Moxie had surgery to fix a luxating patella back in the first week of March. A floating knee cap is a pretty common problem among smaller breeds of dogs, and Moxie is the smallest Jack Russell I have ever seen -- the runt of her litter -- which may have been a causal issue in this particular instance. This is a dog that weighs only 2/3 of what others in her litter did. A knee can slip for a variety of reason -- a twist in the leg, a too short tendon, or, simply too shallow a trochlear groove, which was the only issue here.
The surgery is pretty straightforward and cost $1,500 in this case. Recovery takes far longer than for a flesh wound, as tendons and cartilage are slow to knit back up. As a general rule, the full benefit of the surgery takes about 4 months to set in. The good news is that it looks like Moxie will knit up fine, and there were no complications whatsoever. Another bit of good news is that I like the vet I took her to -- a straight-forward shop that never tried to upcode or push medically unnecessary work. A refreshing thing that has already gotten them repeat business from a 5-dog family!
That is great news. I have a JRT with the exact issue, but he's five now and so far we've been able to avoid the surgery by conservative treatment -- rest, limiting activity etc. -- when it goes out on him, which it's done twice. Both times it's happened when he's slipped on our hardwood floor -- now we keep his nails very short and have booties he wears on his rear feet to provide more traction...and we've bought a lot of rugs. For a dog that truly works though, like yours do, I would imagine surgery is the best option.
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