Kneecap Dislocation in Dogs

Gunner has been limping and babying his leg ever since he was fetching his tennis ball last, it's been about a month since then and nothing has gotten better. Today (12/27/17) I noticed a big bump on the inside of the left hind leg (the one he babies) and after some research I found that's where his knee is and this is a possible diagnosis.. the only problem is we do not have the money for an x-ray, or surgery.. but it just kills us watching gunner limp and unable to do anything he loves. even a simple walk causes his limp to become 10x worse. We just don't know what to do or where to go because we don't have the money for the vet.

Hello. I would appreciate a second opinion. My toy poodle was diagnosed with a grade 1 luxating patella when I took him in for his first ever vet visit as a puppy. He is now 2.5 years old. Over the time I've had him, he's only had 1 or 2 occasions where he holds his leg up like you would if you had a cramp. He recovered almost instantly and was fine.
A couple days ago during his before-bed pee break, he was running in the back yard when he suddenly yelped. He held his right rear leg up and for the next hour before bed, he was walking gingerly on it, not wanting to put a lot of weight on it. Sometimes he would run on it and seemed fine. Almost like he never hurt it. As a precaution, I took him to the vet the next day. I noticed in the morning that he was still walking gingerly on his affected leg and limping a little. After talking with my vet, I opted to crate rest my dog rather than do surgery. The vet graded his luxating patella at a 2 on both knees. He also said that it was not progressed far enough that my dog needed immediate surgery. If his condition doesn't improve within the 2 weeks, then we're probably looking at surgery.
We're on day 2 after the event and when I do let him walk around for potty time, he seems to be walking on his affected knee ok. Sometimes he limps, sometimes he doesn't. I've been reading online that some recommend crate rest like we're doing, and some say crate rest is the worst thing you can do. Basically that's it better to strengthen the muscles instead by keeping up normal activity. What is your opinion on this?
Also, if/when we do opt for surgery, should we do both knees or just the one? This is a cost consideration and also it's me not wanting to have to put him under more than we need to. When he was neutered, he didn't recover so well. It took him about 6-8 hours to be back to normal. He was groggy and lost control of his bladder. Both knees are a grade 2. I've also read that doing both knees at the same time makes the recovery harder/longer.
Thanks

My dog had surgery for an anterior luxating patella. After surgery she still refused to keep the leg down. We had her back to orthopedic who said that he felt the pin needed to be removed, so more surgery to have pin removed. Still not better. Any advice as to what our next step might be. We have lost confidence in vet who recommended the surgery in the first place.

Ever since my dog has been a puppy, think 8 months or so, one of her knees has popped when she stands up from laying down for an extended period of time. !5+ minutes I would guess. Recently, her knee has been popping every single time she stands up from laying down. She does not show that she is in any discomfort at all when this happens, not even holding her leg up. I mentioned it to my vet as soon as I noticed it when she was younger but the vet was not concerned. She just turned 2 and this week I started to notice that her knee was giving out on her every now and then. She has also started to hesitate when going onto a higher area (bed, couch, car) and instead of jumping, she will climb. My dog is a very fit dog, I have always made sure she was not overweight. Is it safe to do muscle building exercises? Should I supplement her food?

My Newfie is 1yr., 5 months old. Still growing. Weight is approx. 105 lbs. She has patellar luxation (which began about 3 weeks ago). It only occurs when she is rough housing with our other dog. Question: How is the grade of patellar luxation determined? Is it determined via x-ray? If she is Grade 1 or 2, is there a brace that could be used until she finishes growing?

Hello Doctor.
I just purchased a 3 months old white pomeranian puppy few days ago, and I found her walking funny when we brought her home. She loves to run and play, but she looks like she is wabbling.We took her to the hospital and took x rays. Doctor said she has luxating patella grade 3-4, but she may get better since she is only 3 months. My older dog had surgery for patella, and I thought patellas always get worse, never better. Are there possibilities For her to get better, since she is so young?

Hello! My dog was sprinting the other day and he tripped over one of his toys. After that, he held up his right hind leg for a few moments and started to walk a bit oddly but he neither yelped when he injured his leg nor he is when he walks or runs on it (and I can't tell whether he's in pain or not! He eats and plays normally too and does not seem to be in any distress whatsoever!). As time passed, one cannot clearly tell whether he walks differently, only sometimes (but even then not always) when he walks up stairs or jumps down from beds and sofas (which we try to prevent him from doing..) he doesn't like to use that leg, after he runs too fast (after which he holds up the paw for a second and then continues), or sometimes he has some trouble walking backwards? His vet said that he needs surgery for a dislocated patella but (we will get a second opinion anyways) because otherwise his leg will shorten with time?! I was wondering whether it is necessary to put him through the stress and pain of surgery even though he seems fine most of the time! Is there any chance his kneecap will slide back by itself? :( Thank you very much in advance!

I have a 8 year old chihuahuas. I am almost positive her knee cap has moved out of place. It has done this once before about 7-8 months ago. But it also went back in place by the the end of the day. It happened again sat and has yet to go back. I have tried to stretch her leg gently to put back in but hasn't helped. She doesn't seem to be in any discomfort. I took her to the vet before but it had already gone back in but he told me she needed surgery to fix ($3800). Several weeks later I took her to the vet i used to work for (6 hours away) and he tried to pop the knee out to see how loose it was and he couldn't get it to go. He said she didn't need surgery now at least. So I guess my question is, if her knee won't go back in by itself, does that mean she will need the surgery?

Approximately 5 years ago I took my Maltipoo to the vet because she started holding up one of her back legs. They said it was a dislocated knee cap but on X-ray it was in the correct spot. Took her for a second opinion and upon feeling her knee they diagnosed her with a torn ccl. Given her small size it just healed on its own with scar tissue. She is now 11years old and is limping again after running for 30seconds. Sometimes she will lightly use it, other times she holds it up. Do you think this is a patellar issue or ccl? She doesn’t seem to be in any pain

Im not sure if anyone else has had this odd issue but my teacup yorkie fell off my bed and yelped and began to lip. He was taken to the vet imidatley and they did their thing but from what I am hearing from my mother the vet did nothing at all when it comes to his patella and just said, "Both of his knees are dislocated and charged us $500. I was wondering about what to do if both of the patellas are not right right.

Hello. I have a pure bread female english staffy. At approx 1 year old she was diagnosed with a dislocated patella on her right leg. She underwent surgery and her symptoms began to worsen after that, the vet put her under again and found that the pin in her leg was pushing against the back of her knee which caused pain when trying to sit. She still has symptoms and doesn't use that leg still when walking or running. has the vet performed the surgery wrong and should we get a second opinion?

Hello, I have a six yr old Pitbull, Apollo was diag with Kneecap Dislocation to his back right knee. Not sure how to help him, he was born with no left foot so it just a pad. Doctor put him on pain meds and advised to keep him off of it for two weeks with little activity. Everything I'm reading states he needs to exercise it. I'm so confused on how to help him. To top everything off he was diag with cancer a month ago (Prednisone Tab 20mg 2.5 tab once a day). I am heart broken and don't know what to do to help him. I've looked at braces, dog wheelchairs, I just hate he is so confined. Please advise, he's been through so much until I adopted him from the SPCA and now this. What can I do???

My dog had his knee slip out tonight twice. It went towards his other knee or leg. He's a large bread Alaskan malamute 115 pounds. He's in good condition muscle and body wise he's not fat at all just a big dog. I know rehab is a good thing I'm just worried if it's a severe tear. Would you recommend me just trying rehab first or to just make an appt Ik the surgery is pricey that doesn't bother me. I just feel horrible for my dog.

My dog suddenly started limping 4 days ago. I took her to the vet, who diagnosed her with patellar luxation (radiograph also showed some arthritis). The vet was able to push her kneecap back in place, but it comes out again when she walks and she limps. The vet does not recommend surgery because of her age. I asked about a brace for her and the vet said "no, a brace would twist". Are there braces available for this problem that would help my dog? She's healthy and very active jumping and running until this happened to her.

Hi - My pet is not able to stand on left leg since 2 weeks ago. I spoke with vet and he performed manual examination and X-Ray. He says: I don't see her kneecap and that is serious matter.
Do you think she needs surgery? I know that patella luxation requires surgery to fix the issue but don't know if kneecap is not exit, what we should do. All family members are concerned about prognosis of this health issue. Pleas share what you think.
Thanks - Mohammad