What’s Luxating Patella?
Patella means kneecap. Dog kneecaps aren’t as obvious as human ones … but they all have them. Your dog’s patella is almond-shaped. It’s right at the knee joint, where the tendon of the quadriceps muscle group joins the top of the shin (tibia).
The quadriceps muscle, the kneecap and its tendon form the “extensor mechanism.” They’re normally aligned with each other. When your dog flexes or extends his knee joint, the kneecap glides up and down a groove at the front of the knee joint. This groove is called the femoral groove.
To luxate means to put out of joint or dislocate.
So a luxating patella is a dislocated kneecap that moves out of its normal groove. It’s very similar to a “trick knee” in humans. When it happens, your dog can’t move or extend his knee properly. This can cause limping or an abnormal gait. It may also cause pain and eventually, arthritis.
The abnormal movement also causes the tibia to rotate differently from the femur. That can stress the cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) in the knee. It can also lead to chronic inflammation in the joint that causes the ligaments to break down. This means that 10-15% of dogs with luxating patellas will eventually damage the CCL as well.
And the more the kneecap is outside its normal groove, the shallower the groove becomes. So the kneecap then dislocates more easily.
How to Prevent and Recover from Luxating Patella?
Canine rehabilitation veterinarian Dr Julie Mayer recommends these exercises. They’ll help strengthen the muscles and improve knee stability. A strong quadriceps muscle with a taut tendon means the patella is less likely to slip out of position.
1. Repeatedly command your dog to stand up from a sit position. Dog knee brace for luxating patella could provide support to stand up from a sit. Dog knee brace provide the stability to the knee joint, prevents knee joints to dislocate from the groove.
2. If you have stairs, make sure they are carpeted and take your dog up and down them three to five times a day. You may also choose a steep slope and instruct him to zigzag across its face while walking up and down it.
3. Army crawl your dog, please. Get him to lay down, then use some food to entice him forward gradually. Urge him to maintain a low seat. Stifles' flexion and extension are encouraged when walking over cavalettis, a row of raised bars.
4. To offer resistance and increase muscle strength, you can put leg weights on above the hock and walk your dog or perform his workouts while wearing them.
5. Swimming or using an underwater treadmill can also improve the knee's supporting structures. Strengthening muscles through water resistance and buoyancy makes it a safer workout.
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