Maltipoo Puppy Luxating Patella on Hind Leg

Hi, I am new to the forum. First off, this is Toby, a 9 month old Maltese Toy Poodle (Maltipoo). He is 6.5 pounds.

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Toby loves attention and is very active all the time. Yesterday, he was taken to the park and was playing with another dog (pouncing and running around) when suddenly he cried out loud and lifted his right hind leg. After a minute or so, he was back to normal again but walking noticeably slower and with less weight on his right hind leg.

Once he was taken home, he seemed to be normal again and I thought he just had a muscle cramp/spasm or something. However, a few hours later during the night, he cried out loud again for about a minute. It was quite hard to bear this tiny 6.5lb puppy only 9 months old crying out loud for a minute. I knew right away that his leg was giving him pain again. I massaged his leg and that seemed to help him but he was still shaking and tears were coming from his eyes so I took him to the animal hospital at 1am when the vet diagnosed him with a luxating patella.

After the vet diagnosed his leg, Toby seemed to be walking like normal and slept fine over the evening. The next day I wanted to limit his exercise so I used a 2ft high board to block the stairs but he was able to jump over it out of my surprise and continue up the stairs.

After reading online about treatment, it seems that most people try to keep their pets indoor for 30-60 days, giving them a leaner diet, supplements in their food, and etc. What my question for you guys is what else do you think I can do to treat Toby other than limiting his exercise and preventing him from jumping/running as much as possible?

Any advice would be appreciative!

He will probably needs surgey to totally correct this. He sure is cute.

I thought surgery was too invasive for his current symptoms? I was reading that usually only if it were to level 3 and 4 of luxating patella where surgery was recommended.

Just curious if there are any exercises I can do with Toby, and supplements I can give him, etc.

I have a mini doxie with mild grade 1-2 luxation (not sure if the vet uses the 4 or 5 scale). He frequently skips along on 3 legs or has his back legs flopping around. He has only had one major luxation where he screamed and had his leg lock for a minute but since then the leg has always been worst. This condition will not improve one it's own and will only get worst as each time the kneecap slides from it's groove it grinds down the cartilage and bone supporting the knee and loosens the ligaments holding the knee cap in place. This is why people opt for surgery as the condition has a high likelihood of worsening. I will probably opts for surgery in a few years for my guy as watching him hop about on his back feet is emotionally hard to watch even if he doesn't seem bothered. Winters are exceptionally worst as he shivers horribly in the back end and it locks up his legs. This last winter caused a noticeable degradation of his knees.
I have him on human grade supplement of glucosamine, chondroitin with MSM. You can find this at any drug store for the most part. These suppliments aim to limit damage to the cartilage as it occurs, lubricate the joints and clean cell damage caused by trauma to the joints. You can get pill or liquid form and give one dose a day with food. I feed grain free kibble (orijen) and supplement fatty acids with sardines which he loves. Fish oils also act as a natural anti inflammatory and have nice effects on the coat.

Also please do not breed your dog and if you can alert the breeder to the condition of the dog they sold you as they are selling sick dogs, this is a hereditary condition. Good breeders should strive to eliminate deformities like this and can be easily tested by a vet.