Today I’m thankful for my mom being so patient with me and for my rehab vet and such a wonderful clinic to go to. About two years ago, I started randomly limping, holding up my back right leg a bit. Usually it was when I got up from laying down so Mom figured my leg fell asleep. Unfortunately, it started to happen more often. I was not at all bothered by it and after a couple steps I was fine. Mom was worried that perhaps I had injured my leg somehow.
She mad an appointment for me at TC Rehab but they are always so busy it would be months until I could get in to see a doctor. In the meantime, she thought maybe a chiropractor would be the solution so I went to one and it helped a bit but then it all happened again. All we could do was to wait for my rehab appointment.
The place is super busy and they have a jar of liver treats up on the shelf which anyone with a nose knows about. I wanted to get my paws on that jar! As luck would have it, Mom got to feed me liver treats during my exam to keep me busy. Gotta love a place that thinks that way!
It didn’t take long for my vet to find out I have a luxating patella, actually two, one in each of my back knees. Turns out it is a common orthopedic condition where the kneecap (patella) slides out of its normal groove (medial or lateral), causing a “skipping” or hopping gait. They said it is more normal in small dogs but can happen to any dog. So far the left knee hasn’t had any issues but the right one is the naughty one.
All this was diagnosed in December 2024. Surgery can be an option but is often not very helpful and is best in severe cases. Since My knee seems to be fine most of the time, I received an exercise and stretching plan along with some medications and supplements. Thankfully my mom is not afraid of a challenge and since that day in December I do stretching exercises every morning shortly after getting up for about ten minutes and then before breakfast we have about twenty minutes of other exercises Mom helps me with. Even when we travel, we bring my equipment with us and I do all my stretching and exercises just like at home. So far my knee is stable and I haven’t had any major issues come up. I do have to be careful sometimes but I’m a pretty good boy about following my instructions.
Hopefully I will be able to keep my knee in check and will never need to go the surgery route. I get my Dasuquin every morning, an adequan shot once a month and see my rehab vet every six months. We know other dogs with this issue, some have it worse than I do, some not as bad. Mom is lucky I’m willing to do all the exercise and stretching every single morning and I’m lucky she is willing to spend half an hour each morning to help me with my knees. The really good news is my nose is in good shape so I can keep on sniffing and my knees let me keep sniffing too!
My GBGV Life is joining Brian’s Home Blog in the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!