surgery for luxating patella?

[blessedwithboys]

i adopted an adult toy poodle about a yr and a half ago. she is now 5.5 yo. she is about 6.5 lbs and less than 9 in at the shoulder, what a BYB would call a "tiny toy". both of her back knees are bad.

right now, she does not seem to be in any pain at all. she can jump on and off of my bed, where she sleeps at night. she can get on and off of the couch, and once even jumped up into my SUV, though as a general rule i dont allow that, and esp dont allow her to jump down out of it.

after i got her, i took her to a VCA vet who tried to sell me every vaccine on the market and a $3k patella repair surgery. i declined bc the woman i got her from was an exceptionally responsible pet mama and also fairly affluent. i figured if she hadnt done it, i shoudl get a 2nd opinion.

right now, i dont have a regular vet. she's got 2 more yrs on her 3yr rabies vax, so i dont feel rushed. picking a vet is as hard as picking a ped...i'm not doing any other vax besides rabies, and i feed commercial raw food, so a lot of the vets i have phone/email interviewed have not sounded too promising.

i'm taking my time to make this decision, she's not physically inhibited at all right now, so i'm looking for thoughts and opinions on whether doing it now would be good prophylaxis for her later years.

[Oubliette8]

Is there a vet school near you? Or a large veterinary hospital? A veterinary orthopedist could probably give you a very good idea as to what is going on. And, this is just a guess, but i think someone at a vet school might be more likely to be familiar with alternative pet health ideas, as they tend to be used more frequently by knowledgeable pet owners. I believe there is a grading system for luxating patellas- a low grade may not need to be fixed, whereas dogs with higher grades typically have the surgery. The surgery is expensive and does require that the dog be kept quiet for a few weeks afterwards. For some dogs, particularly those with low grades, surgery is not necessary. A good vet will help you evaluate the risks vs the benefits of the surgery for your dog. Currently it does not sound like your dog is terribly debilitated by her condition. At her age, if it was severe, you might expect to already see some arthritis forming. Another thing to consider is that both legs are affected. In the dogs I've known, they do two surgeries- fix one leg, wait for it to heal, and then fix the other leg. Thats another thing to consider- how well she takes to being kept still and quiet, the effect the pain of the surgeries might have on her etc.

Since the longer it goes untreated the more damage is done to the knee, I'd probably get it evaluated now to find out just how severe it is. If its a low grade, you might need to do nothing besides giving her joint supplements to help prevent deterioration. If its a higher grade, you're likely going to want to have it fixed sooner. Since it is an expensive surgery, I would seek out a specialist to do the eval for you. They'll have more experience in that particular area.

[blessedwithboys]

yeah, the VCA vet wanted about $3,000 for both legs. its not out of budget entirely, i just dont want to risk her going under. she's so tiny, and puppy mill rescue dog from what i was told, and i just worry that she's not hardy enough to get through it. plus, shes so young and frisky it would be very hard to heold her down for recovery. i'd have to crate her for a few weeks.

i'm going to look into the schoold idea, thanks!

[Asiago]

The grade of the luxation (grading 1-4, 4 being the worst) is important to help you determine your next step. If it is a 1 your vet may just manually examine her to see if it progresses in time.
I would suggest you contact the Poodle breed club or even a local poodle rescue rep for helpful info pertaining to local vets, what is the usual pertaining to luxation repair in the Poodle breed, and any questions you may have. Just having a referral to a trusted veterinarian would make the email or call worth contacting them:
http://www.akc.org/breeds/rescue.cfm

Good luck and please keep us posted!