Luxating patella and inguinal hernia

(Cross posted on the puppy board) Hello! I have fallen in love with an adorable Cavapoo puppy and was planning to adopt. After the vet check, I learned that she has pinpoint inguinal hernia- as well as Grade 1 luxating patella. I know there is always a chance health issues will pop up- but could anyone give me insight on whether these issues might resolve on their own or if I’m looking at expensive surgeries if I continue the process of bringing her home? I don’t know how to find this out on my own!  Thank you so much for any help!!

Hello!  Unfortunately herniae are extremely common.  Breeders say things like, they're normal in this breed,' or 'X had one all his life and it doesn't bother him,' or 'it just needs a small operation and then he'll be fine,' or 'I heard of one once that closed up all by itself' (very rare). Luckily for them, by this time the client has a very cute puppy in their hands that they are 'falling in love with' and the vet confirms that they can deal with the hernia at the time of Spey or castration.  Thus breeding dogs with part of their internal organs poking through a gap in the muscle wall, is becoming normalised.

However, it should not be normal for pups to be born needing surgery.   If you go to our blog and type 'puppy hernia,' you will find the medical facts of the situation.  It is typical of our profession to fix these routinely at the moment; at the very least, I believe that we should insist on neutering pets at the same time, in order that they cannot pass the problem on.

A luxating patella can be a much bigger issue and even Gr 1 patella luxations may need surgery when they are older.   If you select our blog page on this website then once again you can read up on the surgical facts about them (may be likely to cause medical problems eg arthritis).  I feel that vets are not talking enough about the wider solution to this (ie not breeding puppies with legs of such a shape that this is likely).   There are large debates about dog breeding in general going on throughout the country, but I'm afraid that this is typical at the moment. Your choices are to walk away and adopt a rescue or a puppy with no congenital abnormalities, or to accept that the umbilicus may require surgery, and to accept that animals are bred to such a shape that there may, for example, be a likelihood of ongoing problems from the patella. I also always reccommend that your own vet should check the puppy before money changes hands.

To be clear, I would not personally hand money to a breeder for a pup with both a hernia and a known patellae luxation because I don't think that we should be encouraging the breeding trade in its current form.   However that is a choice and you would not be the first to make it.

After all, each pup is an individual with a brain and love and feelings.  I do not know the answer.