Kiara&Heidi Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 (edited) My SBT, Kiara, had TTA surgery for a cruciate repair about a year ago. It has all healed well now and she is generally good on the leg, although if you pay attention VERY closely you can sometimes tell she favours the other leg. What I want to know is if it would be safe/appropriate to do agility with her. Does anyone have a dog or no of a dog that has done agility after having a cruciate repair? Thanks in advance ETA: she has had x-rays to show it has healed properly. Edited October 20, 2011 by Kiara&Heidi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agility Dogs Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 My SBT, Kiara, had TTA surgery for a cruciate repair about a year ago. It has all healed well now and she is generally good on the leg, although if you pay attention VERY closely you can sometimes tell she favours the other leg. What I want to know is if it would be safe/appropriate to do agility with her. Does anyone have a dog or no of a dog that has done agility after having a cruciate repair? Thanks in advance ETA: she has had x-rays to show it has healed properly. I'd be talking to your vet/specialist about it. I know of a couple of BC's and a Kelpie that have competed successfully for years after surgery. I also know of dogs that have reinjured or injured their other cruciate after making a come back. I guess like anything it comes down to understanding the risks and weighing them up before making a decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alibi Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Often times if they do one cruciate they end up doing the other too. Definatly agree with Agility Dogs with weighing up options and talking to the vet/specialist first and if possible talking to a dog phyiso. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara&Heidi Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 I did ask the vet and he agreed, like you say, there is a risk but in the end it would be up to me to make the decision. I thought it would be worth asking people who are actually experienced in agility for advice before making any decisions. The vet fully expected that she would tear the other cruciate because the stats are so high . I am prepared for that to happen but obviously would prefer if it didn't. She does a lot of swimming and strengthening exercises to prevent further injury so I think I might just take it slow with the agility and stop if I notice any soreness or If it looks like she is straining herself too much. If she doesn't do well with it I can always take my chihuahua when she is old enough . Thanks guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superminty Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 My agility dog did a cruciate while trialling - probably small tears til it went completely, so she had scar tissue built up around the joint that supported it to some extent. I didn't notice anything much was wrong, just that she was limping slightly on and off. She was 8 years old when the limping first started. Treated it with stem cell therapy and Pentosan (ongoing) and she trialled for about another 6 months with no problems, but then started limping again, so I retired her rather than risk her doing more damage to the current injury or doing the other one. I decided that I would rather have her injury and pain free in the future than continue with agility, given the risks involved. Agility is after all just a sport. She's now doing everything she used to do as a young dog, although I am more careful with the type of toy play she does. I miss agility but would rather a healthy, happy dog well into old age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara&Heidi Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 Thanks superminty, I am glad to hear stem cell therapy was able to help your girl even though she had a full tear. It is something I am considering for Kiara to prevent arthritis in her repaired knee. I don't know, it's so hard to decide. One minute I'm thinking I'll just go for it and do agility, and the next minute it seems like the worst idea possible. Kiara is only 3, so I really need to be careful as she has her whole life ahead of her. I have started obedience with her but she just whinges the whole time , I thought she would have more fun with agility. I don't know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podengo Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 There is a Huntaway at my club who did her cruciate in quite a few years ago, had it repaired and is still competing happily at *I think* 9-10 years old. She is an AG CH too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara&Heidi Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 There is a Huntaway at my club who did her cruciate in quite a few years ago, had it repaired and is still competing happily at *I think* 9-10 years old. She is an AG CH too Thats great . I'm thinking we'll give it a go. I still have a while to decide as she has to graduate to the next class in obedience, but that's not far off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 has she done it before? I would be starting her on low equipment and all on lead, just a few minutes at a time. She has to relearn how to use her body and what to do before being off lead or running about with equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara&Heidi Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 has she done it before? I would be starting her on low equipment and all on lead, just a few minutes at a time. She has to relearn how to use her body and what to do before being off lead or running about with equipment. She has never done it before. We will be doing it at a dog training club so I would assume they would start easy and on lead anyway? From what I've seen, in that sort of environment you would only get a few minutes at a time so all the other dogs can have a go. If not I will let them know that I need to take everything very gradually with her. Thanks for your input Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 ok well if it's all new with her then definately no running or on wobbly equipment where she has to dig herself in and scrunch the leg muscles to hold herself up. Just light easy stuff all on lead and she how she pulls up after each one. May pay to do a little basic stuff at hone for a couple of minutes a day too to help her body adjust to this exercise. Once a week is still going to be a bit iffy with animals that have previous injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abgail Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Have a read of this site. Have my boy booked in this week http://medivetvictoria.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara&Heidi Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 (edited) Have a read of this site. Have my boy booked in this week http://medivetvictoria.com Yep, I'm saving up for it at the moment. It's very exciting! I was only a little disheartened when I spoke to my vet about it (this was before Kiara had surgery when her cruciate had ruptured), I asked him if it would be useful when Kiara starts to develop arthritis and he talked it down a bit, saying 'don't expect to get a new joint out of it', which I know, but he didn't say anything good about it. After hearing about other people's good expiriences though, I'm back to being keen. P.S. The vet I spoke to was not just any vet who had no idea by the way, he was one of the main vets to have done trials at the time. ETA: Good luck with your boy, hope all goes well. I wasn't meaning to make the stem cell treatment sound like a bad idea by the way, I think it is fantastic. I was just a little disappointed after speaking to my vet, that's all. Edited October 25, 2011 by Kiara&Heidi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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