Dutch Shepherd Forum

I have been dreading posting this. I am worried about Xena's knee.

When we picked her up at 7.5 weeks, I noticed an occasional hop. a TINY favoring of the left hind leg. I e-mailed the breeder who said he had not noticed anything, maybe an injury? If it continues take her to the vet.

Well, It came and went. Most of the time she is fine, then once in several weeks, she will have a spell where she skips on that leg. ONE step then on her way as normal. Being the obsessive person that I am it bothers me a lot. When we were at the vet we were so worried about her broken toe, that I forgot about the very occasional skip.

I figured that when I have her spayed I will have them X-ray hips/knees/elbows and determine what to do. I mentioned this to a Vet today (today Xena was not skipping) and she suggested a very good surgeon in a near by city. She said that X-rays don't show knee problems well and that since she is only 6 months old, her joints will feel loose anyway.

Does anyone have any advice on knees? Xena has a 5 year genetic guarantee which i found very comforting when I bought her. BUT what I didn't research is that it is not a money back, it is a return the dog and we will give you another puppy.

I would suggest getting it looked at sooner, than later.

When my Malinois was 6 months old, something happened. It was 7 am on a Sunday. I heard a scream, and my girl was hopping around on 3 legs. .... I'm cutting all the stuff about visiting the vet .... Cut to two years later and still intermittent limping and pain, and vet visits. I had an animal communicator talk to her and found out that she had broken a piece of bone off of her elbow that morning 2 years ago. I had x-rays sent to a radiologist and it was confirmed and she had surgery to have the bone piece removed.

Being a Malinois, the pain was nothing to her. She just kept going. And I got a new vet, too.

Im confused, did you have her knee xrayed? The beginning said when you have her spayed but then you said the vet said her xray looks good? Or was that an earlier xray?

I would also look into to now. Im no dog knee expert but the joints on animals dont close yet so pain may not be as bad as it could be when they close depending on what is wrong.

I could never give a dog back, no matter what. I dont care what happens with Sadie and her hips, she is here to stay. There is only one way out of my house. It may be sooner if she keeps chewing dog beds though.

I had an animal communicator talk to her

our holistic vet does animal communication as well to diagnose a problem. It is absolutely amazing how well that works. A bit shocking sometimes too. Our dogs watch us 24/7 and know exactly what's going on with us.

Ha ha, I'm thinking of a TV episode of Flipping Out where they had an animal communicator come in and the dog said he enjoyed listening at the bedroom door when they, you know, and that he wished they would do it more often!! Kinda freaky!

Ok, now I am a little freaked about what my animals like to hear....

But I will get her knee checked. The fact that it is not in both knees kind of makes me think it was an early injury rather than heredity. She has, after all, broken one toe, almost broke three in a re-peat, almost broke a leg recalling too fast, ate a toad and is pretty avant guard in everything she does~with gusto....

Please don't worry. We knew before 24 hrs was up that she was our little wild child for better or worse. There is no sending her back.

When I read Carol's post I thought about contacting a communicator... Maybe after Christmas.... (I could always clearly read horses and they seem to hear my thoughts loud and clear... wish it transferred to dogs!!!! I would give up my day job!)

My horses were pretty easy to read too. I have a friend whos horse vet who also communicates with the animals, she was spot on with her horses.

Luxating Patella? If that's it, your Vet should be able to tell by manipulation. Usually a small dog problem tho, but what you described is exactly what they do when they have it. I would get it checked now.

Dutchringgirl wrote:Im confused, did you have her knee xrayed? The beginning said when you have her spayed but then you said the vet said her xray looks good? Or was that an earlier xray?

She has not had a X-ray. the vet I was talking to just said that x-rays are not reliable when it comes to determining knee problems. Probably because it is a ligament issue. x-rays could only tell if she had arthritis but this is so infrequent and she is so young that it is doubtful that she would have lasting damage yet...

ok, i see, usually thats when we humans go for an MRI.

Has Zena's knee problem been resolved?

Well yes and no. It is much less frequent right now. A bit of a hop (1 step or two) every few days. I have been advised to wait until she is a year old before evaluating anything. Meanwhile, I am getting her some healthy joint supplements.