Pomeranian puppy limping: Is a patella brace good before surgery?

Patellar luxation is an unusual sort of problem. Bracing won't help in this situation, as the problem is that the kneecap (the patella) slides back-and-forth across the surface of the knee joint and doesn't sit securely in the groove, as it should. Dogs can be mildly to severely affected by this problem. Those with a low grade (1 or 2) patellar luxation may exhibit intermittent lameness that usually resolves quickly, and may sustain some mild arthritis over time. Higher grade luxations (3 or 4) cause more long-term lameness, and with grade 4 luxations the dog may not be able to use the leg at all. Also, luxations of grade 3 and 4 tend to produce more substantial arthritis, and if your veterinarian has told you that your dog has a luxation of either 3 or 4, you should consider surgery to stabilize the joint and prevent further arthritis from occurring. The surgery is usually highly successfully in resolving the problem.

Braces are rarely used if surgery is an option. In small dogs, they are not usually needed. Braces can cause some issues because the fit has to be absolutely perfect to avoid rubbing the skin or causing other joint damage. The best thing to do is “bed rest” and pain medications as prescribed by your vet.

The problems with a patellar luxation is that they tend to get worse over time, and while a grade 1 doesn't require surgery to fix, if the luxation becomes grade 3 or 4 over time, surgery is required to fix it. As long as you aware that this is a possibility and you may need to pay for a surgery in the future, you can still get the puppy. If you don't want to face the potential of paying for surgery in the future, then I would pass. There's no guarantee the puppy will need surgery, but there's no guarantee it will not. I hope this helps!

If Stella is having difficulty walking/running, surgery may be indicated. Your vet will be able to grade the luxation by checking to see how far it moves out of the groove. She will then be able to determine whether or not surgery is necessary on this leg. Good luck! I hope Stella is feeling better soon.

It's difficult to say - for some young puppies the patellas can be a little mobile but they never progress and can even become less mobile with age. For other puppies the symptoms worsen. If you have the option to choose another puppy and want to avoid the risk of any orthopedic issues you may want to go that route.

I'm not sure what you're asking. This is a common surgery and could help prevent ligament tears within the knee joint. It does have up to a 12 week time frame for complete recovery and most dogs do very well. If this didn't address your specific concerns please repost or consider submitting a consult request so more question/answer format can be done.

Typically, grade 1 luxations do not require surgery unless they become a frequent problem, progress or cause pain. Time will tell how your pup does. Yes, dogs can have shellfish allergies but it could also be something else in the supplement just causing her stomach to be upset. The best course of action is to avoid execessive hard exercise (daily jogging and heavy running every day) and to start her on a joint supplement. Try Dasuquin. If she does not tolerate that, try an injectable product like Adequan. An omega 3 fatty acid supplement will also be beneficial. I hope this helps.