With her confident little prance and friendly greetings, Dolly the one-year-old Pomeranian made onlookers smile whenever she went out for a walk.
Over a couple of months, however, Dolly’s owner Edith noticed that her gait had started to look a little odd. Dolly would mostly walk normally, but then at other times would hold up her right hindleg for a few steps, appearing to skip.
One evening, Dolly jumped off the couch and startled Edith with a yelp. She then held her right hindleg up for an hour or so and seemed a little less sprightly than usual. Concerned, Edith phoned her local veterinary clinic for a consultation.
At their consultation the next morning, veterinarian Max examined Dolly, and found her to have loose kneecaps, known as luxating patellas. Whilst both kneecaps were abnormal, the left one was only mildly affected (graded one out of four for severity), and was not currently troubling Dolly. The right kneecap, however, was graded two out of four and seemed uncomfortable for Dolly during the examination, although Dolly still gave Max some happy little tail wags and face licks afterwards.
Given Dolly’s acute episode of lameness combined with her history of skipping on the right hind leg for several months, Max recommended two potential treatment options. The first option was surgery, and the second was conservative management with long-term chondroprotective agents (joint support supplements) and pain relief as required to manage Dolly’s joint issues.
Max explained that the advantage of surgery was that it would help to stabilise the loose right kneecap, thereby preventing progressively abnormal weight bearing which often leads to painful arthritis in the long-term. He felt the less severely affected left leg could then likely be managed with ongoing joint support supplements and monitoring.
Max gave an estimate of $2,457 for the surgery, including post-operative x-rays, routine post-operative rechecks, and starting a course of chondroprotective injections to help maintain healthy cartilage and reduce inflammation in Dolly’s knees.
Edith wanted the best for Dolly and was pleased to tell Max that she’d taken out pet insurance when Dolly was just eight weeks old. Double-checking the policy details, Edith was able to confirm that she’d have 80% coverage of the surgery fee (with $100 excess), and so gave Max consent to book Dolly in for surgery. In the meantime, Dolly was sent home with some anti-inflammatory pain relief and doctor’s orders for rest.
One week later, Dolly underwent surgical correction of her right luxating patella, involving tightening of the supportive joint capsule and careful deepening of the groove where the kneecap normally sits. She stayed in the hospital overnight and then was sent home the next day with several types of pain relief.
Edith was instructed to keep Dolly confined and rested for six weeks post-surgery, with careful on-leash toileting walks only. For a further four weeks thereafter, she slowly and gently increased Dolly’s walks again.
Four months after surgery, Edith is delighted with Dolly’s results. Dolly walks normally now (when she’s not bouncing up to strangers for petting), and Edith is relieved that, thanks to her pet insurance policy, she was able to afford the best treatment for her beloved little friend. | 
