The Rock Star- Meli and her OrthoPets Stifle Device (Dog Knee Brace)
[gallery link="file" columns="1"]My husband named our little Chihuahua, Melosa which is Spanish for “honey”. We’ve always called her Meli for short and she’s been the “little princess” in our house ever since we brought her home in the spring of 2000.Throughout the years, Meli has always been quick to jump up on our laps to claim her place when watching evening TV, or beg to be taken out for afternoon walks. So, it seemed odd to me when one weekday this past spring, I noticed that Meli was not coming to the door to greet me or coming out to see what our boys were up to when they got home from school. Upon taking a closer look, I realized that she was limping and basically not using her right hind leg at all. I had seen this before because several years earlier, Meli had torn a ligament on her Left knee which resulted in Meli undergoing an expensive surgery.Surgery for us was just not an option this time around, yet we wanted to provide Meli with a means of stabilizing her leg and providing support so that she could return to a more active lifestyle. After talking the situation over with Dr. Lesli Groshong (Boulder Humane Society), it looked like a great solution would be for us to consider putting a leg brace on Meli! Lesli mentioned that she had worked several times with the staff at OrthoPets and that they were doing just phenomenal things with braces for pets of all breeds and sizes and I should check into them as well.So I did! We got in to see Dr. Patsy Mich within a week and shortly thereafter, Meli was outfitted with a new leg brace. Meli has been an absolute “Rock Star” ever since, adapting very quickly to the brace being on her leg. I think the brace has given her confidence & support to race after our kids, chase rabbits & squirrels and even, yes, jump back up on our laps to claim her rightful place watching movies with the family.ThanksOrthoPets team!!