# Please help - major bruising after luxating patella surgery



## kiker14 (Mar 8, 2009)

hello, my 3.5 year old chihuahua had surgery on both her rear legs for her luxating patellas. She did not have much bruising when we brought her home today (the surgery was two days ago) but there is a rather large bruise that is forming on the top of her leg and we are having a hard time reaching our vet - has anybody experienced this before? is it normal? I will post pictures in a few minutes.

Here is the poor puppy...


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## Inga (Jun 16, 2007)

Do you have an emergency vet you can at least make a call to? That looks more like an irritation of some type then a bruise to me. Poor little baby having to go through all that. I hope she can recover quickly. NO dog should have to go through such a thing.  Good Luck to you, I hope someone else will be able to offer more. I have never had a dog with Luxating Patellas so I don't know if that is normal. Just wanted to wish you and your puppy well.


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## kiker14 (Mar 8, 2009)

Thanks - the emergency vet did not pick up for the last few hours! We started calling other animal hospitals in the area but all the doctors are "busy with emergencies" we are just going to keep calling around until we find sombody or until somebody here can help us out. I agree, it looks almost like a rash - but she has just been sitting all day. I wonder if she is having some sort of alergic reaction to the pain meds...


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## Inga (Jun 16, 2007)

It is possible that it is a very bad razor burn. I have seen dogs with those after surgery but I wouldn't have thought it would take 2 days to show up so red. Where did you get your puppy? Did you talk to your breeder about the surgery? Maybe they could be a resource to you as well. I think Luxating Patellas are fairly common in Chihuahua's right? Keep Calling sooner or later someone will answer. Until then, let her rest. Poor baby. 

Edit: I just wanted to add, she looks so sweet and cute, I just want to give her a kiss on her little head.


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## kiker14 (Mar 8, 2009)

thank you very much - she is normally a very happy little dog - here is a pic from well before the surgery...










Truth be told it's my girlfriends dog (I have a cat) but we have been dating for quite some time and live together now so we are all one big happy family - here is halloween a few years ago..










I can't wait for Bella (the dog) to feel better so that she can get back to being herself!


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## Inga (Jun 16, 2007)

Crack me up! LOVE the picture. I had a dog that should have been in your family.  









though I am not sure who would have held her in their arms.  lol
How is your girl doing today? What did the vet say???
Give her another kiss for me.  I hope she feels a little better today.


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## kiker14 (Mar 8, 2009)

In case anybody else ever has this problem or is curious, our dog has recovered just fine. It's still less than one week since the surgery so she obviously still has a long way to go, but the bruise is almost completely gone now, and she is eating on her own and seems much happier (no more whimpers of pain, only of joy when she sees us in the morning and when we come home from work).


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## 5 s corral (Dec 31, 2007)

that is great news i am happy she is better 
jamie


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## Thracian (Dec 24, 2008)

That is good news! Thanks so much for the update. Glad to hear she's doing so much better.


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## Pai (Apr 23, 2008)

Oh poor baby! I'm glad she is doing better!


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## kiker14 (Mar 8, 2009)

Hi everybody,

It's been a week and a half from the surgery and although there is still some weakness and an occasional whimper after too much walking / jumping around (we try to keep her calm but she just can't help herself in the fresh air) she is doing great. The bruising is 100% gone, her hair is starting to grow back, she is eating her normal dog food on her own, and she is getting back into her old habits and just being herself. I'll take some pictures of her tomorrow and post them up, she's much cuter when she isn't in pain


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## Kryss1022 (Jan 14, 2010)

This is Bella's Mommy 

It has been about 10 months since we brought my little one home from the hospital after her luxating patella surgery. I am happy to say she is doing VERY well. It took some time for her to get back to her normal self and she just recently started jumping on the bed without the assistance of her tiny steps. (the bed is about 2 feet high, so thats pretty impressive). All her hair has grown back thick and you han hardly tell she had surgery.









In the above picture was taken at about 7 months post surgery and you can see a slight crinkle where the scar is under the fur. And yes, she is snuggled into a pile of dirty laundry...lol
Below she is looking much happier (taken just a couple weeks ago) hanging out with her daddy and her best friend Purrcey










As a note to anyone who is considering making this decision for his/her dog.....please dont make the decision lightly. It broke my heart to see her in pain and it took a lot of work the first few weeks to keep her comfortable and safe. We purchased a pack-and-play for her to live in while she was recovering. It was just the right size to allow for comfy sleeping space and some wee wee pads on the other end. Also, if you have other pets, the top insert for newborns works great to keep the other animals out.


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## kurlz26 (Feb 28, 2010)

Hi kiker14 and Kryss1022:
I am so glad to hear and see that Bella is doing much better. Our little one, Niloo, just went through FHO surgery for leg perthes and is having similar bruising on the inside of her leg. It has me super worried!!!
I was hoping you would be able to answer a few questions:
Did Bella get the bruising a few days after surgery? (Niloo's bruise started to appear 4 days post surgery)
Does it have some shades of purple? (Couldn't tell from the picture)
Did it get bigger?
Did the vet tell you what it was from? 
How long did it take to go away?

If you can answer any questions, I would really really appreciate it. It's so hard to see my little Niloo in such pain and discomfort. And to see such an awful bruise makes it harder!!

Thanks for your help in advance!


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