I have a 5 year old shihtzu who is turning 6 in a couple of months and he recently had an injury where he jumped up and off of my boyfriends leg and the second he landed he was screaming. We took him to the emergency hospital and they told us that he had a luxating patella and needed surgery. A couple of days later we had a consultation with the surgeon who recommended trying to walk him for small amounts each day, get him on a joint diet, restrict him from turning fast and jumping, and have him lose some weight to keep pressure off those back legs. Unfortunately his hips and legs are weak so surgery would be inevitable in the future as he ages or if this treatment doesnt work. Ive learned how to pop it back in but I only do it after his pain medication kicks in but we were extremely sad that our boy’s quality of life would change as he used to love running and playing with our other dogs. With the ongoing pandemic it is extremely hard on us fund wise so we decided to try our best at home with helping him recover and even doing water therapy at home where we put a life jacket on him and have him swim for 1min at a time. We were recommended to try using a knee brace by a trusted and well knowledgeable mentor and I think this is the best decision we could have done so far. Our shihtzu of course was a little awkward at first when we first put it on him as he would walk with his butt to one side but after he got used to it he walked with a ton of more confidence than he has for the past week. When he stands still after walking in the yard his back legs usually shake but today when we took him outside its like he was a complete different dog ! We will keep using this everyday along with a joint diet, minimal exercise, and water therapy in our tub. We definitely love this product !
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