Dog care, symptoms, health issues, and dog health advocacy from an owner's perspective. In loving memory of Jasmine.
Luxating patella is the dislocation of the kneecap–the small bone in front of the knee joint. At the top, the kneecap is attached to the quadriceps tendon and at the bottom to the patellar ligament. It not only protects the front of the knee but it assists with the joint movement–straightening of the knee. In a normal knee, the kneecap movement…
No, I didn’t get the photo mixed up. Juno is a 96 pound Dogue De Bordeaux, and this is her story. If a big girl like Juno starts limping on her hind leg, you’d think the prime suspects would be a torn cruciate ligament or hip dysplasia–issues that large breed dogs are most likely to get. Luxating patella is something that…
The thing about Pitties is that they are loving, big, and energetic. The younger, the more energy they have. Though with Cookie, who is a Rottie and coming up on 7, there hasn’t been much slowing down. Roxie is 2.5 years old; you can just imagine how much energy she has. She’s not too heavy–90 pounds. She runs and plays…
Modern veterinary medicine is incredibly advanced and offers treatments nobody even dreamt of not so long ago. Veterinary surgery is an ever-growing field offering exciting treatments. Most of the surgeries are mostly safe with amazing results. That, unfortunately, doesn’t mean that things cannot go wrong. Nigel is an active dog, full of life and a drive for adventure. When he tore…
A [cranial] cruciate ligament (CCL/ACL) tear is the most common knee injury in dogs. Is the knee anatomy to blame? Is the fate of the knee literally hanging by a thread of the cruciate ligament? If you look at the anatomy of the bones, the knee joint does look like the most unstable conformation imaginable with the tip of the…