Torn ACL...

[Bellas_Owner]

Anyone else have this issue with their pup?

We took Bella girl to the dog park Saturday, and she was playing well with the other dogs and all of a sudden started to limp on both of her legs. I stopped her immediately, and attended to her. I picked her up and took her home, because I didn't know whether it was something minor or major. My fiance and I decided to wait until Monday to call the vet in case it didn't get better. On Sunday, the limping seemed like it calmed down, but I knew something could be wrong. I was hoping it was a pulled muscle. We called in on Monday, and the vet advised us to give it another day and make an appointment for Tuesday, if it didn't stop. We took her to the vet on Tuesday, and they checked her out, said we had to bring her back in today, Wednesday, so they could sedate her, to see what the problem was. We brought her in, they x-rayed for hip displasia, and all came out negative for the x-rays, but he said her Left leg, she tore her ACL, and the right one has a possibility of being slightly torn.

Anyone have this issue? If you have, did your pup make a full recovery? This girl, is like a child, and I don't think I have had more of a nail biting week than I have had. I just want what is best for my baby girl. We are trying to get a hold of some vets that do surgery, and hope to have her in tomorrow. She is on some pain meds right now, and she has and will remain bed rested till she goes in.

[kaytenmags]

my dog has blown both knees.
there's lots of good info here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=98706

[FBODGRL]

An easier question may be who hasn't had this happen

I am one of the lucky ones (fingers crossed) and haven't had this issue with my boy yet

You can do a search in the health section here and I bet a lot will come up!

[sunnygirl01]

my dog has blown both knees.
there's lots of good info here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=98706

Kaytenmags,

I have been meaning to ask you...was there a difference in each knee surgery with your dog? Bella's first surgery (on her right knee) went really well. By the time we brought her home, she was walking on it like nothing ever happened. You would have never known she had knee surgery. This second surgery (had to do her left knee this time) has been a nightmare. She was in horrific pain after we brought her home (and I mean SCREAMING and nearly bit me). She also removed her staples twice. With the first incision she never even paid any attention to it. Now the staples are out and it has been about a month since the surgery, but she still limps on her leg. We thought this second surgery would be a breeze since we had no issues with the first one. Boy, were we wrong!

Edited to add.... I am really sorry to hear about your girl, Bellas_owner. It really sucks. There are lots of options out there. Find a surgeon you trust if that is the route you choose to take. I "interviewed" four of them.

[kaytenmags]

I have been meaning to ask you...was there a difference in each knee surgery with your dog? Bella's first surgery (on her right knee) went really well. By the time we brought her home, she was walking on it like nothing ever happened. You would have never known she had knee surgery. This second surgery (had to do her left knee this time) has been a nightmare. She was in horrific pain after we brought her home (and I mean SCREAMING and nearly bit me). She also removed her staples twice. With the first incision she never even paid any attention to it. Now the staples are out and it has been about a month since the surgery, but she still limps on her leg. We thought this second surgery would be a breeze since we had no issues with the first one. Boy, were we wrong!

strangely enough, there was a massive difference.
i don't know if it was because her 2nd knee was in worse shape perhaps, or because it was an acute tear (the other one was progressive), or what caused it, but it was VERY different.

this is going to be a long one...

her first (right) knee was textbook. went beautfully, she never touched her incision, healed up properly, went to physio, everything was great.

her second (left) knee was the same surgery, same surgeon, same everything. the only changes i found was that they used a different anesthesiologist (i know i probably butchered that spelling ), and they used staples instead of stitches. it started to heal the same, but when the staples were out and the incision healed up completely, it was time to ditch the cone. now she NEVER even attempted to touch her right knee, but she butchered her left one. chewed the sh|t out of it, went back n forth with the vet for what caused it, tried antibiotics, and eventually came to the conclusion that it was the plate/screws that needed to come out. we went through that surgery, re-recovered, stitches came out, incision healed, hair grew back in, left her unconed for a few hours, she chewed it all up again!! even after waiting weeks n weeks n weeks for all the hair to grow back in so that it looked 'normal', she'd STILL chew it.

this went on for a while, then they did another surgery to poke around, and they fixed up some other tendon that was in there and was a bit loose or out of place or something. re-recovered again (*sigh*... that was knee surgery #4 for anyone who's counting), and here we are, about a year and a half later, and my dog is at home right now... coned. i can leave her for short periods here n there, but if i left her unconed for a full day while i'm at work, she'd probably chew the crap out of it again. and once she's skizzed it all up, then i can't even leave her for short periods unconed until all the hair grows back in.

oh, and while all this is going on, she still favours that leg. she gets sore if she overdoes it, and she'll lean slightly when she stands. she's on a joint supplement, she gets deramaxx when she's overdone it, she goes swimming once a week, and yet she's still broken. always will be.

[sunnygirl01]

OHMIGOSH! I am so sorry Kaytenmags! I can only imagine how that must be for you....and her.
I have heard that if the body is rejecting the plate they will do that but I cannot imagine why she continues to chew it up now that the plate and screws are out. I am already preparing (financially) for removing the plates. I hope we never have to but I want to be more prepared than I was with the TPLO's. If the need never arises, I will have a nice savings account!

I would be so heartbroken if I had to deal with that every day. I find myself worring about every little thing that could happen and I am going to have to stop or I am going to have a breakdown. ((Hugs)) to you for what you are both going through.

"and yet she's still broken. always will be. " This makes me want to cry for you.

[kaytenmags]

it's been a long few years from her first knee until now, so we're kinda used to it. we're past the whole disappointment and dispair phase, and we're into the "play the hand you're dealt" kind of mindset now.

my bank account is like a bucket with a hole in it. no matter how hard i try to fill it up, it just keeps trickling out. swimming once a week isn't cheap, but it really seems to help. i can't wait for the summer so we can get back into the river and put the pool swims on hold for a couple months.

on the plus side, it's forced me to find ways to exhaust my dog without running her. we do a lot of short walks, play a lot of brain games, she knows a lot of tricks, and we're just starting to get into tracking
once every week or two, she gets to go play with my friends dog, and that's the most physical activity she gets. they play indoors so that they wrestle instead of run (chase games are no good, it's the corners that kill her), and she gets deramaxx on those days. i can't/won't deprive her of her wrestling bouts because she enjoys them so much. the day after is pain management, but it's a quality of life issue. there's no sense in bubble wrapping her and depriving her of a little bit of fun every so often.

[Bellas_Owner]

We decided to go with a small town vet, because they seam to be more interested in how she is doing, and all that kind of stuff. It was "warming". Guy seemed worried, and I like that. But we got a quote for $1200 for both legs, and that is with check ups, meds and xrays, before, after and one during check up. I'm hoping she will do a full recovery.

The vet said to take her to the lake a lot this summer so she can swim, because it will help built the knee back up without having her actual body weight on it.

We actually didn't have the money for the procedure, so we had to apply for the Care Credit. Not excited to have more dept than what we have, but it was well needed and worth the time. I have a year old as well, and she is ALWAYS running everywhere, and she has yet to have an issue *keeping my fingers crossed*

[Kingsgurl]

Do you know what procedure they plan on doing? There are multiple surgery options available and that pricing makes me think they are most likely considering a 'traditional' repair rather than a TPLO. Martin had Bi-Lateral extra-capsular repair (both legs same time) and has recovered fabulously from it, though the trend seems to be TPLO almost exclusively now.
Good luck

[AllisonPitbullLvr]

If you can find someone to do it, TTA's have the best success with bilateral repairs. (Healing time is MUCh faster and easier).

Right now our clinic is leaning away from referring for TPLO's because of some MRSA infections that have been popping up, resulting in dogs having to go BACK under to have the plates removed. Nightmare!

Either way, good luck with your pup! Sending wishes for a speedy and drama-free recovery!

[Bellas_Owner]

I don't know what the procedure is. My fiance is taking care of that part, but they have 3 that you can do. There is one where they take the parts from one ligament (graph) and use it to repair the ACL, there is another where they put plates in, and do all this other high tech stuff & it costs 3K a leg.

Our vet is cleaning out her knees, and using nylon type thing as a replacement for the knee, or something like that. He said it doesn't rip easily and if it did, it would take a lot. We will not take the cheapest option (the first one) and we can not afford the most expensive one, and its hard to find a vet that does that anyway.

[Bellas_Owner]

Also, does anyone have any therapy tips to hand out? Like what will help the heal, and what kind of exercises are good for them, and at what point of times?

[sara]

We decided to go with a small town vet, because they seam to be more interested in how she is doing, and all that kind of stuff. It was "warming". Guy seemed worried, and I like that. But we got a quote for $1200 for both legs, and that is with check ups, meds and xrays, before, after and one during check up. *

Wow, that is amazing pricing! I have been calling around today like crazy and getting $2,000 to $2,500 for one leg, traditional repair, not all inclusive! I'm really half tempted to drive to where you are and bring my dogs to your vet!