It’s been a while since I wrote much about our dog Luke’s luxating patellas, other than in passing. That’s because, thankfully, currently his knees are doing quite well (knock wood!). Luke was not even 1 year old when he was first diagnosed with this condition, and we’ve been managing it for five years now. You can read a bit more about his condition by clicking here if you are interested.
*Disclosure: We received one bottle of Joint Formula from CannaBiDog, but we received no other compensation for sharing about this product. Wag ‘n Woof Pets only shares about products we have tried and believe in, and all opinions are our own. This post may contain other affiliate links.*
The hope has always been to keep his knees from popping out as much as possible, even though he can pop them back in himself; as well as to hold off the inevitable arthritis for as long as we can. While Luke could have surgery on his knees, all my research turned up that even with that, he’d probably end up with arthritis.
What does management of his luxating patellas involve?
- Walks to keep the joints loose; preferably with some hills to build up strong muscle tone. We are lucky that our own woods that we walk in have some gentle hills in them. I am also careful about walking him if conditions are icy or the snow is too deep. If we get deep snow cover this year, I will blaze trails for him with my snowshoes before we go out.
We try to get out for a daily walk if weather does not preclude it. - In the house we have stairs up to our bed to limit jumping (though he doesn’t always use them) and throw rugs on our wood floors to limit slipping. Luckily the main living area in our home is all on one level, so he doesn’t have a lot of stairs to go up and down. We were recently laughing with some family members about selling our old house to get away from all the stairs. While we were thinking of our own future as we age, we were also thinking more of our aging dogs, and Luke’s knee issues!
- Limiting running and jumping. We don’t stop Luke from doing some “zoomies” if he’s in the mood, but we try not to encourage it either. Sometimes he dives off our deck, completely missing the three stairs, and I cringe every time! We’re not perfect, but I also believe in letting Luke do the things that make him happy, within reason (like running along the fence when the deer are out there!). If I toss the ball for him, it’s usually only one time.
- Oils to help lubricate joints – fish oils (we mostly use sardine/anchovy oil*) and CBD oil.
- Keeping him at a healthy weight to reduce strain on the joints.
- Fresh, healthy, low-carbohydrate foods for his meals. I make some of Luke’s food, and we also use The Farmer’s Dog*. In addition, we supplement Luke’s meals with canned salmon or sardines* every other day to get even more of those important Omega 3 oils.
- Joint supplements. We’ve used some different ones over the years, and I feel it’s important to switch them up to get different ingredients in there. Many have at least one unique ingredient that the others don’t.
Some of these products can be pricey, specifically the CBD oil. I don’t like to skimp on what I spend on Luke (anything would be cheaper than surgery anyway!), but we still must be careful of expenses. I also used the CBD to help Luke with his anxieties. But because I simply couldn’t be sure how much it was helping; I had been cutting back on that.
So when CannaBiDog asked me to try their joint supplements, which contain phytocannabinoid (CBD) rich hemp oil as well as MSM, glucosamine and chondroitin, I thought it seemed like a wonderful alternative – killing two birds with one stone, so to speak. Luke loves the beef flavored chewable pills, and I love the fact that since we’ve been using it his anxieties and joint health are on an even keel.
CannaBiDog is a Colorado based company, and their hemp oil is sourced from a local USDA certified, 100% organic farm. Their products are made under stringent, quality-controlled standards, and are 3rd party tested. There are no preservatives.
While I’ve always thought our luck with Luke’s joints has been because of a combination of what we do and use, I always watch closely if we switch products to be sure his knees are not popping out more. They have not been since we switched to Cannibidog (not even once), and I am happy with that. We will be keeping it in our “repertoire”.
Even if your dog does not have a joint condition such as Luke’s, or arthritis, joint supplements are a great way to avoid those conditions, especially in older dogs. CBD oil can have many other benefits as well. If you would like to learn more about CBD oil, how it can benefit your dog, and how it works, you can find out more by clicking here. You can also find CannaBiDog on Facebook and Instagram.
I was wondering how his knees were doing, I couldn’t remember if he needed surgery or not. Sounds like your managing it really well.
I feel like we’ve been very lucky to be able to avoid the surgery.
Matt takes a daily CBD treat that we get at our local pet bakery that is made by pet.relief and he loves them and they help so much with his anxiety and allergies but these sound great too. Might have to check them out.
xoxo,
Bell Fur Zoo Mama
I love that your local pet bakery sells CBD treats! That is great!
We are looking for a joint supplement for Pierre. I’ll check this out!
We hope it helps sweet Pierre if you try it! ♥
We’re glad the CBD supplement is helping Luke. Ernie gets a transdermal CBD rubbed into his ear.
I wondered if CBD could be used for cats too; so glad to hear it is!
Sounds really interesting. I wish we had so many good options back when we had doggies with those problems.
I know what you mean. There are so many more options now than when our senior girls struggled with arthritis.
Love that it comes in a chewable tablet. Being that this company in Denver, I am familiar with them and they get good reviews.
I’m so glad to hear that you’ve heard good things about them. Thank you.
I’m so glad you’ve found another product that works so well for Luke! I may have to try it for Ducky. Without Radar around to help keep her active, I’m afraid she might start having some aging issues. (The house seems so empty and quiet right now. 😢)
Oh, I know it must be too quiet there! 🙁
I think staying active is so important for dogs, though with our beagle Cricket I think she overdid it! But the important thing was that she was happy.
You’re doing well, Luke and I’m happy about that. I sure wish I had known about this oil when our baby was getting old and having issues.
Have a woof woof day, Luke. My best to your wonderful mom. ♥
Thank you! We also wish this had been around when our two senior girls were struggling with arthritis. ♥
oh we are sure that this oil has a lot of benefits for dogs … and we will look if we can get a cbd supplement here too.
I’m hearing around here that our government is trying to put up some obstacles towards businesses selling it here. I’d be interested to know if you can get it over there!
We forgot about his knee condition. It’s hard to keep us from jumping and racing around, but once we get past the puppy stage we usually mellow down. Luke doesn’t seem like a super wild guy, so it’s not surprising he is handling his condition pretty well. Glad this new stuff works for him.
We forget about it sometimes too; which is a good thing really since it means we’re not seeing the knees go out. You are right, while Luke has his crazy times, he is really a mostly mellow guy. That helps!
We are so happy that they’re working for you, Luke, and they sounds like a very worthwhile supplement to have in our cupboard!
They taste good! That’s the important thing to me. 🙂
Woofs, Luke
I have used low potency full spectrum CBD oil drops for myself and for the pups when we travel. Seems to work good, and for myself it does help my joint and insomnia issues. Thought I would try it, and started with a low dose which for now is effective.
Benji might need something more dog specific in the future, as he is all legs and seems to limp somewhat after rough play/romps in our back wooded area…only does it for a moment. He did fall off our stairs when he first came here…he was so ungainly. Those teenage years at 6 months of age, BOL!
🙂 I believe it never hurts to get started on these things while they are still young, and before they develop more issues. I wish I’d had this for our older girls who both had arthritis.
I also take CBD myself; it really helps to take the edge of my anxieties.