Dog version of ACL tear

NJres
Sat, 09 Jul 2016 15:30:54 +0000

In a strange coincidence we had the exact thing happen to our dog just a few days ago… (was it July 4?). She is a 17 year old Westie, in great shape for her age but was already having issues going up/down stairs so we had been sometimes carrying her. She attempted going up the steps from the backyard to the deck and came up lame (rear right leg). We took her to the vet the next morning and same diagnosis - torn ACL. Due to her age, surgery really isn’t an option. In less than a week she is getting around pretty well, which is a tremendous relief for us. The prospect of needing to carry her around continuously was daunting. She still limps of course and puts little weight on her rear-right leg, but is doing pretty well. We got toe grips for her to help her get around on our wood and tile floors better. ( Dr Buzby’s toegrips) If we had known about these things we could have used them a few years ago to make it easier for the dog to get around on the wood and tile floors. In the past year or 2 her legs have gotten weaker so her legs will splay out on a slippery surface. We put floor mats in strategic spots to give her traction.

So I can’t help you with the surgery decision. If our dog was younger we might consider it. Also, for us, a major concern is to prevent her from tearing the other ACL. That would be a huge problem. So she gets carried up/down all steps now.

Only thing to add, through the entire process - even immediately after the injury - our dog showed no signs of pain or distress. Of course when we took her to the vet she started shaking and panting, but that is how she gets when you take her to the vet and had nothing to do with her injury.