The dog has a torn ACL

Parent Cafe
21

<p>Well we don’t have to worry about the collar today; she is out of it from the patch! While it is a good things so she will stay still, she keeps trying to stand up, but is too wobbly so she goes back down. The patch stays on until Monday, so I don’t know if she will be this quiet all weekend. I was able to get her to eat dinner, so I know she feels well enough for that. </p>

<p>The biggest hurdle for the next few days is her going out to potty. We have her in the den with us for now, and it is a bit of a walk across the hardwood floor to get to the door. The sling helps, but for some reason, instead of just putting her toe down like she did before surgery, she has that foot tucked under; so the top of her foot is making contact with the floor. I am hoping once she gets better footing, she will put the foot down correctly; kind of hard to walk with your foot turned upside down!</p>

22

<p>Glad to hear your dog is home and eating. When you go to sleep or if you don’t have your eyes on her, put the collar on. Better to be safe. Have heard stories of dog sleeping, owner running to the bathroom to come back to the stitches pulled out. When my dog had his surgery, I didn’t know how often to take a dog out to potty. He had always stood by the door when he wanted out. We did every 5/6 hrs. When it was getting close to then, I would get sick to my stomach the first few days. If your dog has trouble moving her bowels, a dollop of pumpkin (not the pie filling) will help. I have heard of the foot tucking. Ask any question you have on the orthodog site, and you’ll get quick answers. Each day will get better for the both of you.</p>

23

<p>Thinking of you and your doodle - 2 wks down. Healing wishes.</p>

24

<p>lily, thanks for the wishes. She is doing well, maybe too well! At the moment she is barking at me to play, which for her means a game of chase; that isn’t happening for at least 8 more weeks. </p>

<p>Stitches came out yesterday and the vet said she was looking great. Of course that doesn’t mean she can resume normal activity; try telling that to an active dog ;)</p>

25

<p>Snowball, great picture next to your monicker.</p>

<p>I purchased insurance for my dog. Not sure if that made any sense but thought I would regret it if I ever got hit with a $4,200 bill and hadn’t got the insurance.</p>

26

You know the 50% of dogs that tear the second ACL; welcome us to the club :frowning: My husband and I were out of town this weekend when the dog sitter called us to tell us P had tore the other ACL. We went to see the surgeon this morning and she does indeed have a full tear; won’t know about the meniscus until during surgery.

P is now 11.5 years old and I really had to think long and hard about surgery. I love my dogs, don’t get me wrong, but the money is not flowing here, and we have both children getting married within the next 15 months. The surgery was hell on me as I work full time and would have to leave work each day to come home midday to let her out to potty and to make sure she had not found a way to chew her sutures. My dog sitter chose to not have her dog’s ACL repaired and she swears she is doing ok. That said, the dog stays in the basement away from the other dogs and only goes out to potty. That is no kind of life for my dog as she loves to go hiking. The vet assured me, as much as he could, that there was no reason she wouldn’t be able to go back to her hike once the knee healed. While I did think about putting her to sleep, I couldn’t live with myself if I did that, knowing that she would be well after surgery. Of course none of us know what the future holds. This has been a very emotion few days for me; my husband was in agreement to do whatever I decided. This is also the man who thinks money grows on trees!!

At least I know what to expect this go round, so maybe I will handle the recovery period a bit better.

27

I’m so sorry. That’s exactly what we went through but our dog was younger. Poor doggie!

28

My pup tore his before Christmas. Because of his age, 13, the vet did not want to perform surgery. He was put on pain killers and an anti-inflamatory and sent home to heal. Six months later he can go on shorter walks than he was able to before and has a limp. Other than that he doesn’t seem to be in any pain and acts mostly the same as he did before the injury. He is small, 20 pounds, and I think a non-surgical option works best with smaller dogs.

29

Non surgical is an option with a partial tear, but it is my understanding with a full tear that is not an option.

30

His was a full tear. My vet said scar tissue would form and that he probably will suffer from arthritis. He definitely has little strength in that leg and won’t ever go on another long hike, but he goes on a walk around the block twice daily and even can run and play. Occasionally the injured leg gives out on him especially if he is tired. He is doing great for 13.

Online research shows that there is some disagreement about the necessity for surgical intervention for all ACL tears, even full tears.

31

My 7yr old AmStaff tore her ACL. It required surgery–cost about 5k. It took about 6 mon to achieve her recovery potential. It’s a lot of money and a tough decision.

32

My bichon’s ACL tear healed on its own. He hobbled around on 3 legs and we restricted his activities - no running, jumping or stairs - for a few months. We also limited his treats since he was about 2-3 pounds overweight. Our bichon is 13 and had just undergone another surgery so our surgeon suggested we give the ACL tear a chance to heal on its own. I’m glad we did! My understanding is that healing on its own isn’t an option for larger dogs.

33

Our mixed breed approx. 60 lb dog had ACL surgery - the kind involving a nylon reinforcement, not the bone cutting kind. She was about 7 or 8 when she had it. I was not working at the time, but we did not crate her nor were we told to. The surgery was successful, with no further tears for 6 years.

As for preventing an injury, as someone asked, I am not sure there is anything one can do. It either happens or it doesn’t. Although the vet surgeon did recommend only on-leash walks for the rest of her life, we did not follow this entirely after she was fully healed, though as she got older, she slowed down and was fine just walking with us, not doing all the wild detours of woods walks like she used to.

The surgery cost $2000 plus probably another $700-1000 for x-Rays, etc. I was actually surprised it wasn’t higher, as our vet recommended a surgeon in an expensive Boston suburb.

34

Does anyone have a dog whose hind leg shakes?

I will try to keep it brief.

I have a 60-pound, 9-year old dog (he was a couple pounds overweight at the time of the incident, but not any more).

One morning, after some rough-housing with another dog, he woke up and couldn’t walk/was in pain. I took him to the emergency room (he was able to move by the time we were getting out of the door, but the back legs were shaking). They examined him (they thought it was a torn ACL), but it wasn’t. They didn’t find anything abnormal and said to just limit physical activity and let him heal.

After a month, his right hind leg would still shake sometimes. I took him to my vet. They did an x-ray and found he has mild hip dysplasia (which he was probably born with) and mild arthritis (but more so in the left NOT the right leg that shakes). They couldn’t pinpoint the exact cause his leg would shake. They didn’t feel either condition (hip dysplasia or arthritis) required surgery or medication at this time - just some omega supplements, which he has been taking. They weren’t sure if/how the shaking was related.

Since then, he seems to be walking fine, as in he is not limping, etc. (we usually do 45 minutes a day - half hour walk in the evening and 15 minutes in the morning - if he doesn’t want to go far, we don’t, but generally, he will do the mile and a half evening walk no problem). He doesn’t need pain meds, but a few times during the walk, when he stops, I see the muscle on his right hind leg shake (I have also seen it shake when he is lying down at home but needs to go to the bathroom). Again, he is not taking weight off it (I don’t think) or in pain or limping - just the shaking.

I am thinking of seeing another specialist, because it’s been three months, and neither my vet nor the emergency room vet seem to have definitive answers. But I figured maybe someone has had this experience. After really strenuous activity (like him getting excited and jumping around a lot) or a very long car ride, I have seen some pain and stronger shaking and stiffness, but it passes relatively quickly, just as he rests, and I don’t know if it’s all the same issue, or if this is more arthritis. I just want to know why his leg has started shaking all over sudden.

35

I have read that the age at which a dog is spayed or neutered can affect the incidence of ACL rupture. Something about the effect of estrogen/testosterone on bone growth. My breeder had recommended to us that we wait to neuter our black lab until he was 2 years old, my vet suggested much earlier than that, we compromised and had him neutered at one year. Also have heard that our local Ortho Vet said that Dog Beach keeps him in business.

36

My dog is a rescue, so I have almost no history on him until he is 3.5 years old. It’s believed he was neutered at 6 months…

37

Surgery is tomorrow and I hope I am prepared! My bad back is not going to be happy about helping walk P during her recovery time. Just taking her to the vet and lifting her in and out of the car was more than I should have done. Actually, I was due for an injection for my back this week, but the pup comes first!

My husband will be happy when both dogs can join him again for their weekend hikes. The younger dog will be happy to have daddy all to himself, so you will not hear any complaints from him :slight_smile:

38

I’m now getting ads for joint supplements for dogs…

39

Surgery was the afternoon and P is doing well. She did have a torn meniscus this time so recovery will take a couple of weeks longer :frowning: I spoke with the vet this afternoon after surgery, and the tech this evening. She did not get the fentanyl pain patch this time for some reason, so she was actually awake and had dinner tonight. That means she will not be zonked out this weekend; potty breaks will be easier, but she will be antsy. I bet I will not get much sleep as I hear every movement we makes on a good night!

The next two weeks until the stitches are removed will be the hardest for me. After 3 or 4 weeks when she feels better and wants to be active, that will be hard for her as she still will not be allowed to do much other than very short walks a couple of times a day.

40

Glad it went well! I hope she recovers well. It is not a fun time, but I’m glad you did the surgery.