Medial Ligament Strain In Back Leg

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My 3 yr old kelpie about 5 months ago injured her back leg. She had been done to the lake with the bike but on the way home seemed to be trotting funny. The next morning she was lame so off to vets.

My vet was very sure she had strained the medial ligament in her knee and so she got a cartrophen (? spelling) injection and rest. Althou we aren't really good at the rest part.

She had return visits to the vets at 2 weeks intervals then 1 month, then 2. She hasn't limped at all since day one. We were away over christmas and she was doing walks and runs on the beach by then. In March I started a bit of grid work but after a week I had her checked and even I could see at the vets she was stiffer stretching the injured leg compared to the good leg. Different vet in clinic looked at her with same diagnosis btw.

By April she is now back to everything, herding, zoomies ,runs for 30 mins daily on bike plus hr walks off lead but I am now a bit nervous about starting agility jumping however slowly again. Because she loves it she goes a bit wild. I took her for a second opinion btw but this vet diagnosed holes in her muscles. Turned out he was looking at the wrong leg. I should have realised but was busy watching her as she is a drama queen at vets. Shouldn't he have checked both legs as I didn't tell him what leg was injured. That was a bit of a waste althou he was recommended to me.

I was told by someone I trust that I should be doing more about my dogs injury. It was suggested I visit this specialist in Parramatta but needed a referral. My vet didn't consider it warranted a opinion from a specialist and he does often send images etc to this specialist. So my vet is confident of what is going on. I went in last week for another check and the vet says there is little sideways movement in the knee which is great. So waiting for our 2 monthly interval visit for the cartrophen again.

Sorry for this long story but besides horses in my past ( where lengthy periods of rest normal) I haven't had a injured dog. I don't mind waiting to start doing agility again but the dog loves it and she is needing that outlet. Considering a visit to Gary Barnsley at Western Sydney for a massage and his opinion.

Can I hear anybody else's experiences with such a injury? Any advice? Am I missing something I should have done.

THank You

[ness]

Could try contacting Primal Paws - http://www.primalpaws.com/

She might be able to help put together a conditioning program so that you strengthen the injured part and make sure the dog doesn't reinjure it.

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Thanks Ness.

Visited that site and will look into it further.

[sas]

I'd push for the referral, it's your right to ask for it and if they don't give it to you go to another Vet to get it. Without correct diagnosis you can't put a treatment plan together.

[Jumabaar]

Hi Skip, It sounds like you have had a bit of a roller coaster ride when it comes to vets.

Like humans animals can learn to compensate due to pain/inflammation. And can de-condition when 'rested'- just like horses. It might be that the area has completely healed but there is reduced range of motion because she learnt that too much movement caused pain and now its become a 'habit'. Alternately it might be a sign that there is something niggely there that is yet to resolve.

Have you ever had a diagnostic ultrasound done on the area to determine what grade of strain it was? And has she undergone a rehab program after being rested? That would be my general recommendation to begin with (I am the vet behind primal paws) since it may not be something that needs an orthopaedic surgeon. They are great at the cutting and putting things back together but not necessarily with the after care to get dogs back to running at agility.

It might be that your dog is completely sound and has naturally done her own rehab program- Kelpies are pretty darn smart (no bias here). But often being smart means that they become cheaters and continue on with their life compensating rather than actually resolving the problem or letting their human know that there is indeed a problem!!

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Yes, SAS , I think maybe I should have been a bit more forceful on asking for imaging a while ago.

Thanks Jumabaar for your advice. I see you also have good taste in dogs! And actually I have met you years ago before I brought my kelpie because I remember your sweet brown kelpie you had at Erskine Park. Jade is booked in with a well respected muscle /massage clinic so will see what happens there before deciding what to do next.

And my vet wasn't keen on doing any imaging as he is so certain about what it is???? So no imaging done at all.

My trainer gave me a jumping program to get started agility wise again. It is mainly various jumping grids with a gradual increase to harder grids to get her jumping muscles going again. But I will wait till she is checked again before starting these again.

Vet visit supposed to be next week. She is due for another injection. Been 2 months since the last one so I will ask if this is the final one.

Edited May 5, 2015 by skip

[Jumabaar]

I am glad we met on a 'behaving' day- also guessing it would have been abby since none of my other dogs manage sweet lol.

I certainly don't doubt that your vets diagnosis was correct and to be honest there is very little going on in the field of imaging for soft tissue injuries here in Australia so I can also understand why it wasn't done.

I just like the opportunity to look at whats going on with my clients because that shows me exactly what level of injury we have and gives me the opportunity to really target rehab. In some cases with low grades it might mean some exercise modification, a few additional exercises and the dog is back to normal. It also means I can have another look before giving the all clear to go back to sport and know that it has healed correctly. But this is 'new' in dogs- much more common in horses here in Aus.

It sounds like you have a great team around you- which is the best way to get good results. Lots of minds, talents and experience means all the bases are likely to be covered!!

[skip]

Yes! I can see why before and after imaging is so helpful. Years ago my andy horse that I leased seemed to develop an intermittent lameness. The owner was very fond of a chiropractor/acupuncture guy and wanted me to have this every 2 weeks. But I had the legs ultra-sounded by my vet and he found the suspensory ligament in a hind leg was torn. The answer was 6 months rest with a follow up U/S that showed the ligament was healed.

From this I tend to go with vet first and then other healing methods as an aid to recovery. THANKS for your help. Will see what happens in the next week or so.