Muscle atrophy-exercising dog's leg? (luxating patella)
Question:
Damn !! All that time and not knowing, poor gal, poor both of you !! Also, would taking my dog swimming be good or bad > for the hip dysplasia and muscle loss? He does run in and out of the water a > lot when I take him to the beach, but he will swim in the water as far as I > throw the ball…
Best thing for him. 
Ceilidh does this every day at the river, I don’t throw it very far there, as the current gets too strong farther out. But if you have a place take a tennis racket and keep tossing that ball for him. The single absolute best therapy for any joint problem is to build up the muscles around that area. The muscles actually are made to do about 75% of the work, and the joint the rest, (roughly). By building up those rear lag muscles you’ll be taking a tremendous amount of strain off of the hip. When Ceilidh was first DX’d with HD, that vet had me feel her rear leg muscles……flaccid as could be. She was showing pain a lot. I put her on glucosamine with Vit C…I get Gluco-C from Fosters Smith, and it has make a huge difference. I also get her in swimming as much as possible. So between the swimming, and the romping, (you’d never know her hips were that bad), her rear leg muscles are hard as a rock. I KNOW this has helped the most. The supplements help with the inflammation and pain, therefore she is able to exercise, which in turn takes all the strain away from the joint, by using the muscles. So get her on some glucosamine. There are different views on Chondriotin, but all my own ortho docs, the vets, and my pharmacist all insist it doesn’t really do much more, and it costs a LOT. So I don’t use it. JMO. Get her swimming, going farther and farther each day. If she shows some sign of stiffness, ask your vet about Ascriptin, (aspirin with Maalox). I give this to my dogs if they’ve overdone it here and there, and it helps. All the best, MaryBeth
Response:
Okay, if the dog doesn’t care for water you may have some trouble coaxing him in. However, you don’t want him to retrieve balls or any other items during therapy. Also, there’s a big difference between ocean beaches and a pool. What you’ll want to do (if you can find a swimming pool to use) is get him in the water and get him to swim from one side to another without attempting to get out. You might have to either use a lead, or have someone at the other side calling/coaxing him in the right direction, or both. You’ll want him to do this three to five times to begin with, gradually increasing as his stamina increases to about ten times, two to three times a week. There are swim therapy facilities for animals (horses come to mind) that have a slope for the animal to enter the water into, then they swim to the other side, walk out, turn around and do it again, but I’m not sure where you’d look to find one of those. Alyssa
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Swim therapy… I heard about that. I don’t know if he could do it, though. He > doesn’t care for water. I only took him to the beach a few times, and he would > only go in the last time- if I threw the ball in, he’d run in and grab it and > then dash back out. He didn’t like it, but he would do anything, even > jump off a cliff for the ball… > -Lizzi > — > "My evil twin… bad weather friend… He always wants to start when I want to > begin…" –They Might Be Giants ("My Evil Twin", from Apollo 18) > "Don’t you hate it when people put quotes at the end of their email?" > — MY evil twin
Response:
Hi, I just found out that Pooch does not have a luxating patella, he actually has hip dysplasia in the leg that was thought to have the luxating patella. The vets never xrayed the leg before this, 2-3 different vets from 2 different clinics both said he had a luxating patella, and that they could move the kneecap when doing a physical exam. The vet that took the xray said she felt the knee and it seemed fine. The xray showed the hip problem pretty obviously… I could tell it wasn’t right and I haven’t seen many hip xrays. There are bone chips around the socket also. I have had him for 2 years and he has been limping ever since I first found him, but I never knew… The vets were so sure it was a luxating patella, and said that it doesn’t show up on xrays so there was no point in having one done. I’m glad I had it done now… Regarding the swimming/water therapy, how would I find a place that offers the water therapy? Does anyone know of any resources where I could find out exactly how to do it on my own? I do know someone who would probably let me use his pool occasionally… Also, would taking my dog swimming be good or bad for the hip dysplasia and muscle loss? He does run in and out of the water a lot when I take him to the beach, but he will swim in the water as far as I throw the ball… Thanks so much for the advice! Lizzi and Pooch — "My evil twin… bad weather friend… He always wants to start when I want to begin…" –They Might Be Giants ("My Evil Twin", from Apollo 18) "Don’t you hate it when people put quotes at the end of their email?" — MY evil twin
Response:
> One of my Siberian had ACL surgery 18 months ago after a running accident. > The rehab clinic suggested massage therapy, swimming, and in order to force > the dog to put weight on the leg, we put a flat stone or coin under the good > foot and bandaged it. This forced the dog to put weight on the weaker leg, > because it was now favoring the good leg.
Glad to hear your dog is better. ) A bit off topic, but did anyone see the news last week about stroke patients? They are now ‘hobbling’ the good arm, with slings, and similar things, to impair their movement, forcing the person to use the bad side of their bodies affected by the stroke. They are having extremely wonderful results with this. Ppl are recovering the use of the affected side much much quicker. Not only does it work with patients who’ve had recent strokes, but one man had had his stroke 9 months prior, and went for the therapy. Is using both sides of his body and doing great !!!! Pretty amazing therapy, and a real boon to the stroke patients everywhere, without the use of drugs. <G> MaryBeth
Response:
Swim therapy… I heard about that. I don’t know if he could do it, though. He doesn’t care for water. I only took him to the beach a few times, and he would only go in the last time- if I threw the ball in, he’d run in and grab it and then dash back out. He didn’t like it, but he would do anything, even jump off a cliff for the ball… -Lizzi — "My evil twin… bad weather friend… He always wants to start when I want to begin…" –They Might Be Giants ("My Evil Twin", from Apollo 18) "Don’t you hate it when people put quotes at the end of their email?" — MY evil twin
Response:
>I was wondering if there is > any way I can help him keep the muscle tone in the affected leg.
When my 10 year old shepard mix atrophied his rear leg do to an arthritic hip-I use to give him a form of physical therapy by exercising it for him as he lay down with no weight on it. It helped him keep the use of his leg for 2 more years. I’d do about 100 easy bends of the leg a day just to keep it mobile. He also used to swim but got ear trouble from the water.
Response:
Hello. My dog, Pooch (rat/staffy bull/? terrier) has a luxating patella on one leg. I’ve noticed that he’s been using the leg less and less, and the muscles have shrunk and shrunk, to the point that if you lift up the good leg, he can’t support his weight with the ‘bad’ leg. (One funny but sad thing caused by the luxating patella- if he lifts the good leg to mark a tree, oftentimes he lifts the other leg because it is bugging him, so he is balancing on his front legs… It looks really odd). Anyway, my point is, I was wondering if there is any way I can help him keep the muscle tone in the affected leg. There is almost no muscle tone in that leg. He is going for a vet visit soon, but I’m hoping I can also help him at home. If/when he gets surgery to fix the knee, if the muscle is gone, I have read it is hard to get it back and to get the dog to stop favoring the leg, and the recovery time will be longer. I am also worried that he might put too much stress on the good leg, and hurt it… Thanks for any help, Lizzi — "My evil twin… bad weather friend… He always wants to start when I want to begin…" –They Might Be Giants ("My Evil Twin", from Apollo 18) "Don’t you hate it when people put quotes at the end of their email?" — MY evil twin
Response:
Consider taking the dog for swim therapy.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hello. My dog, Pooch (rat/staffy bull/? terrier) has a luxating patella on one > leg. I’ve noticed that he’s been using the leg less and less, and the muscles > have shrunk and shrunk, to the point that if you lift up the good leg, he > can’t support his weight with the ‘bad’ leg. (One funny but sad thing caused by > the luxating patella- if he lifts the good leg to mark a tree, oftentimes he > lifts the other leg because it is bugging him, so he is balancing on his front > legs… It looks really odd). > Anyway, my point is, I was wondering if there is > any way I can help him keep the muscle tone in the affected leg. There is > almost no muscle tone in that leg. He is going for a vet visit soon, but I’m > hoping I can also help him at home. If/when he gets surgery to fix the knee, > if the muscle is gone, I have read it is hard to get it back and to get the dog > to stop favoring the leg, and the recovery time will be longer. I am also > worried that he might put too much stress on the good leg, and hurt it… > Thanks for any help, > Lizzi > — > "My evil twin… bad weather friend… He always wants to start when I want to > begin…" –They Might Be Giants ("My Evil Twin", from Apollo 18) > "Don’t you hate it when people put quotes at the end of their email?" > — MY evil twin
Response:
One of my Siberian had ACL surgery 18 months ago after a running accident. The rehab clinic suggested massage therapy, swimming, and in order to force the dog to put weight on the leg, we put a flat stone or coin under the good foot and bandaged it. This forced the dog to put weight on the weaker leg, because it was now favoring the good leg. She has recovered well from her surgery. Keep in mind, however, that luxating patella is usually bilateral, in other words this will probably occur in the other leg as well. Good Luck — Andrea KIVALINA . . . Quality Siberian Huskies http://www.pawtown.com/kivalina No part of the enclosed message may be copied without consent
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Swim therapy… I heard about that. I don’t know if he could do it, though. He > doesn’t care for water. I only took him to the beach a few times, and he would > only go in the last time- if I threw the ball in, he’d run in and grab it and > then dash back out. He didn’t like it, but he would do anything, even > jump off a cliff for the ball… > -Lizzi > — > "My evil twin… bad weather friend… He always wants to start when I want to > begin…" –They Might Be Giants ("My Evil Twin", from Apollo 18) > "Don’t you hate it when people put quotes at the end of their email?" > — MY evil twin
Response:
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