upward fixation of the patella

[nic]

Ooohhh I had a fright yesterday, I went down to see Ebony, and she could hardly walk, her back leg was stretched out and she was dragging it along, i thought she had broekn it.
I tied her up and she was hobbling along, but at least she wasnt deragging it behind her. So i felt for heat, went to pick up this bad foot and it clicked and shot upwards.
I phone the vet who came out and she has upward fixation of the patella anyone any experience of this? I have been told to walk her up and down hills to help with the muscle, which i will do but obviously i work full time and now its dark in evenings i dunno when I can do this except weekends ooohh i am quite worried, as i feel bad i cant even do the hill walking as much as she needs.....any help would be brill.

[The Moo]

If I remember rightly she is only a youngster so has probably had a growth spurt and is probably having a gangly moment, building up muscle is ideal but as she catches up with herself it shouldn't be a long term problem.
Keep an eye on it though.

[lancslass]

we have had quite a few over the years lock their stifle, mainly youngsters and totally agree, it appears to happen more when they are croup high.

[Debbie]

I know firsthand how awful this looks, as Blossom has troubles with this too.

Where we live is flat as a pancake, except for her one little hill. She runs up and down it, but yes, when she's got a growth spurt, her left hindleg especially will lock out like that. Sometimes both hindlegs will do it. It only lasts for a couple of days, and I often give her arnica and ruta grav homeopathic tablets in her feeds.

Blossom's devised her own method of spinning over the bad leg and getting it back into place, but the first few times it happened, I'd ask her to back up to get it to click back in.

There is a surgery option, but from what everyone says, the stifle should quit locking once Blossom's stopped her upward growth. Hope this helps

[nars]

Yes, I've had experience of it, Nic. Do you have access to a good physio as they will be a real help with this?

One good exercise is to have poles raised at one end and walk Ebony over the pole- bad leg over the raised end. Build up to trotting over the raised pole and eventually canter. Start with a coupl eof poles then build a fan and get her over the whole fan.

Going downhill can be painful for them when they have this problem. Is she unshod? It'll be easier for her if she is as going downhill in bad weather with shoes on might aggravate it.

It'll come good with regular exercise.