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Expert: - 2/11/2011


Question
Hello,
Tonight I noticed that my 7 year old Male Maltese Started to limp and sometimes will walk with his left hind leg up. I don't believe he hurt it from jumping off of anything. I read about Luxating patella and it seem to fit his symptoms, Can my maltese have Luxating patella or can there be another reason why he is limping?

Answer
There seems to be a good chance that he does have a luxating patella from what you are describing.

What happens is as they walk the patella slips out of the groove on the tibia and then it usually goes toward the inside of the leg- effectively locking the leg into place in a bent position.

Somehow the leg relaxes and the patella pops back in, making the dog able to walk normally again.

The other most common knee injury is when they tear their ACL. This is a common 'football' injury in humans. What happens is that the ligament that holds the two bones, the top and bottom of the hind leg, together rips and then the knee joint moves too much forward and backward.

It is very painful and the dog will not put any weight on the leg at all. That is why it sounds like your dog has a luxating patella instead.

Get him into the vet and have it looked over. Some dogs need surgery for this but many can just live with it.

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Jana Connell RVT, CVT

Expertise

PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING TO ME: I am NOT a vet and do NOT diagnose diseases. That is only for a licensed Veterinarian to do. I will give you suggestions and steer you toward calling your vet for help. You can call the vet's office and talk to the technician there or the vet at times. Don't be afraid to call them! If you have a serious issue with your pet please post it to one of the veterinarians in here- I will tell you the same thing in my answer. IF your pet is injured or in an emergency situation, CALL YOUR VET- Do not wait and post in here. Just call the vet's office and get them in to see the vet right away. Critical treatment time is lost if you seek answers here when you should have your precious pet at the vets!! Don't sit at home waiting for an answer when your pet is critically ill or injured!! I can answer most questions about small animal and wildlife care as well as small animal nutrition. I can also answer questions about all phases of dental care for small animals. I DO NOT answer questions about birds (unless it is wildlife or songbirds) or HAMSTERS/GERBILS/CHINS/GUINEA PIGS/REPTILES/FROGS/RABBITS/PET BIRDS OF ANY KIND so please submit these questions to the appropriate sections. I, as well as other experts in here, do NOT do homework questions- that is for YOU to do! Please respect these rules for all of us. Thanks!

Experience

I have over 35 years experience in the field of veterinary medicine. I specialized in small animals and did wildlife rehab for over 25 years, mostly raptors, squirrels and opossums. I am a Small Animal Nutritional Consultant with 6 certificates from Hills Pet Foods, CNM and Purina. I also specialized in Small Animal Dentistry which is a field I truly love.

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Audubon,World Wildlife Federation, American Society of Veterinary Dental Technicians.

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Licensed with California and Oregon, RVT and CVT. Certified Veterinary Dental Technician Have over 500 logged hours of Continuing Education Credits(that means I keep up to date!).

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Nominated for Expert of the Month for the last 5 years.

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