Katsu has always been the lively kid in the neighborhood. He enjoys zoomies every night and after showers. Not forgetting the daily routine of jumping on hoomans at home and playing fetch every other hour to burn off his excess energy. However, reality struck us one month after his first birthday.
A month before his first birthday, we brought him to our usual vet to check on his food allergy issues, and our usual vet, Dr Jan, suspected that he has Grade 2 Patellar Luxation on both his hind legs. She mentioned to introduce him supplements to strengthen his joints and bring him to swimming regularly, which we began incorporating into his diet routine. We introduced him to swimming at Wag n Wild and also fed him Rose Hip Vital daily. Fast forward to a month after his birthday, he was bitten by a dog on his testicles so we went to the vet again. (Poor boy) This time, Dr Jan diagnosed him with Grade 2-3 on his left hind leg and mentioned his right hind leg has improved to a Grade 1.
However, despite efforts in bringing him to swimming regularly and discouraging him from jumping at home, our efforts were to no avail. He starting kicking his leg as if his ears were itchy, but his legs were not reaching his ears. Instead it was kicking in a circular motion as if he was trying to manually ‘shift’ back his dislocated joint and he constantly does that when he is walking or hopping on one leg.
We were so terrified and decided to visit Rehab Vet for a consultation. Reason why we chose Rehab vet is because of Hana’s (@hanathecloud) recommendation. She, too, suffers from patellar luxation and hip dysplasia hence is able to relate to our concerns.
How the visit went
We were greeted by really friendly staffs and vets! Judging from how gentle they were with Katsu and how he reacted towards them, I’m really grateful that we gave this place a visit as he is usually wary to strangers. We were assisted by Dr Janny and I dare say she is one of the most gentle vet I have ever encountered with.
First Assessment – We were told to leash him and they will record some videos and assess on how his hind legs look when he is walking slowly and running. For Katsu’s case, the Dr Janny mentioned that his legs were spread open with an abnormal distance between and he was tip-toeing instead of putting his whole feet on the ground.
Second Assessment – He was then placed on a stance analyzer to measure how much weight is being beared on each of his paws and legs. As a general guide, a dog with healthy limbs and joints should have 30% weight beared on their front legs and 20% weight on their hind legs.
Here are Katsu’s results as shown:
Incase you are thinking – I thought his left leg has Grade 3 and right leg has Grade 1? Why is the right leg not bearing weight despite it being stronger?
Answer: As his left leg has no strength, he is overcompensating by using his right leg more. This resulted in his right leg not being to withstand this extra amount of weight, which led to muscle loss eventually. If this continues, his right leg will be the first to lose all mobility and it will happen next to the left.
Third Assessment – He was told to lie down on the side and Dr Janny tried to measure the length and girth of his hind legs, as well as the flexibility. It was mentioned that Katsu’s legs were not able to bend as much as a normal puppy’s. The minimum degree is at least 160, and he is only able to bend it to 150. When she tried to straighten his hind legs, she could feel his muscle getting really tense and he is able to stretch his leg straight fully which should not be the case. After consolidating the results for all the assessments, Dr Janny laid out 2 options for us – Which is either going for a surgery for his hind legs, or either rehabilitation. We were against the idea of Katsu going under the knife as he is very young, and Dr Janny mentioned that a surgery only has 30-40% success rate. At that moment, our decision was final.
Final Results – Dr Jan was right. Dr Janny diagnosed Katsu with a Grade 3 Patellar Luxation on his left hind leg and Grade 1 on the right. We were told to touch his thigh and the muscle beside the patellar, and we could feel that the patellar’s muscle was exceptionally thin. What the patellar’s muscle does is that it helps to lock the joints together. If it is not well developed, the joints will shift as the muscle is not thick enough to ‘lock’ the joints in place as it should be. We were advised to engage in rehabilitation with activities such as Hydrotherapy, as well as land exercises to make sure he doesn’t lose his stamina. (Do take note that the activities or therapy will vary based on the age of your dog or severity of the issue!)
The five different stages of rehabilitation Source: RehabVet
We will have to continue rehab before he turns 1.5 years old, as it is the time where their bones and muscles will fully develop. With that being said, we have since engaged in their services and will start the first session soon! We will do a follow up on this blog post again after his first 10 sessions.
Causes
Genetics – Dr Janny mentioned that his Patellar Luxation is passed down from his parents. We still remember asking the pet shop about the health of his parents before purchasing him, and they told us verbally they were healthy without showing any proof. This just shows how unethical they are.
Running/Jumping – When he was 3 to 8 months old, we would constantly play fetch at home with him. He would also get uncontrollably excited whenever someone comes home, which resulted in him jumping alot. As our floor is slippery, it might have worsen his patellar issues.
Symptoms
Weird sitting postures – Katsu sat like any other normal dogs when we first bought him. He only started sitting in a weird position whereby his hind legs were facing the side when he was 7 months old.
5 months old
8 months old
Kicking of hind legs – As mentioned previously, he is constantly kicking his hind legs towards the front as if he was trying to kick his joint back into place. Which looks somewhat like this but his legs were not reaching for his ears:
Running – He bunny hops when he runs. If he sprints, both of his legs will barely touch the ground and dangle in midair, meaning that he uses both his front legs to support most of the weight when he is trying to pick up speed.
And… tada! We hope this article has provided you with some insights such as symptoms, causes and what to expect when you visit a rehabilitation centre! With that being said, please don’t shy away from any possible symptoms that your dog is showing, especially if they start limping. Visit a bone specialist and get their limbs checked, at least you will have a peace of mind. It is no doubt that rehabilitation and vet fees will cost a bomb. With me and my sister both being students, it is getting extremely tough on our finances. Nevertheless, we only want the best for Katsu, and we know you feel the same about your puppers too! 😀 Please feel free to DM us on Instagram if you guys have any doubts! Patellar Luxation is very common in dogs and it is NOT a problem to be treated lightly with.
*disclaimer: we are not trainers! we are just sharing our experience on what we did with her and how it helped her 🙂
We have been very happy to receive questions from new adopters and fellow owners who are having a hard time with their skittish and fearful dog. Since we have already been sharing so much on instagram, might as well document it down! I have still yet to meet/hear from any owner who has a fearful dog to the extent of Mayo so I’m not sure how much these tips will help because most dogs are better off hahaha which is a good thing ok!
To give some context, Mayo came to us in Feb 2020 and would absolutely not walk on leash. She was dragged around by the shelter and completely shut down every time it was time for her walks. For the first month or so, we had to leave the house completely and watch her on our doggy cam so that she would eat and drink. She didn’t leave her bed/spot AT ALL for an entire month before we worked with her on that. We couldn’t touch her or be near her if not she would start shaking and running away. When we were out on walks she would be so nervous and anxious she would pull us just so that she can get home quicker and end the walk. Upon seeing triggers like runners, kids, bicycles and etc, she would panic and buckle (we lost her once cos of that). After 7 months she still has yet to warm up to us so we really like to go to the basics and work with building trust. It’s not like she wags a tail when she sees us hahaha. That being said she’s still a work-in-progress and hasnt fully warmed but anyhoo! lets go into some tips we felt really helped her with some of her issues and helped us with relationship building.
Hand-Feeding we did tons of research on how to best bond with newly rescued dogs and hand-feeding always came up. The guiding principle for us is ‘Good things come from my hand’. You could expect that Mayo was initially not quite comfortable with approaching us to eat from our hand but we didn’t relent. If she was too scared to eat (actually I don’t remember if she was ever), we will try again at the next meal. As long as she ate 1 bite from my hand, we would put the food bowl down next to us and let her eat. Of course, it helped to feed her food of very high value to start the process. When she first came, we prepared fresh salmon, beef, and all sorts of meat and had her take it out of our hand for a few minutes a day.
When Mayo lived as a stray, her pack of dogs wouldn’t really let her eat. She had to be fed separately by her kind feeder. Another reason why hand feeding is great for fearful dogs is that I think it gives them some sort of security knowing that no one will be able to snatch their food bowl away or attack their bowl. Actually now, she loves being hand-fed hahaha. In stressful places with other dogs around, she will only eat from my hand because I figure she knows she can trust my hand.
No Hiding On Mayo’s first day home, we set up some playpens in the kitchen for her to chill out in. We thought it would be too stressful for her to be close to us so we left her alone in the kitchen to hide. What happened subsequently was every time we went into the kitchen, she would jolt and start shivering. After 2 weeks of that and receiving some advice, we shifted her out to her current spot in the living room, far enough from us to not be triggered but at a place that she could at least observe us, hear our voice, watch our movements and slowly come to understand us as a different species.
But why? Why not give her her own space and let her hide for as long as she wanted? Why not give her time? You see, it is a little like humans being trapped in our heads or having a fear of heights we are trying to overcome. We just need to take ONE STEP. If I allowed her to hide, who’s to say she would magically be comfortable enough to step outside? For all I know, I might be feeding into her anxiety by allowing her to constantly think ‘outside the kitchen is scary’. She was still cautious whenever we stood up or walked around or when she heard new noises for the first time like typing of the keyboard, remote control on the table, clinking of our utensils as we ate. But at least now she could see what we were doing and associating clinking to eating. If she was in the kitchen and only depended on her ears, every sound will consistently be scary isn’t it?
3. Leash/Collar Pressure/Tethering This, I learned from our friend @theroyaltail who also happens to dabble in dog training. (p.s you can check out her writing on Pawjourr too!) If you watch videos of Mayo walking in the shelter, she had no understanding of leash/collar pressure – which is why having anything remotely touching her aka leash would send her jumping, shutting down flat out on the ground and refusing to move. Now I’m not a trainer so i don’t think I can correctly verbalize what it means to teach a dog collar/leash pressure – but my understanding is to apply LIGHT pressure, and as soon as the dogs give in to it, reward!
We also did tethering exercises for 5-10mins everyday after her walks. After coming back from her walks, we kept her on the leash and walked her to different parts of the house. E.g we will walk her to the sofa area and sit there for 5 mins without talking to her or looking at her. In that 5 mins, she might be uncomfortable but as she processes whats around her we really saw her feeling braver to explore new parts of the house. We also took that opportunity to teach her things like ‘come’. When she sits far away from me (this is to be expected when you first start the tether especially if they are not warmed up to you) , I will put GENTLE GENTLE pressure on the leash and ask her to ‘come’. The moment she takes one step forward towards me, I mark the behavior with a GOOD GIRL and reward her with food if I have it on me 🙂
our tethering exercise
4. Walking Ahead No, I’m not trying to tell you to dominate your dog and prove you’re alpha and all that (that’s another discussion for a whole other day). Don’t misunderstand – for fearful dogs, a lot of owners have shared that this tip was very helpful to them.
This is what I observed from Mayo and also after hearing feedback from owners with dogs fearful of the outdoors. Some people will tell you to let your dog sniff, let them walk anywhere they want to and discover. But for a fearful dog, personally, I find that when they walk ahead of you, they are more subject to reacting negatively and scaring themselves. When a bicycle is coming towards you and your dog, is it easier to manage if the dog is behind/beside you or ahead of you? I can’t count how many times Mayo will veer to another side when she sees a bike and her leash almost causing an accident with the bike. It is my personal opinion that fearful dogs need direction and leadership, solely because they have no clue how to deal with anything. Food is not going to work when a surprise bicycle comes heading for us, or when she’s already so occupied with fear from just leaving the house. However as a fellow owner rightly pointed out – fearful dogs also need to sniff assess their surroundings and be allowed to make choices. 100%! What i’m saying is if you notice your dog not focused on sniffing but in a panic mode, try walking ahead and redirect her 🙂
After struggling with her leash walking when she got lost, a fellow owner shared her own experience with her fearful dog. She asked me to check my own confidence level on our walks and try to own the walk. That one day I picked up the leash confidently and whenever mayo got into her panic pulling, I stopped. Walked in front of her to block her and continued walking. She calmed down a significant amount. Since then, whenever we approach triggers or if she sees something that makes her a bit unsure, I set her to walk behind me and keep my leash short so I can easily manage her and she can just follow me confidently as we walk pass her triggers. That way she can watch me as i am giving her an example to follow and she doesn’t have to ‘face them alone’ (assuming she’s walking ahead) and over time will understand that these ‘triggers’ are nothing scary, we just need to walk pass them calmly. Of course now as she gets more and more confident, she gets to sniff wherever she wants to and pee/poop whenever and wherever she wants (;
5. Start Small – don’t be over-ambitious & be patient In order to get Mayo comfortable around the house, besides hand feeding, we tried conditioning, shaping & capturing desired behaviors. For example, in the first week, we tossed high-value food to where she was. At most, she would have to stand up and lean forward to get it. We increased the ‘difficulty’ and distance as the days go by. At 2 months, we tossed high-value treats around the house from a distance and she would have to run around the house to get them. After a while, she will realize walking around the house is not scary and that she does have the permission to walk around even in our presence. After a month of the tossing treats activity, we slowly increased the difficulty and made her come to us for the food. Subsequently, we hovered our hands over her head, and then adding a ‘touch’ cue where she would voluntarily let us brush ONE time on her head and immediately get a reward – associating the human touch with a positive thing.
Because Mayo couldn’t be touched and wasn’t warmed up to us humans it was almost impossible to teach her any tricks. We had to be extremely patient and wait for her to give us the desired behavior e.g sit, and I would ‘capture’ that behavior with a ‘GOOD GIRL’ every time she sits and toss her a reward. After a while, whenever she sat I introduced the word “SIT” and then mark it with a good girl followed by a reward. 5 months later….. she can sit. HAHAHA.
BONUS TIP!
6. Talk less When we go on walks and meet a reactive dog, I always hear owners do this: ‘ NO NO! FRIEND FRIEND! EH WHY YOU LIKE THAT! NO… NO…. BUDDY NO…. DONT’ SCARE PEOPLE AH. HEY! NO! Stop it! FRIEND FRIEND’
Bro, even I don’t know what you want la. Do you think your dog understands everything you are saying? Dogs don’t understand English. They don’t know what you are saying and only associate the words to behaviors and your tone of voice. Talking to your dog excessively only confuses them especially when you are training because they don’t know what you want. For example, when I want her to sit, I say, ‘Mayo, sit’. And if she doesn’t, I don’t go ‘why mayo why you don’t sit? come on, sit for me please. good girl, sit la…’ Can you see how confusing that would sound? I just maintain, ‘Mayo, Sit.’ if she does – GOOD GIRL! Try not to overwhelm with talking also because the attention can be too much for them. A lot of us are guilty of that – i think of course there’s no harm in baby-talking our dogs especially when they come for a manja sesh. But personally when it comes to training and when you want to give a clear direction – the less you talk, the better. I also want my words to have weight and meaning and not yap away like a duck. Like Ronan Keating would say… “You say it best when you say nothing at all.”
And that’s all for now folks! 5 tips + a bonus. Let us know what you think! Does it make sense? And if you are going to try them let us know if it worked for you! But remember that every dog is different and they progress at their own time. Different dogs also need different levels of support. I have a fearful dog that shuts down instead of reacting and I can’t speak for the other spectrum of dogs 🙂 Also, success is not linear. If you face some set backs here and there don’t give up. It’s really part of the process.. If you have a tip for us, share it with us too!
Again we are not trainers but I would like to think Mayo has progressed A LOT after being with us and working with her. Thank you to everyone on our social media who have supported us and asked us for help! We are so humbled and we hope this will help you 🙂 Hang in there! You can do this <3
In early July 2020, our family was met with some unexpected news. Our dog Hana was not only diagnosed with patellar luxation in her hind legs, but also hip dysplasia, at the tender age of 9 months. It was a double whammy for us. Between January to June, we had already made multiple trips to the vet to treat a variety of ongoing issues. But what made the situation even worse was the fact that Hana had already been displaying early symptoms of both conditions—right under our noses.
X-rays displaying Hip dysplasia(left) and Patellar luxation(right) respectively.
She had been quietly enduring the pain in her hips and joints, while we unknowingly brushed it off as a simple sprain that will naturally disappear and heal in no time. During the car ride home from the vet that day, many thoughts and unanswered questions went racing through my head. How did things come to this? Are we at fault for causing her to suffer so greatly? Will invasive surgery be a better or worse option?
Photo of Hana taken the day before her diagnosis. We went for a walk at Bukit Batok Nature Park.
The next few days went by in a blur. Each time I woke up in the morning, the only thought nagging inside my mind was Hana’s diagnosis. I read up many articles regarding HD and PL, sought for advice from people on Instagram, and also joined a specialized chat group hoping to gain more knowledge from other experienced owners. Fast-forward to present day, I’ve decided to compile my first-hand experience+what I’ve learnt, into this blog post, in the hopes of sharing what preventive measures you can start taking, as well as how to care for your dog—the natural way, if he or she has any hip or joint issues.
Now that I’ve shared with you some background information, I’ll be splitting the rest of this article into 2 main sections: Pre-diagnosis and Post-diagnosis.
The Pre-diagnosis aims to share what are some red flags to keep an eye out for to prevent yourself from getting a dog who is likely to suffer hip or joint conditions AND if you suspect that your dog is suffering from these conditions. This section is especially important for potential first-time owners who are planning to welcome a new puppy into their household/already own a puppy.
The Post-diagnosis aims to share our experience at RehabVet, some lifestyle changes we have made for Hana to address her needs, as well as several natural remedies that can prevent/ maintain hip and joint conditions in dogs.
Pre-diagnosis
Where you get your puppy from matters. I cannot stress this further enough. Did you know that majority of the adorable puppies sold in local pet shops are sourced from unethical puppy mills and unregistered breeders—whose sole purpose is to produce puppies for profit? Temperament, health and breed standards are rarely taken into consideration. One of the main woes of owners today is the fact that many puppies are very sickly and can suffer from several health issues, even before the age of 1.
If you are reading this post as a potential new owner, I highly recommend and suggest getting your puppy from a trusted and registered breeder overseas. These breeders show love and care to their dogs as they sincerely want to ensure that the dogs are being bred to be best in temperament, health and standard. Sure, the price you pay+amount of paperwork done for an imported breed will definitely be much higher than a local one, but then again, Affordable and Cheap ≠ Healthy dog. More than oftentimes, you’ll end up paying the price of unethical breeding through mountains of medical bills—just like we did.
This article: tinyurl.com/ImportJS written by @i.am.fuji_haku (IG) gives a very detailed and in-depth insight on importing a puppy into Singapore. A must read for anyone who plans to get a puppy, be it imported or local.
Red flag #1: We purchased Hana from a disreputable pet shop. Lets call it TC. When we asked them to show us images of her parents, the staff declined our request. They were also unable to produce health certificates to justify that her parents were hip-scored and tested to be free from hip dysplasia. This goes to show the poor level of transparency most pet shops have here.
Red flag #2: Hana’s health certificate as provided by TC after a vet check-up, did not display her knee grade for both knees e.g. Grade 1,2,3 etc. Strangely, it was left blank but we proceeded with making the purchase thinking that was just a harmless mistake.
Red Flag #3: When we met Hana for the first time, the staff did not allow her to walk on the floor. We were only allowed to carry her on our laps. Why not walk on the floor? They said that the puppies will then be easily susceptible to bacteria and germs. Looking back now, I believe that they did so in order to prevent unsuspecting owners from noticing any hobbling/limping in any puppies’ legs.
Never turn a blind eye on possible symptoms. We learnt it the hard way when Hana started limping and “bunny-hopping” in her left hind leg at the start of May. When that ceased to subside over a few days, we decided to call up the vet and book an appointment. However, since this was during the circuit breaker period and priority for vet visits was given to severe cases, the vet told us to send in videos first, and assess whether the limping was severe enough to require a physical diagnosis. Based on the videos sent, the vet told us not to worry as it was just a minor sprain that will eventually heal on its own. Our initial worries faded away…but even that was just temporary.
Red flag #4: Hana started limping occasionally in her left hind leg during her daily walks and at home. She also developed the habit of shifting both hind legs to the left side when sitting down.
Limping is visibly seen in her left hind leg when walking. This was taken after her first session of rehabilitation + consultation.
This particular sitting style may seem endearing to some, but in fact signals that there is pain in one hind leg(in this case, the left side). This caused Hana to shift all her weight onto her other right hind leg instead.
Red flag #5: At the end of June, we brought Hana for her first full grooming session at a groomers’ place near our home. The entire duration of the session? 5 hours. The groomer told us that Hana constantly kicked her legs up, and refused to stand for long periods of time. Instead, she chose to lie down on the groomer’s table and so the grooming process took way longer than it should. We suspect that she had low pain tolerance in her joints and thus was unable to stand up for long periods of time during the grooming session.
Red flag #6: Since young, Hana has a bad habit of tugging at the leash in an attempt to walk/run ahead of us during walks. This often results in her pulling against the leash and leaning sideways when we make her walk beside us, thus straining her hind legs immensely.
After seeking advice, we were told that harnesses encourage dogs to pull more frequently, and so we switched to using both collars and harnesses. If you are concerned over collar tension, you can use a martingale collar instead. They are known to be effective training collars that can reduce pulling and tugging, whilst remaining loosely fitted unless pulled.
Example of a martingale collar, sold by local brand The Sleek Hound.
Post-diagnosis
Over the next few days, I sought for help and advice from fellow owners via Instagram. These owners also had dogs diagnosed with either hip dysplasia or patellar luxation. I had a relatively long and informative conversation with one of them. Coincidentally, her dog also came from the same pet shop as Hana did, and was suffering from severe hip dysplasia. Eventually, she sent her dog for a surgical procedure as its hips were already dislocated. Another owner whose dog suffered from grade 3 patellar luxation in both hind legs also sought for surgery. On the contrary, we currently send Hana for weekly rehabilitation at RehabVet to maintain both hip and joint conditions from further deterioration.
With many owners opting for surgical procedures, you may be wondering—why didn’t we choose surgery as well? At first glance, surgery seems like a viable solution. For patellar luxation, surgical correction is often recommended for dogs with grades 2, 3 and 4. It aims to keep the patellar in place at all times. In severe cases of canine hip dysplasia, surgery is also recommended as the best possible treatment. Surgery costs for both joint and hip procedures differs according to the type of surgical procedure you think is best for your dog.
Shortly after speaking to our Mt Pleasant vet regarding surgery options, we sought for a second opinion at RehabVet (https://rehabvet.com/), which specialises in rehabilitation, physiotherapy and hydrotherapy. Our consultation session lasted one full hour and cost us SGD$180. During the session, a series of tests were conducted to deduce the severity of Hana’s hip and joint conditions. The rehabilitation therapist Janny Chen concluded that Hana had overworked her tricep muscles, shifted majority of her weight onto 3 limbs and had more muscular front legs as compared to other growing puppies. It was also evident that Hana was in a lot of pain, as she screamed and whined loudly throughout the session.
Towards the end, our therapist laid out 2 different options: we could either send Hana in for surgery to treat both hips and joints (that makes 2 surgical procedures), or seek rehabilitation treatment to naturally manage and maintain the pain. The reasons why we decided on rehabilitation treatment are listed below:
My family and I felt uncomfortable over the thought of Hana undergoing an invasive surgery, let alone two different procedures.
Post-surgery complications may arise and can lead to even more detrimental effects on Hana.
Even after a successful surgery, rehabilitation is still required for her to regain strength and balance in her affected hips and joints.
The people at RehabVet were very understanding towards our concerns and told us that many of their patients (especially puppies) opted for rehabilitation instead, and are thriving well with a change in lifestyle.
We were told that puppies diagnosed with hip/joint conditions are better able to “bounce back” to their regular selves by simply undergoing rehabilitation.
We wanted Hana to live a more comfortable life, in the most natural, non-invasive way possible. Prior to this, she was constantly on medications and antibiotics to treat a multitude of issues that cropped up over the first few months of her life.
After confirming our decision for Hana to start rehabilitation, we then signed up for a package of 10 sessions (rehabilitation+physiotherapy), costing SGD$1300 (for small breed). Package prices differs depending on the breed’s size. If keen, you may wish to visit https://rehabvet.com/ for more information on their various services.
It is also important to note that every dog’s rehabilitation/physiotherapy journey differs on a case-by-case basis. While some dogs are able to start hydrotherapy (swimming) almost immediately, the team at RehabVet advised us to start slow and work on strengthening her weak joints before starting hydrotherapy. Thus, our first few sessions were mainly focused on building up muscle strength in her joints+alleviating pain in the hips and back.
Pyramid chart from RehabVet’s website explains how they carry out their services for each individual pet.
Our rehab sessions took place once per week on Wednesday afternoons. From Week 1-5, Hana underwent laser therapy and stretching exercises (rehabilitation) to soothe her sore muscles and ease the pain felt in her joints, hips and back.
Happy Hana in the midst of her weekly laser therapy.
From Week 6-9, Hana underwent both laser therapy and physiotherapy in the form of hydrotherapy (swimming). The hydrotherapy sessions were conducted in a mildly heated pool, under the supervision of a hydrotherapist. Owners are welcome to step into the pool as well.
Hana’s first hydrotherapy session on Week 6! She was trembling slightly at first but managed to swim across from one end of the pool to the other under the watchful eye of her hydrotherapist.
Since starting on her rehab journey 10 weeks ago, it is evident that improvements have been made in Hana’s hip and joints! The limping/bunny-hopping has slowly but gradually ceased in her left hind leg, and her back+tricep muscles are less sore than before.
As I’m writing this article, Hana has yet to attend her 10th and final session of the package, but will be visiting again next week. From what I know, the last session will still see her undergoing rehab and hydrotherapy. Additionally, the same series of tests conducted during the first consultation will be done again, to record and compare any significant areas of improvement being made after time spent on rehabilitation. After that, it is up to the owners to decide on whether to continue on a next package of 10 sessions or take a break from rehab etc. (For us, we will likely continue with another set of 10 sessions.)
After sharing my experience with RehabVet, I’ll now be moving on to several changes we’ve implemented into Hana’s daily lifestyle:
#1Stretch, stretch, stretch!: Shortly after starting rehab, we were advised to carry out stretching exercises for Hana’s joints, twice a day on a daily basis. This was done so right after she woke up in the morning and before she goes to sleep at night. Heat packs also had to be placed on the joints area.
#2:No climbing of stairs: As per professionals’ advice, we have stopped letting Hana climb up or down staircases, and carry her instead. Other forms of movement deemed strenuous on the hind legs such as jumping has also been kept to a minimum.
#3 Transition to raw: Somewhat of a controversial topic amongst owners and experts alike, raw diets for pets are nonetheless gaining much traction and popularity within the pet community. The moment I stumbled upon this “new” feeding method last year, it made complete sense to me that raw feeding was the most natural, nutritional and wholesome feeding method for both dogs and cats. My family on the other hand, were initially skeptical over this diet. After much persuasion, Hana is now on a DIY raw+home-cooked food diet. Because I’m feeding her on a DIY raw diet, nutritional imbalances are more likely to occur. Thus, I recently sought for help and advice from an expert @twomanylegs (IG) to create a balanced meal recipe that will be especially beneficial for Hana’s hip and joints. She took both issues into consideration and so made a recipe that has higher levels of manganese, antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids. If you are unable to consult an expert or prefer to craft your own recipe, you can head over to https://rawfedandnerdy.com/, or join raw feeding communities on social media platforms to gain advice and knowledge on raw feeding.
#4 We bought a pram: Nope, not the one for babies—but the one made just for pets. We bought our pram (used condition but relatively new) off Carousell for a reasonable price of SGD$50, and often bring it out during “excursions” to outdoor locations such as cafes, parks and neighbourhoods. Before getting a dog, whenever my family and I saw a dog in a stroller, we’d ogle at it and wonder why its owners didn’t allow it to walk on the floor instead. How the tables have turned! Nowadays we often see children and adults pointing at Hana in her pram, openly asking why there was a dog in the pram. Sometimes, I even felt like just pasting a piece of cardboard in front of the pram explaining the reason (lols!) All in all, the pram was a great transportation mode for Hana. Gone are the days when we had to carry her halfway through walks till our arms went slightly sore. You can try your luck by finding a pet pram on Carousell like we did, or get one off Shopee which also sells affordable prams.
#5 Supplements: Before the diagnosis, Hana was taking Augustine Approved powder on a daily basis. Now, we’ve also added in Canine Rose-hip Vital powder as well as Connectin Hip & Joint powder in a bid to improve her overall conditions. Rose-hip powder is one of the most popular and well known kinds of supplements that owners feed their dogs for better joint health. You can read more about the benefits of rosehip powder via https://rosehipvitalcanine.com.sg/. Besides powdered supplements, we also provide her with tablets—mainly M&C Kalsium and Antinol. If your pet is fussy with powdered/tablet supplements, or you prefer liquid ones, feel free to visit https://perromart.com.sgcollections/nhv for a variety of liquid-based supplements that supports joint health. For other powdered supplements, I’ve also heard great reviews about Happy Again joint supplement. You can find it here: https://shop.vanillapup.com/products/happy-again-collagen-joint-supplement.
#6 Yummy bone broth: Bone broth is a delicious, prized stock liquid made using any type of bones and simmered over a period of 24 hours. It is also common to throw in additional vegetables/herbs/fungi for a boost of flavour and nourishment. The many benefits of bone broth includes protecting the joints and improving gut health. Strangely, Hana seems to dislike bone broth (she is a very picky eater). I made several batches using chicken feet, pork bones, celery, carrots, turmeric and ACV, on different occassions using a pressure cooker, but Hana never finished her meals when I added the broth in. Over here https://thepetlifestyleguru.com/benefits-of-bone-broth/ includes some useful recipes for you to get started on making bone broth for your pet. If you value convenience, there are also ready-made options available on the market. One local brand I highly recommend is The Awoo’s Kitchen (@the_awookitchen on IG), as their rich, jelly-like golden broths are popular choices among the owners and pets alike! If their slots aren’t fully booked for the month yet, you can make a purchase on their website https://theawookitchen.com/.
#7 Correcting the “Ah Pek” sitting style: As mentioned earlier, one red flag that Hana displayed pre-diagnosis was shifting all her body weight onto one side of her hind legs. This is not a recommended sitting position as it can add further strain onto the “good” hind leg that the dog is leaning on. She still does it sometimes, but less frequently than before. When we see her sitting “Ah Pek” style, we’ll encourage her to get up on all fours and sit down normally instead. We’ll also coax her to stand back up before carrying her to the bed, which provides a softer cushioning on her joints.
And…That’s all folks!
You’ve finally come to the end of my long article (laughs). I’ve had lots of fun writing this as it gave me the chance to reflect back on Hana’s rehabilitation journey from start till now, albeit the fact that we still have a long way to go. So far, we’ve met so many helpful and experienced owners who’ve stepped forward to share their own personal experiences on having a dog with hip/joint conditions, or simply to share useful nuggets of advice with me. Some things that I’ve written here would not have been possible without the help of these people! So thank you very much:)
The reason why I decided to compile my experience here on Pawjourr is because many other owners have approached me on social media seeking for words of advice, or simply to share Hana’s journey so far. Thus, I jumped upon the chance to pour out all that I had wanted to say to other fellow owners on social media, but couldn’t due to limited word count+limited time to process my thoughts properly.
I hope that you found this article useful! You can follow us @hanathecloud on Instagram to see more regular updates of Hana, or to ask any further questions:D
