Ruptured anterior cruciate ligament

TelH

TelH

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Anyone had a dog that this has happened to? What was the outcome? Good/bad?

13yo jrt jumped off a step, squealed and can't weight bear on her back right :( Took her to the vets and he said she has damaged the ligament. She has got some painkillers, he said total rest, ring him tomorrow afternoon and if there's no change he will have her in to operate on Thu/Fri. He seemed to think that after an operation and 3 months rest she would be ok :confused: Is as straightforward as that? Bearing in mind she is 13...
 
At 13 and being a small breed I would discuss with your vet a longer very strict rest period. I have had my alkita and rotti operated on for cruciate rupture, but they are vey big boned/weight bearing breeds that could not manage without the op.
On a small breed of that age, I dont think I would operate depending on damage.
I would rest for 6 weeks (strict) crate rest and pain relief then hydrotherapy.
 
CAYLA said:
At 13 and being a small breed I would discuss with your vet a longer very strict rest period. I have had my alkita and rotti operated on for cruciate rupture, but they are vey big boned/weight bearing breeds that could not manage without the op.
On a small breed of that age, I dont think I would operate depending on damage.
I would rest for 6 weeks (strict) crate rest and pain relief then hydrotherapy.
Click to expand...
Our mini schnauser x damaged her cruciate ligament a few months ago, and didn't put any weight on her back leg. We took her to the vet who prescribed rest and metacam. The vet said that as she was under a certain weight, it would heal without an op. he was right, she now walks about three miles without a problem, although I'm keeping her on the lead for a little while longer as she likes to run after our other dog!
 
CAYLA said:
At 13 and being a small breed I would discuss with your vet a longer very strict rest period. I have had my alkita and rotti operated on for cruciate rupture, but they are vey big boned/weight bearing breeds that could not manage without the op.
On a small breed of that age, I dont think I would operate depending on damage.
I would rest for 6 weeks (strict) crate rest and pain relief then hydrotherapy.
Click to expand...

She has been crated, I just let her out for a wee (carried her out and put her on the grass) and she was putting a little bit of weight on it so now I'm wondering whether it might be better to try rest first. The vet said if she was tiny, 5/6kg or less, then we would try the rest approach first but she is big for a jrt (10kg) so he said surgery was the way to go :confused: I will speak to him again tomorrow :)
 
My rottie had her cruciate repaired dec 2010 at an orthopaedic referral clinic. Because of her size she had a TPLO (basically saw the bone and plate it), she was weight bearing again after a few days.

With smaller dogs you can sometimes get away with conservative treatment, so rest and anti inflammatories. We had a client that had two small dogs (about 10kg ish) and they both ruptured there cruciates within a few years of each other. The first one only had a partial tear with no other bone pathaology so conservative treatment worked. The second one had to have surgery.

Anaesthetics obv carry a risk but there are ways to safe guard patients, drip and pre op blood testing are a must. xxx
 
Our schnauzer x is about 5/6 kgs so I guess that's why it was successful, think the vet said it was more borderline when they get to 10 kg
 
Absolute cage rest for a month,lead exercise only ..building up slowly on roadwork..for a further two months.At 13 and small def no operation ;we use Vit C and a good raw diet ,it seems to do the trick .:)
 
Spoke at length with the vet, She is going to have 3 weeks crate rest and pain relief. If there is no sign of improvement she will be operated on. If she seems to be heading in the right direction she will have a further 3 weeks crate rest then we will re-assess after that :)
 
Sounds like a good plan. Just remember to adjust food intake as the last thing you want is an overweight dog, it wont help her recovery at all and remember her other hind leg is taking all the weight.

Fingers crossed she wont need surgery xx
 
had this op done (large breeds there are two types on offer) ended up having to have the other done as well a year later but on a young dog whose original owner decided to run with him when injured. Its a major op and no guarantee of success.
 
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