Luxating Patellas in Boston Terriers: Learning to Spot the Skip

Yes. Patellar luxation appears on the Boston Terrier's documented list of common health issues, alongside brachycephalic airway syndrome, cataracts, corneal ulcers and deafness. It is one of the conditions genuinely worth asking a breeder about, and a patella examination is standard practice in responsible breeding programmes.

Congenital cases often become apparent in the first year, sometimes as early as four to six months when the puppy becomes more active. Milder grades can go unnoticed until middle age, when secondary arthritis makes an old instability newly uncomfortable.

Grade one and many grade two dogs are managed rather than operated on. Management means keeping the dog lean, building thigh muscle with controlled exercise, and avoiding repetitive jumping. Surgery is generally reserved for dogs whose function or comfort is genuinely affected.

Yes, and expect a specific answer. A breeder who tests will tell you when the parents were examined, by whom, and what grade each leg received. Vague reassurance that the line has never had knee problems is not the same as an examination result.

It can. Repeated luxation wears the ridge of the groove and stretches supporting tissue, and the resulting instability accelerates cartilage damage. Progression is not inevitable, but weight gain and high-impact activity make it considerably more likely.

Chronic instability changes how the whole limb loads, and dogs with long-standing patellar problems are more prone to cruciate ligament injury in the same knee. That connection is a good reason to take a grade two seriously rather than to shrug at it.