I received the following from a pet owner. Any input would be valuable. Thanks in advance Melva Our Cavalier seems to have a problem with her back legs. She began to limp after a jump from a desk top,although it was really not a hard impact. She seemed a bit in pain after the jump, but within a few minutes was back to normal. However, she began to limp off and on for the next few days, usually after a little twist or turn during some active playing. After a few days she did not seem to get better, so we took her to our vet. Of course she did not limp at the vet's, so the vet was not able to see anything wrong. However she checked her knees and discovered a luxating patella on her right side. She wasn't really sure if the limp came from that or from damaged ligaments or whatever due to the jump off the desk. She prescribed complete rest and some Metacam for a few days to see if that helped. It didn't help, so after another two weeks we took her back. This time the vet took xrays, mainly to check for a hip problem, but her hips are perfect. She also checked her knees again, and consulted with her partner, and they both confirmed that her right knee has a luxating patella. The vet said it was odd, though, because the groove the patella sits in is not shallow, it is quite deep in fact.
We finished the Metacam, and tried to rest her as much as possible, but the limp continues, off and on. This morning as she walked up the stairs, she got "stuck" -- she couldn't jump up to the next step, and couldn't move at all for a minute or two. In the last couple of weeks, we have been taking her for her normal walks and runs because she loves them so much, and she never limps when she moves straight ahead. It usually only happens when she is playing or jumping around. Strangely, she usually limps on her right side, but sometimes also on her left side. We are wondering if there might be an ankle problem, not a knee problem. Anyway, I know I've given you a lot of detail, but I just wanted to know if you have experienced anything like this before, and whether you had any suggestions. We know the treatment for her luxating patella may be surgical, but neither we nor the vet want to choose that too quickly. On the other hand, she loves to be active with us, and we want that to continue without pain for her. Do you have any advice for us? _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author.
