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My dog is limping. What are non-surgical options for patella luxation?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

I have a 2.5 year old chow _ chihuahua , 3 weeks about when she went after the ball and came up limping in pain (no prior issue) . I have two questions involving this. vet said it was patella and to give glucosemine supplements. The ones we got are shellfish based and make he vomit. we tossed em , but are curious if dogs can have shellfish allergy? She improved after we tossed em. Also are there any non surgery options for grade 1 medial luxation ? Assuming that was diagnosed correctly.

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Elizabeth

Veterinarian

Published on July 15th, 2019

Typically, grade 1 luxations do not require surgery unless they become a frequent problem, progress or cause pain. Time will tell how your pup does. Yes, dogs can have shellfish allergies but it could also be something else in the supplement just causing her stomach to be upset. The best course of action is to avoid execessive hard exercise (daily jogging and heavy running every day) and to start her on a joint supplement. Try Dasuquin. If she does not tolerate that, try an injectable product like Adequan. An omega 3 fatty acid supplement will also be beneficial. I hope this helps.

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    Answered By Laura Johnson VMD

    Veterinarian

    Published on July 31st, 2017

    Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The best non-surgical advice I could give would be to keep Charlie lean. Obesity makes orthopedic disease worse. Starting him on a Veterinary approved glucosamine, like Dasuquin helps maintain joint help. Also Omgea 3 fish oils are frat for orthopedic issues as well as many other areas of the body. There are other things like cold laser therapy and acupuncture if Charlie gets worse and you still want to avoid surgery. Good luck!

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    Answered By Daniel Fonza, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 6th, 2017

    Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. Unfortunately, many times it is a congenital bone angle deformity that predisposed to patella luxation and surgical correction is really the only option to correct these cases. There are multiple ways of going about doing surgical correction of the luxation, depends on the surgeon. I hooe this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

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