Luxating Patella - anyone's dogs have it.

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I had my spaniel to the vets today as he ran into the door and was limping - the result was that he had pulled himself in his hip - so came home with anti-inflammatories and orders to rest for that. Any ideas on how to keep an 8 mth old cocker spaniel still welcome!!

While we were there and the vet was manipulating his back legs he told me that he has luxating patellas in both back legs. I asked him if he thought that they would cause any problems and he didn't seem to think that they would.
Just wondered if anyone else has come across this and how was it dealt with - were there any long term problems.

I'm quite gutted as I was hoping to breed from him in a year or two but obviously as it is hereditary that is now out of the question. But neither his mum or dad has it so not sure where it has come from.

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It is very common in JRTs and I am sure there are quite a few people with dogs on here who have it.

It's a bugger when things don't turn out how you had hoped, but you have a loving dog and his problem is managable, and that is the main thing x
Would it be worth having a chat with his breeders to flag it up?
And hope his hip settles down. It is annoying when you have to restrict them, but you will look back and laugh, albeit in a manic fashion
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Try lots of little training sessions, brain training, to wear him out mentally as opposed to physically
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I have spoken to his breeder who is going to try and trace back his lines as far as he knows to find out where its come from and speak to the owners of the other pups from his litter to make them aware - he's from quite common working lines though but the vet said it was unusual in spaniels.
 
Vet didn't say alot about it just that he wouldn't expect it to cause him any major problems in later life as it hadn't caused him any problems so far.

If his hip doesn't come right in 7 days he will need to go back in for x-rays then anyway to check his cruciate ligament hasn't been damaged - although the vet didn't think that it was likely as he couldn't feel it so i will maybe get them to x-ray his knees at the same time to see if there are any problems there.
 
Poor little man! Hope he feels better soon!

Jakey (German Spitz) has luxating patellas in both hinds (Jakey has every medical problem known to doghood). He pops them in and out himself, might spend a few minutes with his leg straight out, but he is better to pop it in himself as the vet strains a bit and J cries out so we just ignore it and let him get on with it. It doesn't seem to have caused him any problems, he is 10 and runs around like a maniac (despite problems with both front legs as well!).
 
My Yorkie had a luxating patella when he was younger which troubled him quite a lot as he would often stop dead and yelp and lift his hind leg up. I could give it a little massage and he would be on his way again, but he was seen a few times by the vet and we discussed the operation they can do to deepen the groove the patella sits in, but decided to see how things went.

As he got older he has grown out of it. I know his bones won't have changed but I believe it's because he has got more fit and muscular and the joint is better supported and stabilised.

It's a common condition in terriers, but like your vet said, unusual in spaniels, though it sounds like your dog hasn't actually slipped his patella himself, he has only had it manipulated by the vet. At 8 months he is still growing and developing his muscles so as long as you keep him fit it will probably never cause a problem.

If he does show any signs of joint problems it's worth using a supplement such as Supplex from Aviform. This has done wonders for my spaniel who had a back/leg problem.
 
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