Are there any alternatives to costly surgery to help pup’s bad knee?
man at the former Ritz-Carlton hotel in Manalapan (now the Eau Palm Beach), and parking cars as a valet on Clematis Street, picked himself up and kept moving. He’s currently fifinishing his degree at Palm Beach State.
“You can always go through a phase when you feel sorry for yourself,” he says. “But now I know you better put something in your name.”
That’s the kind of advice he’s been able to impart to c urrent re s i dents at Vi t a Nova, like Morales, to whom he’s a mentor. Sometimes they talk, and sometimes “we just work out” and say nothing at all, Morales says. “He’s a good person to be a r o u n d , ” Ar i s ay s o f h i s friend. “I never had a mentor before. He keeps me staying focused.”
“I don’t try to make them feel like they’re talking to an adult,” Lester explains. “They can get comfortable and tell me stuffffffffffff,” he says.
DeMario says that the average resident stays around two or three years, gaining support and skills to help them move on and become selfsuffifficient. Some will move into their own places, or in with friends, or get married - “We have some who leave here and move in together,” he says. “If you can reach one person, it makes the job worth it.”
Now living in West Palm Beach with his sister as his roommate, Lester says he’s grateful to Vita Nova, not only for shelter, but for the confifidence to know that he’s going to be OK.
“The decisions you make now are important,” he says. “It’s crunch time. I’m not saying I’m difffffffffffferent than other people but I’m making better decisions. I know the path to take. I’ve been there, at a place that’s much deeper.”
And he doesn’t regret telling people like Morales- and now all of you - what he’s been through, if maybe it helps them not be there in the fifirst place.
“I look at him and he’s like a little brother,” he says. “It’s heartwarming to be able to help him.” Dr. Michael Fox
Question: My veterinarian thinks that my 60-pound, 8-yearold pit bull-mix might have a cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) tear in her right rear leg. She has had intermittent lameness in that leg for the past two years, but it seems that lately she is more lame than healthy. She can bear weight on the leg, but she does not use it when squatting to urinate. The vet prescribed a 10-day course of Rimadyl, which seemed to help.
Our vet discussed options that are currently available; the most expensive but best choice is tibial-plateau-leveling osteotomy (TPLO) or tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA) surgery, given her weight and size. I called around to six veterinary surgery centers and even to one group that travels from vet to vet performing surgeries, and the average cost for that surgery is $3,500. I am currently out of work with two college-aged children. Do you know of any other less-expensive surgical options for our dog? — K.R., Washington, D.C.
Answer: Many dogs suffffer from torn cruciate (knee) ligaments. This common afflffliction may be due to several factors, including abnormal conformation (hind legs too straight), being overweight, being very active after a long period of relative inactivity or adverse reaction to vaccination.
Powdered ginger, turmeric and fifish oil nutraceutical food supplements can be benefificial and certainly safer than Rimadyl. Give a half teaspoon of each twice per day during the rest and possible recovery period. This week’s Patio Page crossword puzzle can be found on page D3
Surgery is costly, not always effffffffffffective and complicated by the other knee ligament giving way. Smaller and lightweight dogs can often self-heal and not require surgery. If your dog is overweight, work on that with a grainfree diet, or use my homeprepared recipe using onequarter of the suggested grain portion.