"Trick" kneecap

Hi there,
Well, I took Juniper to the vet after keeping her alone last night, and the vet says that she has a "trick kneecap" - her kneecap slides out of place. He slid the cap back into place. When she's grown, she will probably need surgery, he says, to make the kneecap stay in place and not slide out of joint. Poor kitty!!

Now I've brought Juniper home and she's resting by herself again (away from her sister), but she's still limping. She was fighting her carry case when we got home, so I'm wondering if she didn't slide it out again! Silly kitty! So it might be back to the vet on Monday...

Have any of your cats had this?

I have never experienced this, but the limping could also be due to soreness, im sure it doesnt feel 100% good when ur knee cap can slide out of place, you should ask the vet if there is any sort of bandages/braces that u can use for short time, because having to take cat to the vet every other day im sure will become tiresome and expensive.

Never experienced it with any of my cats. It must be so painful for the poor kitty.

Hey! My husband has one of those. All of a sudden his kneecap can just slide out of place, so he has to be careful with it. It's very painful when it happens.
Poor kitty having that! And you can't explain it to her. I agree with the knee brace idea. Cats are so active, something like this is bound to happen again unless you get the surgery done.

Originally Posted by pushylady

Poor kitty having that! And you can't explain it to her. I agree with the knee brace idea. Cats are so active, something like this is bound to happen again unless you get the surgery done.

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The vet was pointing at his knee to demonstrate. Yeah, she's only 6 months, and the vet said (logically) that she'd need to be full grown before having the surgery, and obviously we can't keep her in the bathroom till she's grown!!! I'm hoping it's just sore for now and won't pop out too often!

Originally Posted by Slig

I have never experienced this, but the limping could also be due to soreness, im sure it doesnt feel 100% good when ur knee cap can slide out of place, you should ask the vet if there is any sort of bandages/braces that u can use for short time, because having to take cat to the vet every other day im sure will become tiresome and expensive.

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The brace is a good idea - if the problem isn't fixed, I'll definitely look into it.

The condition you describe sounds like luxating patella. It's fairly uncommon in cats. Usually occurs in dogs.
It will require surgical correction if that is what it is. Maybe you can restrict your cats jumping to some extent, as that will certainly aggravate the condition.