanks for the update.

That's good news Kelly. It's been a long hard road for poor little Maddie, with more to come, but you are being wonderful with her and giving her such good care. Big (((hugs))) to both of you.

Happy for you, its gonna be harder now and I really hope she gets back to full health, and I am sure she will, with the right excersizes and gently building up the muscle again. You may find you have to take it easy on a few things but she certainly isn't missing out on anything so don't worry there.

Please keep us updated on her progress Xx

Maddie's doing really well.  

After going to see the physio on Saturday, he said she's built up her muscles really well in both legs over the past two weeks. She's up to 75% on her un-operated leg and 50% on the one that's just had surgery.  

The scar's healed beautifully and her fur's growing back. Here she is today enjoying the sunshine.  

Aww looks like shes dealing with it all quite well, glad she's getting better

Oh bless her, what good news. Wonderfully neat scar; hopefully it won't be visible at all once the coat has grown back. But the main thing is it worked!  

Great news..... after the surgery on her second knee 10 weeks ago, Maddie is doing really well. It's been a hard old slog with all the slow walks and exercises to build her up and get her using her legs properly, but it's all paid off. Her physio said she's up to 90% muscle on her left side now and 85% on the right. She's got her final vet appointment in three weeks time and only a couple more hydro sessions to go before she gets signed off.  



She's been a complete star and has coped with everything brilliantly. I'm so glad I went ahead and had the op..... her quality of life will now improve enormously.

KellyH wrote:Great news..... after the surgery on her second knee 10 weeks ago, Maddie is doing really well. It's been a hard old slog with all the slow walks and exercises to build her up and get her using her legs properly, but it's all paid off. Her physio said she's up to 90% muscle on her left side now and 85% on the right. She's got her final vet appointment in three weeks time and only a couple more hydro sessions to go before she gets signed off.  



She's been a complete star and has coped with everything brilliantly. I'm so glad I went ahead and had the op..... her quality of life will now improve enormously.

Now that is an update that has made me smile, well done to you all and thank you for letting us know, so pleased for you all  

Maddie has her vets appointment yesterday and she's been signed off by him. The vet said she's fully healed and can finally have her first off lead run in seven months!  

You should have seen her today. Her little smiling face bobbing up and down in the long grass of the field was a sight to behold.  

It's her first birthday on the 3rd Nov. I think the best present ever will be a nice walk in the country. I've even bought a cook book for dogs so I can spoil her with a home made minced lamb dog birthday cake on Sunday.   

Aww maddie it's such great news that maddie has been signed of by the vet and a birthday walk yay, we can celebrate together as we share a birthday.