Rebecca, So sorry to hear this about Diego, I can totally relate. Last summer Dali jumped down from the sofa and immediately started to hold her leg up. It was her back left leg. I took her to my regular vet who took x-rays and couldn't see a break in the knee. He gave her pain meds and anti inflammatory meds and said to wait it out to see if it got better. It didn't! More X-rays finally showed a break in the the knee in which the bone was pulling apart every time she put pressure on her leg. We immediately had to meet the orthopedic vet and Dali had surgery to insert a pin in her knee that same day. She came through the surgery fine but the worst part was the healing. It was so difficult to keep her quiet through the long weeks of recovery. It was a successful outcome eventually and she now runs like nothing ever happened. We did have to go back and have the pin removed as it started to work it's way out of the bone. Her leg healed beautifully though no scars or anything. I am very grateful to her surgeon but it was very costly from start to finish. More than $2000! It would really be great if your insurance would cover it. I didn't have any, I didn't think it would be covered after the fact. I will hope and pray for you and Diego, and a happy outcome! Cindy
--- On Mon, 3/12/12, Rebecca Bate <[email protected]> wrote: From: Rebecca Bate <[email protected]> Subject: [Chihuahuas] Diego.....UGH To: "Chi" <[email protected]> Date: Monday, March 12, 2012, 9:01 PM So here is the story of why I was asking about luxating patella. Yesterday Diego jumped off of something "wrong" and hurt his back leg. He always bunny hopped a bit on that leg anyways but now won't hardly bear weight on it. I could feel his patella moving out of place this evening :( took him to the vet and sure enough its a grade 3 now. Vet said wait two weeks, keep him on pain meds and anti-inflam meds. Maybe its soft tissue swelling thats pushing it out worse. So wait and see. I am sick over the thought of this surgery. The 1200 price tag and the recovery time. I also have read some that the surgery doesn't have a great success rate. So I don't know what to think right now. I feel really sorry for the poor little guy. We will do whatever is needed, just don't know what that may be right now! Any thoughts or input would be great! Rebecca
