Zoey The Chihuahua & Her Cruciate Tear

Zoey here is one of the cutest chi-chi bombs we have ever had the pleasure of meeting. She has eyes the size of olives and her tail is always wagging, even when she’s nervous. Now when Zoey first came to the office, she was walking on three legs and had been doing so for months. Why? Well poor Zoey had decided to play a little too hard last winter and took some nasty spills that led her to tear a cruciate ligament in her back leg. After two months of medication and no improvement, her fur parents were at a loss of what to try next. She wasn’t improving, and though she didn’t seem to be in pain, they couldn’t bear to see her be a tripod for the rest of her life if there was something more that could be done. Chiropractic, then, was the next logical choice. Zoey came in nervous as can be and visibly began to relax during her adjustment. Her back leg had a great deal of muscle atrophy, scar tissue, and limited mobility. On top of everything else she had luxating patella in that same leg. With all these components, we knew it would take some time to help her body recover from her injury. Her knee had likely been unstable for months if not years because of the floating kneecap, potentially being the real cause of that cruciate tear. After her third adjustment, Zoey began to use her back leg more and more often. As her muscle started to strengthen, the patella began to stay in place, and the cruciate was finally able to heal fully, which it wasn’t able to do originally. After three months of care, Zoey is back to full function. Her kneecap is stationary, her muscles have evened out when compared to the opposite leg, and the little stinker even runs with her fur siblings like a maniac. She’s cute as a bug and finally able to live back up to her full potential, both pain and symptom free without any medication!

One Month Progress Report

Two Month Progress Report