Luxating patella

[James Lilford]

Hello all,

We are new to the forum, but are after some advice for luxating patella surgery.

We have a roughly two year old cross breed (Pip) who we rescued from Malaysia. Just before Christmas she developed a limp and when we took her to the vet a few weeks ago we found she has grade 2 luxating patella in the left knee (and grade 1 on the right).

The vet has quoted £1800-2300 for a surgeon to fix the patella, but has now said that there is potentially (and likely) cruciate damage and to fix this could cost up to an additional £2000, but they won't know until they do x-rays and operate. She is booked in for surgery next week.

Does this seem reasonable? The quotes we have seen vary a lot, so would like to know if anyone has experience? We are based in London (so prices may be a bit more) and Pip is around 14kg medium-sized.

Any help is hugely appreciated!

James, Phoebe and Pip

 

[Violet Turner]

Hi, what insurance are you with? because PetPlan will cover the surgery...
I found a quote from a vets called Animal Trust and they price it as '£649'... it may depend on the grade of Patella Luxation, it sounds reasonable to me. hope this helps! hope pip feels better soon!

 

[JoanneF]

It's really impossible to say what surgery might cost with any degree of confidence because there are different procedures that can be done for LP so it really depends which of these your vet feels is most appropriate. However you aren't tied into one vet in the same way as humans are registered with a doctor. So you could shop around for some more quotes?

 

[youthnovels]

This is very hear say but I was in the vets yesterday and a dog had the same operation. The specialist was charging £5000ish and the operation had gone ahead but they were unable to claim on the insurance as it was pre-existing and they had changed insurers. To say they were unhappy was an understatement .....

 

[Violet Turner]

This is very hear say but I was in the vets yesterday and a dog had the same operation. The specialist was charging £5000ish and the operation had gone ahead but they were unable to claim on the insurance as it was pre-existing and they had changed insurers. To say they were unhappy was an understatement .....

What!! why for so much? you should shop around for different quotes, but if you find the price ok go ahead!

 

[youthnovels]

What!! why for so much? you should shop around for different quotes, but if you find the price ok go ahead!

I have no idea why it was so expensive I was just sneakily listening. It did sound an awful lot though!

 

[Violet Turner]

I have no idea why it was so expensive I was just sneakily listening. It did sound an awful lot though!

Wow! but just look around for cheaper quotes please? because you don't want to be paying all that money!

 

[JoanneF]

How much did you charge @Violet Turner?

 

[Violet Turner]

From what I can remember we charged from £900-£1200 ish' but it does depend on the grade of the dogs luxating patella. but some places charge less and some more! @JoanneF

 

[James Lilford]

Thanks for the responses guys, our vets have been great so far, but this has got us a bit worried. Some other quotes for vets nearby have been around £2000, just seems a lot to add on another £2000 for cruciate damage...

We have More Than insurance and they have said that this should be covered. However, the vets say they can’t do a direct claim and now they also can’t get pre authorisation as they are not sure without X-ray if the cruciate will need fixing as well.

So we are left with the prospect of paying £4000 up front and then claiming back which may not be possible!

 

[arealhuman]

Blimey, it's at times like these you find out how expensive dog ownership can really be I can't add anything useful to what's already been said, other than have a meaningful discussion with your vet about claiming/likely success rates (although it sounds as though you've already done that) but I really do hope you get to a satisfactory conclusion. One thought - you mentioned London, if you're willing to travel it might be worth casting your net a bit wider to see if other locations are cheaper. Who knows, you might be able to turn it into a trip away, although perhaps the worry of your dog having an operation might not make this possible. Very best of luck.

 

[JoanneF]

I haven't any experience with your insurer but I don't see why they can't pre-authorise both procedures then if the cruciate turns out not to be necessary then great, it's a smaller claim. Also it must be relatively common for a vet to plan a possible second procedure but be unsure whether it will be necessary until he actually operates. So I would be surprised if they haven't come across similar situations. Maybe worth a second call to the insurer to put that directly to them?