Dog Ligament Injury

[rach_karl]

After having our koolie rescue dog for a whole 2 weeks we found out he has a crucial tear in his knee. i want to have a rant on our problems with this but i thought id just talk about the problem of the dog and not the vet. his only 5 months old and they want to operate. we may get it free but they want to charge us, long story ive been reaserching since i got home and found this little site i think everyone should have a read of it before they start forking out money for a problem that dosnt always need surgery.

Dog Ligament Injury

[cavNrott]

This is not a scientific conclusion. It is the opinion of someone who calls himself Max.

I daresay Max is not qualified to advise on ligament surgery or he would have mentioned it. He rattled on enough about ruptured ligaments but made no mention of his qualifications, if any. I didn't read most of it so may have missed it.

Ligament rupture is painful. If ligaments were as easily and quickly healed as Max suggests then a large number of sports people who've had ligament surgery have been led up the garden path by their medical advisors and surgeons. Max seems to be of the opinion that veterinary orthopaedic surgeons are quacks though he doesn't appear to have a degree in veterinary or medical science.

I wouldn't take an atom of notice of the opinion of an unqualified person who neglects to even reveal his surname. Anyone can write anything on the internet. Doesn't mean their opinion or advice is correct.

efs

Edited March 28, 2010 by cavNrott

[wuffles]

I'm all for conservative treatment, but as far as I understand, cruciate ligaments aren't something that you can just hope gets better. You can rehabilitate, but the ligaments don't "heal" as such and will result in chronic instability issues, arthritis and possibly further damage to the other structures of the leg... I would think an active dog like a koolie would most likely have issues down the track?

I'm not fully aware of the differences between canine and human cruciate ligament injuries but I am getting cruciate ligament surgery in the upcoming months and trust me, I would have opted for conservative treatment if it was a realistic option. I feel for you and your dog, as it truly is a nasty injury

[Danelady]

Cruciate ligaments don't heal themselves. If your dog is under 10 kgs as an adult, providing they don’t have damage to the Meniscus, scar tissue can form over the tear only if it’s a partial tear, but you have to keep your dogs activity to a minimum and very controlled. I see lots of them in here. The longer you leave it, the worse it gets and its very painful. There is also a change of doing the other knee as well.

[bordacollies4me]

i would have to agree with the OP link...

sorry talked about the vet too...

my young dog who is now 2 1/2, became lame on his back leg at about 10mths, after running in the paddock on wet ground, he was kept crated for a few days- well quite a few actually... the leg just didn't seem to get better... so off to the vet we go... he was bearing weight on it at that stage quite well, but after exercise would favour it a bit...

anyway Vet straight away suspected cruciate damage, said they would need to xray to rule out any bone damage and to fully check the joint out... so he was booked in... the following Monday.. off to the vets we went, and then later that day i get a phone call from the vet(who wasn't the one supposed to be doing the exam) explaining what they found and they would talk more about our options later... they wanted to do full TPLO surgery reccommended asap, as my dog had apparently ruptured his cruciate... then went on to explain that they had had full training in such surgery but had never performed it, and would be able to do so at a reduced cost, considering it would be the first they have ever done... i said " so you want him to be your first guinea pig- meaning trial and error case" and he agreed ... he told me to think about it and let them know as it needed to be done quickly if teh dog was to have a good recovery... he wasn't even going to show me the xrays... i asked to see them, because i always like to see what i pay for... i had his hips xrayed as well... he only put the xray up of the sore knee and then tried to point out were the damage was??? uh i know what xrays look like and from research knew what to expect, i then had to ask again for the other knee xray to be put up... well as i expected they were both exactly the same... both very clear...

i wasn't a very happy camper at this point, and left telling them i would think about it and let them know... if i was to get cruciate surgery on any of my dogs it would be done by a specialist... so i was searching for a specialist for a 2nd opinion.. as i am not that gullible...

anyway someone asked if i had had his back checked out.. no why would i??? so off to a vet chiro we went with all the dogs, i said nothing about his cruciate.. and guess what the poor fella had his back and neck out, he was adjusted and put on light restricted exercise for 3 weeks, then went back for another and was fine... i asked this guy about his cruciate and then told him what my other vet wanted to do... lets say he was shocked...

apparently his back would have been out from an injury sustained as a young puppy, from a hard knock i was told... and i do remember what happened.. sort of... i came home from work one day and he had escaped from his pen and was limping, a few days rest and he was ok, so thought nothing more of it... but as his back was out he never had a proper gait... so was always putting pressure on that knee joint, until one day it was a bit too much pressure, he had severe muscle wastage in that leg from not using it properly, so it was a long recovery to get him to full strength, but he is there and has currently started to compete in Agility and is doing well, goes for regular checkups at the chiro and has only been out 1 other time... his muscles have built back up very well and it has taught me a lot about strength training in performance dogs as all the dogs now do it... the chiro has also given me the skills to check my dogs so i know if they are out and need an adjustment...

anyway just thought i would share as sometimes we need to look further than where the actual pain/injury looks to be...

Edited March 27, 2010 by bordacollies4me