Patella surgery has a high success rate, with the large majority of dogs returning to sound, comfortable movement. The complication that matters most is reluxation: in a minority of dogs, more commonly with high grades, the kneecap slips again and may need revision. Minor wound issues and implant irritation make up most of the rest.
How many of these do you do a year? What is your reluxation rate? Which techniques are you planning for this specific knee, and why those? Would you operate if this were your dog? A clinic that answers those four plainly has probably earned the booking. If any answer is vague, that is exactly what an independent opinion is for.
The grade, the imaging and the quote reviewed independently. From $250.
Not necessarily. A rare, brief skip with no lameness can persist, particularly after high grade corrections. Frequent skipping or returning lameness deserves imaging and review, ideally by the operating surgeon first.
Usually yes, but it is bigger surgery, sometimes staged, and the outcome ceiling is lower than a grade 2 fixed early. This is the strongest argument against letting a symptomatic knee drift for years.
An independent written opinion on the diagnosis, the technique and the quote. From $250.