I adopted a puppy in January of this year..she has been diagnosed with a luxating patella in her left rear leg..they want to do surgery very soon ..any suggestions on alternative treatment ? I really don't want to have surgery !

I fostered and adopted a puppy living in a car with a homeless woman. From the amount of jumping heights a puppy shouldn't I now have to eventually have my pups knees operated on. There isn't any other way holistically. Eventually it's quite painful and can cause much more damage if not done. However look into getting pet insurance from ASPCA.... we had an American Eskimo with awful Arthritis and Muscle tenseness along with knee issues. She had laser treatments for her Arthritis and was on muscle relaxers which heped tremendously however it was so costly. Every visit we filled out the form and sent in the claim and always got a return and in our case it was quite worth it. My puppy is now 2 and she's quoted at $18.00 per month you get to chose the deductible which can be easily met with yearly blood work, flee/tick prevention, or even just medications. Keep in mind it's usually cheaper to get a script and purchase your medications at your pharmacy. Clinics price up all meds

Just looked up luxating because it was a new word for me. Anyways it means dislocated, like a shoulder or finger. Also looked up patella. I knew it was a leg bone, but not which one specifically. In this case it is the knee bone. I didn't know/realize dogs had a knee bone. With all that said, the situation is something that holistic medicine and physical therapy won't heal or fix the problem. If dogs really do have a patella, than surgery is your only option and it is better to do it now and take care of the issue while your dog is young.

I think surgery is the only choice but seek a second vets opinion