Socks the 1 year old Border Collie was brought to the Reservoir Vet Clinic as he had been lame in his right hind leg. When he was examined Dr Wayne found that Socks was not placing his foot on the ground at all and was hopping on 3 legs. When Dr Wayne closely examined Socks' leg he found that his patella was luxated. This means that his knee cap was not sitting in the right position, it had moved towards the inside of his leg. Patella luxation usually occurs in smaller breed dogs but can occur in any breed. A key sign owners can look out for is if their dog skips while walking or running this can be a sign that the patella is luxating out of position.

Once Dr Wayne manipulated Socks' knee cap into the correct position Socks was able to walk on his leg tenderly. Dr Wayne noticed that Socks' knee cap would luxate into and out of position quite easily. If this happens over a period of time it can cause arthritis to develop in the joint which would be quite painful for Socks in the future. Therefore Dr Wayne recommended that Socks had surgery on his knee so that his knee cap was stabilised and would not luxate out of position. Socks was booked in for surgery the following week.

Socks was admitted to the hospital the night before the surgery so Dr Raj could place a pain relief patch on his skin. This patch would deliver a very strong pain relief to Socks so he was comfortable after his surgery. Dr Wayne performed surgery on Socks the following day and Nurse Lauren monitored his vital signs throughout his anaesthetic. Socks was placed on an intravenous fluid drip while he was in surgery in order to maintain his blood pressure as the anaesthesia causes the patient's blood pressure to drop.

Socks' surgery was completed according to plan and without any complications. His patella is now stable and no longer luxates out of position. This will now mean that there will be reduced arthritis development in his joint as Socks' gets older. Socks' has revisited the clinic since his surgery and his leg is healing well.