Patella Test

Curious what everyone's opinions are on the Patella Test. I have seen, after taking a few dogs to different vets, it's very subjective from individual to individual on the ratings. I also find if there is an issue, the ratings can vary from General practice vets to specialized vets. There seems to be little consistency. I'm curious if anyone has noticed this? Some vets don't even catch Patella issues in puppies when there is an actual issue. Has anyone experienced this before? Thanks for any information you have on this topic.

I won't have any orthopedic tests done at my regular vet. I don't think they have the experience with them to do an adequate job. I took Millie to an orthopedic specialist, and will do the same with Cricket when the time comes. It's more costly, but worth it to get a thorough, accurate exam, I think.

I'm not sure what the proper age would be. I was planning on having my new litter's patellas checked before going to new homes, especially if sold on full AKC. My vet goes over them during their well check, and it is one of the things on their individual report that they check off as normal or if something is questionable it is noted and discussed. But I have seen people get puppies shipped to them, they take the puppy to the vet for the required vet check upon arrival, and the puppy is declared to have luxating patellas within 24 hrs of its arrival. With a flight cert, I would have thought this is something that would have shown up during that exam since every inch of the puppy is covered.

I definitely want patellas checked on my breeding dogs, but have never really considered the accurateness/subjectivity of it.

My understanding is that they should be fully grown. You can do preliminary checks, but they would have to be pretty bad on a puppy for a vet to call them luxating that young, I'd think. Until they're fully grown, tendons are loose, so the joints can be manipulated really easily. In fact, you should never have patellas/hips/shoulders/elbows checked on a bitch near her season for the same reason. The hormones can loosen tendons. You should do a bitch pretty much halfway between her seasons.

The dogs do have to be 2 years old or older at exam time for the results to be registered with OFA (I think Pennhip is the same, but I'm not 100% sure).

I know my vet does check all pups. If he says a pup has slight.....then I really don't worry to much until the pup is 1 yrs old. Then I will have a prelim done. I have only had 1 dog not pass and she is now in a pet home and getting spayed in 2 wks! Everyone else that may have been questionable go back at 1 yr and then again @ 1 1/2....if no change than I wouldn't breed them and pet them out. It is very hard tho when you are selling a pup at 8 wks, 4mths, 6 mths to determine an accurate rating on them!! I agree tho to have them checked before breeding and after 1 yr and in between cycles!! Never have them checked when they are in heat!! Most vets and all Ortho's know this!!
I have also heard that Creams are prone to have Patella issues......don't know how true this statement is....don't know the statistics!!

From my experiences, Patellas can be checked on puppies and should be checked on puppies. If a puppy is having noticeable Patella issues, there is an issue, possibly even severe if you notice it in a young pup 8/10 weeks of age. Most of the time if there is a noticeable issue it only worsens & does not go away. Having personally been through this with 4 different levels of breeders & 4 different lines of puppies, it's becoming a very big issue that is being unnoticed and puppies being shipped with problems. Just in the last month alone, I have experienced with a few breeders, Patella issues in 3 different lines of puppies and one adult line. 2 of these lines being Nice show lines, 1 cream, one dapple and one pet line being in chocolate/cream. These were not cheap dogs all ranging in the prices of 2,000.00...1,500.00 ...and 600.00. all puppies shipped in. These puppies all had noticeable issue at the time of delivery and all cleared by different general practice veterinarians. All puppies have been removed from breeding programs and should have never been shipped out to breeders to begin with. It was a basic lack of education on the breeders part and could have been avoided. This is an easy manipulation that can easily be done by you the breeder and it's also something you can visually see when you have a level 2 or above issue.

I'm sorry guys but just because your vet says there is no issue does not make it so. Unfortunately if a puppy is cleared by a vet and it has issues, it just says your vet does not know what he is doing in this one area of his practice. I know we rely on our vets for alot, but sometimes we as breeders do know a little more about some areas of our dogs.

I will be making a video soon with some of these issue in hopes it will help educate. No kennel names will be released on this issues as that is not the purpose of this post. Education is the key to correcting our lines and striving for a healthy dog. I can guarantee it's no fun to pay for dogs and have them arrive with health issues.

Here is a good site for some information: http://www.2ndchance.info/patella.htm

It's always hard to accept that something is wrong in our lines, but the majority of the time these types of things are not just pulled out of the air. For all those breeders out there stepping up to the plate to fix these problems, cudos to you! You are the 5 ***** breeders that are making a difference.

Nothing is more discouraging than receiving a very promising show puppy in, excited to post pictures and share with everyone, but instead you place your baby on the kitchen floor and gasp from shock & disappoinment. Then with the sickening thoughts of it all, you feel the need to puke as all your hopes are gone for this new hopeful in your program, then realizing the 1 year set-back, time waiting on that pup and then having to search for a new puppy and the money out on shipping fees, you can't sleep all night and then you have to e-mail the breeder and try to find just the right words to share with them so they don't get offended, once again, you may feel the need to puke.

on the other side

You have done your best to produce the most perfect puppies and they have all been delivered and you get an e-mail/phone call stating the worst. You can tell by the voice it's not good news and there is a little stress and tension coming from the otherside of the e-mail/phone call. You start to feel a little quizzy as your receiving the news about this issue with your pup. emotions are starting to pour through you as you hear this AWEFUL news and you want to puke. You have mixed emotions and think but my vet said everyone was fine, but then i realize did he really go over each puppy throughly? or did he just check one or 2 and say all was fine? did he actually do a fecal on all pups or just the one? Did he do a Patella test on each baby? Did he really know what he was doing? Was his mind elsewhere that day/ UGGGH!!! now what was this ? as you re-focus to her/him on the line. All you can think about are the other 5 puppies that are in homes and wondering how they are all doing. Your natural response is!! All the other puppies are fine once again you feel the need to puke because now your questioning are all the other puppies really fine?

Yeppers, it's no fun on either end and people say breeding is easy Hmmm, I wish I had those programs, because I can say from experience it's many sleepless nights when you care about your program and the program & feelings of others.

Some puppies may have loose Patellas but several have AWESOMELY perfect Patellas. If you suspect trouble in your lines, A specialist is the way to go as you will get a much better reading. I have found from my experiences. that the majority of General practitioners do not know how to adequately grade patellas.

After reading some of the post, I started doubting my ability to check Patella's (silly me), so I scheduled a 125.00 visit with a specialist and he confirmed everything I had speculated on the last pup I evaluated. It was a grade 2 and they only worsen with age (they do not get better), according to my experience and the experience of this specialist. The report written up states this particular puppy has a high chance of needing surgery as this worsens, to the tune of 4,000.00

I guess I paid for confirmation & peace of mind, I hate having to tell someone their lines have issues, it stinks on every level. Which also brings up a few points - who should have to pay for testing on dogs that are shipped out with these issues? The breeder or the buyer? Should the breeder replace the puppy? Should the buyer get a full refund including shipping? Should the buyer be made to take a replacement puppy when they do not want to get one from those lines? Hmm, what other questions have I left out?

Sherry, I answered this on the other board, but I did want to let you know that your experience has convinced me to have patellas checked before I sell any puppies to show homes going forward.

I put this up on another forum and thought I'd share here.

Most General practitioners will pass any dog unless they are really bad. Doesn't seem like they can actually grade a 1 or a 2, but some can catch a 3 or a 4 if they are really looking and this is from my experience with several vets not just one. It's just an issue that is going unnoticed and if you really want to be sure, you either learn to do it yourself, so you know or you pay a specialist for his expertise in the department of orthopedics. I used to work at an office that had a specialist, so i learned to do it myself. If i'm ever in doubt, I'll now use a specialist for their opinion on this test. I have just seen to many dogs rated good that actually have issues and since it's genetic, it's not something I want in my lines, nor do I want my customers to have to deal with it. I also realize no matter how hard I try to keep it out, it's an issue that's already in several lines and it will pop up every know & then, but i guess you take the information you have and go from there. It's up to each individual breeder to do what is right for their own program. Also, remember, before you buy a dog, you may want that dog tested by a specialist before it is shipped to you. Your going to have them tested anyway, so you might as well have it CERF'd & OFA orthopedic specialist tested, it may save you a little heartache later down the line. Anytime you want to swing by, your more than welcome. I have 3 dogs here right now with issues and I can show you what to look for and how to test. Once you get the hang of it, you can do it yourself. One of the dogs is heading to her pet home today, but give me a call if you'd like to swing by and catch her before she goes home. I also have a young male here with similar patella issues. Another thing, if your buying a dog, and the breeder is selling it for high dollars, they shouldn't mind paying for these test. If ours go out as breeders, your going to be paying over 800.00 and you can beat those dogs are going to be tested before leaving as breeders. This is not something I want my fellow breeders to have to deal with in their lines, it's not fun to get in a dog with issues.

I'm curious why we have choosen not to protect ourselves & others? When did it become O.K. to just send a dog out to be breed without any testing and leave it up to the other breeder? It's kind of like saying here trust me this dog is breedable, but if you want to verify it, it's up to you I'm only responsible for they guys I keep not the ones I send out to be breed. Are we not responsible for what we sell to be breed anymore? Now if your getting it for free, swapping out or basement prices, than yes I can see where you leave the testing up to the other, but if someone is paying top $$$ for breeders, do we not owe it to ourselves to provide this? I was just curious, I kind of feel obligated to include something in that price tag or is it just me? just food for thought. It seems to just make since. JMO

What does that price tag really include? Breeders don't need puppy kits they need a breeders package with testing included. I'll trade that collar, over priced pet food, crate, toys, bedding, chews etc... whatever it is that is offered for something useful like OFA testing for eyes/patellas/PRA etc.... I'm thinking we have a new option package