# Luxating Patella



## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

When I went to the vet she said Swizzle had excellent patellas - the best she had seen in a toy poodle. I am naturally very happy about that but I should have asked does that mean he wont develop that condition? Is this something I can expect to have a problem with as he gets older or is this only an issue with some toys?


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## katbrat (May 8, 2011)

Our toy didn't have excellent knees from day one. She would "skip" as she ran. She never had any problems with her knees and she lived to be fourteen. She did tear her ACL in her knee chasing a bunny in the yard when she was eleven years old. She had surgery and it healed up great and never did have any more problems.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Thanks katbrat. That is reassuring to hear. Isn't it funny they will chase bunnies when the bunnies are bigger than they are? I worry when I read that Llama will have to undergo expensive and a no doubt painful operation. Right now Swizzle has good patellas but is seems like Llamas got worse. Can you start out with good patellas and then end up with bad? I know the vet said to try to keep Swizzle from jumping too much his first year. I do my best but it is a losing battle. When he gets the zoomies he races around the room and as he makes his grand circuit he jumps on and off the sofa. When my husband lays down on the floor to play with him Swizzle delights in using my husband's chest as a springboard to jump off of. I am trying to give Swizzle things with chondroitin like trachea. I have heard chicken feet are good for joints so I really should get some they just wierd me out. I can imagine Swizzle eating them. I got over this with trachea so I should just bite the bullet and get some for him. I guess I just need to do more research on patellas. I would like to get Swizzle into agility when he is older but not if it will cause injury.


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## fracturedcircle (Aug 19, 2010)

CT Girl said:


> When he gets the zoomies he races around the room and as he makes his grand circuit he jumps on and off the sofa. When my husband lays down on the floor to play with him Swizzle delights in using my husband's chest as a springboard to jump off of.


Llama is like that too. very high energy.

if you eventually give yours a supplement, I'd be curious about the dosage.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

As far as I recall, luxating patella is usually caused by a congenital defect in the joint of the joint, although occasionally it can be caused by injury, just as a human can dislocate a knee. If Swizzle has excellent patellas now, I would think he would be unlikely to develop a problem in the future. Congratulations!


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## katbrat (May 8, 2011)

CT girl, it is funny about the bunnies being so much bigger than our dog. They were almost twice Patche's size. We nicknamed them the "evil bunnies that lived under the shed." Even after her surgery, we had to watch her that she didn't go after them.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

With mine, it is Sophy who is the mighty hunter. She discovered that rabbits are edible when the cats brought several home (part of their continuing efforts to make the rest of us self sufficient by teaching us to hunt!). Then she connected the smells in the fields with edible rabbits, and the fun things to chase with the smells ... all topped off when the three dogs (papillon, toy poodle and border terrier) actually caught and ate a young one between them. I was rather taken aback, but a friend who breeds them says she knows lots of hunting papillons - including a pair who scale a six foot fence every morning and come back with a rabbit each for breakfast!


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

FJM I am impressed by your hunting dogs. Perhaps I should add a papillon to my household - my yard is littered with rabbits and they are eating my garden.


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