[107barney]

You may never need to do it. My Daisy was born with bilateral Grade IV patellar luxations. At age two she went lame and had surgery on one leg. The other leg never required surgery. About a year ago, she was really bothered and I took her to a surgeon and he ordered crate rest. She has some arthritis shoen on her xray but at 14 years old with a severe grade IV she still runs around like without a problem. Up and down stairs, long walks, jumps....no problem. No pain, and when and if she's bothered, she takes a tramadol.