Have had a puppy present with bilateral luxating patellas. How many do OFA clearances for patellas and at what age do you do them? Should litters be checked for this at 7 weeks?

Your vet should be able to check quite easily at that age...no xray involved.

My vet palpates joints (elbows, hips, knees) as part of the routine physical exam, even puppies when they go for first shots.

Same here--my veteriarian checks all joints on pups--and if it is a pup I have kept, he checks every time he sees the pup.

MK

Is it easy for a vet to tell if there are luxating patellas at 7 weeks?
I have never heard of this.
It sounds almost as ridiculous as pet vets diagnosing HD without x rays....

if the kneecap moves on palpation it can be a luxating patella, sometimes young dogs have them and they clear up as they mature

barb

How about in a pup 7-8 months old? Could a misdiagnosis be made on this age due to immaturity?

I can luxate just about any puppy's patella at 7 weeks (I don't of course!). 7 weeks is a little to young to decide if the pup has the problem or not. Make sure they are checked as they grow.

Of course a vet is not trying to make a determination as to whether the puppy will EVER develop HD ED or Patellar Luxation when he does the puppy exam!!
He's examining the puppy on "that day".

OFA grading is not done the same as with hips... no radiographs are involved, the vet makes his assessment according to OFA instructions and completes the OFA form and it's then submitted to OFA. If there were a diagnosis (or suspect) of one of the higher grades of Patellar Luxation, certainly in the case where surgery might be required, I'm pretty certain xrays would then be in order... the trochlear groove is one thing that would be looked at.

If you go to the OFA site and read the info about Patellar Luxation, they do recommend the puppy exam although they will not issue a database number for a dog until it is cleared and at least one year old... and they do recommend the exam be done periodically.

Thanks!!

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Replying to:

I can luxate just about any puppy's patella at 7 weeks (I don't of course!). 7 weeks is a little to young to decide if the pup has the problem or not. Make sure they are checked as they grow.

Why would anyone thank an anon DVM for their medical opinion?? Baffles me.

I think what I'm asking is more - could a dog just "develop" patellar luxation at 8-12 months when it had never been suspected prior to that age in any vet visits??

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Replying to:

Of course a vet is not trying to make a determination as to whether the puppy will EVER develop HD ED or Patellar Luxation when he does the puppy exam!!
He's examining the puppy on "that day".

OFA grading is not done the same as with hips... no radiographs are involved, the vet makes his assessment according to OFA instructions and completes the OFA form and it's then submitted to OFA. If there were a diagnosis (or suspect) of one of the higher grades of Patellar Luxation, certainly in the case where surgery might be required, I'm pretty certain xrays would then be in order... the trochlear groove is one thing that would be looked at.

If you go to the OFA site and read the info about Patellar Luxation, they do recommend the puppy exam although they will not issue a database number for a dog until it is cleared and at least one year old... and they do recommend the exam be done periodically.

Why are you being abrasive today?

Not being abrasive. That is dangerous territory to take someone's opinion as being from a vet and giving it any credibility when they don't even give their name and say they are a DVM. It is concern... not abrasive.

JMO, here's an informative link at The Candian Veterinary Journal web site.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/pagerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&pageindex=1&artid=1695305

One of the things mentioned in the article is that only 5% of the author's case "appear to have been entirely traumatic, that is patella luxated in spite of a normally constructed stifle."
Also writes about the importances of muscle stresses on bone development.
Last paragraph on page 143 might help answer your question about a dog exhibiting no prior clinical symptoms (as in an acute onset, I assume).

Thank you Valwhalen - that article was very informative!