# Lose knees



## poo lover (Nov 7, 2012)

Belle had her 12 week shots and vet is happy with everthing but said she has lose knees should I be worried is there anything we can do to help her?


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

First of all I have always heard that it is not appropriate to asses them (luxating patellas) before they are full grown. Have you noticed her having any problems with them ?
There is not a whole lot you can do now but do not allow her to jump much.
You may (ahem) want to change vet's so that inappropriate documentation disappears and buy health insurance for her because if she does wind up needing it, the surgery would be a few thousand dollars each knee!
Because you know he or she should not have made such a judgement at this age but if it is in the chart it will be considered pre-existing and thus uninsurable...


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## Poodlemama99 (Feb 12, 2010)

They can assess them when they are puppies if they are genetic. My Nicholas was born with grade 3 in both knees and we knew it when he was 2 months old. We had to wait for him to be an adult before we could have them corrected. Ask them to grade them so you have an idea how bad they are. 1 is lowest and 4 is worst. I believe most 1 and 2 can be managed and 3 usually requires surgery and 4 always does. If they are bad arthritis sets in and eventually makes them painful and possibly lame as they age. 


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## Poodlemama99 (Feb 12, 2010)

You are best to find an orthopedic specialist as most vets wont touch surgery on patellas. Price varies greatly on location. Nicholas had both corrected for just under $3000 but that was 6 years ago. He just had a minor surgery to remove one of the pins that migrated and that cost $325. 


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

poo lover said:


> Belle had her 12 week shots and vet is happy with everthing but said she has lose knees should I be worried is there anything we can do to help her?


At 12 weeks I would keep a close eye on her walking habits and make sure she doesn't start skipping or picking up her back legs while walking. Loose is not super bad but not good either. Doing low impact strength exercises would be a very good idea, like underwater walking or swimming with support from you and a life jacket. I would get the knees rechecked at 6 months and 1 year. 
Killa my 4 month old tiny toy has stage 1 medial luxating patellas, which means the knee cap will pop out of place towards the inside if her body when manually forced,but they don't pop out on there own. She does physical therapy to strengthen the ligament around her knee cap. She has very shallow grooves but her ligaments are nice and healthy so making them stronger creates a type of cage to keep the patella in place. Hopefully the physical therapy will keep her from developing into stage 2 which is when the knee cap pops out of place on its own, but then pops right back in place. She will have them rechecked at 6 months and continue with the physical therapy until they are not popping out at all and once that/if that happens we will continue at home exercises with rechecks every 6 months. Also the tip that Tiny Poodles gave about the insurance is a very good tip. I was going to do that but decided to try the physical therapy instead. 


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

Make sure to tell your Mom, too. If I recall, she is the one who bought your cute girl on a whim perhaps from untested parents? If Belle needs knee surgery maybe Mom would help seeing as how she gave her to you.  It's worth a shot anyway!

I had knee surgery on my whippet. It was almost $4000 for one knee and it, unfortunately, was not successful. You can't compare whippets to mini poodles, so maybe the surgery is more successful for minis. I would opt to go the no surgery route as long as she is doing well. 

Do you have any recent pictures of her? She is a bright redhead, isn't she?


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## poo lover (Nov 7, 2012)

Yes she is a bright red head.More pics this weekend.Vet didn't put it on her file yet she said she doesn't document it until they are a year or so she just wanted me to be aware.Thank you for all the input.Insurance is the only way to go vets are so blumming $$$$$ anyways.After spending so much on Kruz we learned the hard way(3000 so far in test but he is so worth it)


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## 3dogs (Nov 3, 2010)

This is a hot debate on some FB pages. On the whole a regular vet visit should NOT be forcing the knees out, can lead to joint problems. There is a reason why the OFA does not accept registered knees under 1 year of age because they are looser than when an adult. Now obvious lamness, skipping then that is an issue. There is also a reason why a Certified Specialist does the exam.

My Louisa at 9 months had 1 solid knee & 1 that could go either way but the specialist said if she was 13 months she would pass. Re did the knees at about 16 months & passed with flying colors & her knee tightened up well.

So your pup should have looser knees right now & as they age should tighten up.


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