Hi - Parker's Mommy here, When we adopted Diamond we did not know that he had a Luxating Patella. We learned a lot about it after we found out poor Diamond had one.
He starting showing symptoms early in 2004 (he was almost 2 years old). When we would walk Diamond he would go lame in his right leg. After a visit to the VET and X-rays, we took him to Mission Med Vet to have a consultation. It was clear from the X-ray that Diamond had to have surgery. So that's what we did. Diamond was less than thrilled. We worried that he would be a bad patient, but that wasn't the case. Diamond was a very good patient and his recovery time was fast! We gave him pain patches and he loved to take his medicine because they were wrapped in treats! We also learned that it's probably a good idea to have pet insurance when you adopt because surgeries are very expensive!
Diamonds fur grew back in no time, but we did call him "turkey leg" for a little while. He didn't like that very much. We even got him his own bear to sleep with because he had to sleep in a crate for 2 weeks after the surgery to keep him from walking around at night. Daddy had to carry him outside to use the bathroom because the doctor said he could not use the steps.
I'm happy to say that Diamond has never had any problems with his leg since the surgery. And we are very, very grateful about that!
