Alaskan Klee Kai stage 3 luxating patella: Is surgery common?

Not that severe usually to require a euthanasia. Usually this surgery (especially if Peppi is a small breed) is resolutive,but the most delicate part of it, I would say, is the post-operative period, in which initial strict rest has to be followed by gradually increased and proper exercise. I am sure you vet will give detailed explanations about it, based on specific type of surgery they are going to perform. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

If Stella is having difficulty walking/running, surgery may be indicated. Your vet will be able to grade the luxation by checking to see how far it moves out of the groove. She will then be able to determine whether or not surgery is necessary on this leg. Good luck! I hope Stella is feeling better soon.

The overall recovery for this procedure typically takes 6-8 weeks. Most dogs show significant improvement after the first 2-3 weeks, but their bone is still healing in this time. Continue following Luna's vet's directions regarding the amount of rest or physical therapy exercises that she is to follow to help expedite her recovery. I hope that she's on the mend quickly! :-)

Patellar luxation is an unusual sort of problem. Bracing won't help in this situation, as the problem is that the kneecap (the patella) slides back-and-forth across the surface of the knee joint and doesn't sit securely in the groove, as it should. Dogs can be mildly to severely affected by this problem. Those with a low grade (1 or 2) patellar luxation may exhibit intermittent lameness that usually resolves quickly, and may sustain some mild arthritis over time. Higher grade luxations (3 or 4) cause more long-term lameness, and with grade 4 luxations the dog may not be able to use the leg at all. Also, luxations of grade 3 and 4 tend to produce more substantial arthritis, and if your veterinarian has told you that your dog has a luxation of either 3 or 4, you should consider surgery to stabilize the joint and prevent further arthritis from occurring. The surgery is usually highly successfully in resolving the problem.

The problems with a patellar luxation is that they tend to get worse over time, and while a grade 1 doesn't require surgery to fix, if the luxation becomes grade 3 or 4 over time, surgery is required to fix it. As long as you aware that this is a possibility and you may need to pay for a surgery in the future, you can still get the puppy. If you don't want to face the potential of paying for surgery in the future, then I would pass. There's no guarantee the puppy will need surgery, but there's no guarantee it will not. I hope this helps!

Whether or not surgery is recommended for this condition depends on how much it is bothering the dog. Many dogs with luxating patellas have very little lameness and are not overly bothered by this problem - so in that case, surgery would not be recommended. If Penny is significantly lame and painful in her knee and your vet believes that it is due to her luxating patella, then surgery would certainly be a reasonable option as long as she is otherwise healthy. Many older dogs have surgery for various conditions with no problems, provided that there are no underlying health issues (heart disease, kidney disease, etc.) that would increase the risk of anesthesia. If your dog does have some chronic health issues, I would recommend discussing the pros and cons of surgery with your vet.

I am not aware of a brave that would keep the patella within the femoral groove and therefore help with a luxating patella. Dogs with luxating patellas are predisposed to injuring the cranial cruciate ligament and if this is the case for Milo then a brace might help provide some support to his knee joint until surgery is performed. Using splints and other forms of external coaptation can lead to growth plate and ligament damage in young growing animals so you should definitely check with your vet before purchasing a brace. Depending on how severe the lameness is and whether or not Milo has changes to the bones due to the disease, surgery might be best performed now to prevent further changes, or it might be recommended that you wait until he is close to a year of age and at his adult size.