DAMN! The knee again.

Today was supposed to be the last day of no activity for Luna because of her knee injury. So this morning when she encountered a playmate (a ±90 pound male Rottweiler) I allowed her to play with him, although Luna is, compared to this guy, ‘only’ 68 pounds. And I KNOW they’ll play chase and I KNOW he’ll collide with her back end. Not on purpose, but just because he isn’t as agile and quick as Luna is.

Well, that’s exactly what happened. Luna yelped once but continued to play. Normally, yelping doesn’t bother me, it’s just something that can happen in play between dogs. Now, when I heard it, I thought, ‘damn, I hope her knee will be OK’. She was moving fine though, and she’s a DOG, and she’d already been confined for three weeks, so I let her play.

Sure enough though, when we got home and I towelled her off, I thought she held her tail a bit stiffly. And later when she came out of a dog bed, I thought I saw her limp. But then when I wanted to look closer, Luna was already walking fine again. Then, at lunch, mom said ‘she’s limping’, again upon exiting a dog bed. Again just one to three steps, but still. Then tonight, as she got off the little sofa in my room that’s kind of hers now, she stood on three legs for a second, somewhat limped two steps and then it was again as if nothing had happened.

But, obviously, her knee did not like the activity today. So, as of right now, I’ve decided to limit her activity to straight line exercise (going for walks and cycling on leash) and just tell everyone with a dog that Luna normally likes to play with, that Luna will NOT be playing with dogs for, say, two months. Let’s just see if we can get her weight down, get her well muscled again and then, when I’m sure it will be OK, she can play with other dogs again.

Since the limping only happens for a few steps after not moving for a while, I decided to stick with my strength- and endurance building schedule (in the shape of daily walks and cycling). That knee needs muscle support, and she can’t get that with an hour total of slow walking a day. All the vet can do is give her another round of anti-inflammatory pills, and, well, I just don’t think that’s really necessary.

I HAVE put her on a homeopathic treatment for bruising, sprains and such, and I will continue to do that until she stops limping. If the limping gets worse, I will go see the vet. Also, I’ll be giving her Reiki treatments and massages.

If anyone has any input as to what else I can do to help heal that knee, I’d love to hear about it! Swimming would probably be really good, right? We can do that, too.

And I keep thinking, if only I HADN’T thrown that ball last June, the one who’s catch created this injury in the first place, then she would still be fine now and not have this annoying weak spot. I’d almost wish it was HD, at least then she could keep on living a happy, active life. With this knee thing we have to be very careful, because if her knee tendons/ligaments(?) tear apart we have a real problem with an even longer rehab process!

Anyway, thanks for reading this lengthy rant.

Oh, almost forgot; the picture is Luna at 20 months, the skinniest - too skinny - she’s ever been, out for an early morning autumn walk in the park. What a lovely day that was! Don’t you just love a happy, dirty dog?!