Good news: ACL's not torn! Bad news: Luxating patella (boo-urns)

[lexterwayne]

We give lex human glucosamine as well. I can tell a difference when we do and when we don't. We only do once a day but I'm wondering if we can up the dose to twice a day.

 

[AdventuresWithOliver]

Well....only you can make the decision about surgery but... Oliver just went through TTA surgery for a torn ACL which was caused by a Grade 2 Patella Luxation. I don't want to scare you at all but just wanted to speak about our experience. He was diagnosed with a Patella Luxation for his left knee only last summer and this May, his ACL tore from Patella Luxation in his right knee. In the long run, you might end up with a torn ACL anyway so maybe you'd be better off correcting the Luxation now. Obviously no one wants to have their dog go through surgery, but the worry about the Luxation causing any other damage is something to consider. (Oliver has been on Glucosamine since 6 months old, prior to diagnosis. It can help but it won't fix anything.)

 

[kazzy220]

We give lex human glucosamine as well. I can tell a difference when we do and when we don't. We only do once a day but I'm wondering if we can up the dose to twice a day.

What brand of glucosamine do you use???

The vet prescribes Punkin Glyco-Flex I. He had to take 1 pill daily for the first 6 weeks, then half a pill everyday after. I think you can order them from amazon.

I did some reading, and some owners mentioned that losing weight can make a big difference, sometimes 'cures' it. Hopefully that's how it is with Bella.

Did they check for arthritis? And did he say what grade hers are? If you have a pool, that's a great way to build muscle without much pressure on the knees. I wish we had one ... one day. lol.

It was a wellness check for Bella for vaccines etc, but I got him to look at her cherry eye and asked about the back legs thinking it was hip dysplasia and that's when he mentioned the fluxating patellas. This is a new vet the rescue is just starting to work with ....... we are still working on setting up a relationship with the wonderful vet that I use .... anyway I wasn't too happy with this vet because although he was nice and very thorough, I did feel as if I was being rushed out of his office as quickly as he could get rid of me. I realise that we are getting the rescue discount, but I just wanted to know what he would consider where the options and all I got out of him was to lose weight, increase muscle tone and as we left he threw in there a quick ... get some glucosamine - that would help. Then he was gone ...........

So I don't know if there is arthritis developing there or not, or what grade she is. I looked at glycoflex on amazon and there seems to be different Stages that you buy. So maybe I'll stay away from that right now and just concentrate on getting some basic human grade glucosamine instead.