Patellar Luxation or ' Trick Knee'.Riley has Patellar Luxation. How do I know this? His ' Mom ' Melanie, told me that Riley was out running one day and let out a short, sharp yelp of pain, held his leg up for a while and then, put the leg down and continued on as if nothing had happened at all. German Shorthair Pointers are highly active dogs. Melanie was freaked out and very worried about Riley.
Bigger dogs such as Riley can have this problem too, and sometimes it is the results of hip disorders. A bad hip can throw the dog's body out of kilter, thereby causing a strain on the leg...the kneecap specifically, as the dog struggles to maintain balance. In Riley's case he doesn't have a problem with his hips, but he does have patellar luxation. Here's a great picture of Athletic Riley.
A Luxating Patella is a ' Floating Kneecap '.' Floating ' means that the kneecap will not stay in place in it's ' groove ' and slips out to one side, or the other. Either to the outside ( laterally ) of the leg, or the inside ( medially ) of the leg. You can well imagine that this would HURT! OUCH!Now, sometimes the kneecap will just ' pop ' back into it's groove. If this happens, the dog will just carry on as if nothing has happened...as in Riley's case. But if the kneecap doesn't pop back into it's groove, the dog will continue to hold it's leg up, unable to put any weight on it. This is what happened to Tuxedo. When a patella ( kneecap ) luxates (floats ) it is graded according to severity from 1 to 4...4 being the most severe. Your vet can talk to you about your options here. Surgery is one possibility. I prefer to look at holistic methods to help prevent this from happening at all. Take a look at this picture.
The picture on the right, clearly shows the groove, empty without the kneecap. The ligaments are all askew...off to the inside in this case ( medially ). This puts a terrific strain on the ligaments, and can easily cause a torn ACL ligament. So now you have two problems:
This will cause serious instabilty in that leg. The dog will be reluctant to use it because it HURTS, and so will favor it, carry it up and try to compensate by using the other leg more and differently. This then can put a strain on the other leg, putting it at risk for torn ACL. If the ACL ligament tears completely, surgery is the only option Great! So what now? Prevent Patellar Luxation and ACL Injury1 - Keep his weight down.Maintain a healthy body weight. Canine obesity is hitting epidemic proportions. Fat dogs...Fat people. Exercise - One good reason for having a dog is that you can both go out for a regular ( that means twice a day ) walk/romp together. Yes...get the ' but's out...and get your butts moving '. That means you...both of you. No more excuses! Cool it...stop killing your dog with kindness! Get a grip...your dog doesn't need all that food. Free feeding ( the all day buffet ) must stop. Treats...treats for what? Species Appropriate Natural Dog Food - get the grains out. Your dog is a carnivore. Grains and unnecessary carbohydrates produce inflammation in the body. This most often manifests in the joints. 2 - Click to find out more about Natural Pet Supplements To reduce the inflammation, ease pain, rebuild damaged connective tissue ( cartilage and ligaments ) and replace joint fluids.
By the way, It has been 5 years at the time of this writing ( Spring 2006 to Spring 2011 ), since Tuxedo our Pomeranian had his ACL knee surgery. He has had no re ocurrance or further problems with patellar luxation. In fact we are going outside right now with, Jack, Teddy and Pager for a long walk and run around ( 1 hour ). It's a nice sunny spring day!
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The leg on the left clearly shows a kneecap in it's groove, firmly held in place by the ligaments.
Here's Melanie with Riley, and her sweet English Bulldog, Darla. All three are relaxed and smiling. Riley continues on his holistic program.