Ena Bean has a bad knee. It's been around since she was itty bitty, and lately, it's started to bother her. The other day, she came in from pooping, and couldn't bend it for a minute. Today, we were working on her heel in the parking lot, and she was moving with a pretty good hitch in her gait. Obviously, this is something that I need to discuss with her vet, but.... who lives with a luxating patella? What do you do about it?
Ena has been getting Ark Naturals Sea Mobility for months, now. She gets plenty of low impact excersize. She's kept lean and muscular. She *is* a wild child, and does some leaping, but I prevent insanity when possible (things like leaping low walls, fences, furniture, etc.... not allowed.... an 8" controlled jump *is* allowed). Basically, I treat her the same as Emma, who has arthritis and a pinched nerve. I really, really hope that her knee isn't bad enough that she needs surgery. This is an issue, in the breed, and this is the point where I wonder, again, when I'm going to get a healthy dang dog. Teenie Weenie had a matching pair of luxating patellas, but she was old and they weren't bad. I never saw her limp like Ena has a couple of times...