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Originally Posted by gracielove  When my Shih Tzu was 7 years old we found out that he had deformed hips after he fell down some hardwood steps. Dydplasia. We went to a specialist who said that he did not need surgery right then and it would be fine to do it whenever the condition started to bother him. I put him on a higher grade food and supplements like glucosamine and chondroitin along with Omega 3's. The little guy did so well that he never had an issue until he was around 13 when we noticed him acting a little stiff occasionally. He had arthritis and so he was occasionally on an anti inflammatory. The little man did great and lived to be 15 years old without surgery and he was still walking very well until just before his last days.
High quality diet along with supplements can go a long way toward keeping the connective tissues in place and so helping to keep a defective joint stable. Of course lifestyle is important also. I always walked my little guy a couple of times a day but never let him over do. Of course with the knees you really need to keep your baby from jumping or putting stress on the front joints. |
I'll definitely get him started on the supplements soon. Sounds like you take great care of your little guy. He must have been very lucky to have you. I'll do my best to keep him from jumping. My main concern is him chasing his ball in the backyard. He likes me to throw it all day long. I don't even know if that's hard on his back knees but he seems pretty rough at times chasing it. But he's never complained.