Hi My dog Trixie is almost 11 years old and last August her cruciate ligament snapped in her back right leg. She has had 4 operations to try and mend it, the latest operation also involved pinning the knee which had become unstable. Her leg was in plaster for 6 weeks after that op which took place early December. She was recovering quite well, until the cruciate ligament in the other back leg snapped. It was operated on at the begining of Feb and was in a plaster for 2 weeks. The plaster has been off now for 2 weeks almost and we are due to see the vet again in the next few days as the cartilage in the back right leg has now snapped. She is able to limp around but is putting her weight onto her front legs as she walks around the house( unable to go walkies obviously).We are unsure off what the future holds and i am wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences inparticular success under similar circumstances?

One of my springers, Archie, also ruptured his cruciate ligaments in both back legs. The first time when he was only 11 months old and the second time about 9 months later. In both cases it took about 6 months after the operation before he was back to normal. With many ups and downs along the way, the first 6 weeks after each op he was restricted to lead only toilet trips outside in the garden. He had x-rays on many occasions as I and the vets were not happy with his progress. My only advice would be not to rush anything, stick to the restrictions even though they look at you with a really sad face! Thankfully now he is four (and there were times I never thought he would make it this far) and does not suffer any effects, you would never know his history from the way he runs about. His legs may sometimes stiffen if in damp or cold conditions occasionally. I find glucosamine really helps and still give him capsules each day. Hope this helps.
Nic.

Thanks for the reply Nic it is good to know of a success.

When you say you weren't happy with the progress of Archie, what were the problems?

Many thanks

Kaz

The problems we had along the way were that he would have really bad days when he seemed to limp worse than before each op. He would look in such pain that on many occasions i though the leg was not healing properly or that he had re-ruptured something. He had x-rays and each time they reassured me that his leg was healing it would just take longer than expected. He had metacam or rimadyl for the bad times. As I said some days it would be almost one step forward and two steps back - and although it was frustrating at times it was a case of being patient and persisiting with rest as much as possible. I seemed to have my own seat and regular appointment with the vets at the time, it seemed like our second home!!! As I said at the time it seemed like a nightmare as he was still only a young dog and wanted to run around. But now you wouldnt suspect anything if you say him run - and it was worth all the heartached to get him back to health. Good luck in your case.
Nic

Thanks for that Nic. We are back to the vets tonight to see where we go from here. She is on metacam as the vet thinks she is in quite a bit of pain with the cartilage and ligament damage. Really good to hear that Archie is so well now. Hope that Trixie has some happy times ahead, and can try going for walkies soon. I feel that her age goes against her a bit though. Will post again when we have seen the vet tonight.
Kaz

Hi, how is she getting on now? Hope you got on ok at the vets.
Nic.

There are a lot of dogs with cruciate injuries that go to our hydrotherapy pool, post op to aid recovery. Seems to help a lot.
Hayley

Hi Hayley

Thanks for replying. We have sent for details of a hydrotherapy pool locally in the hope that some time in a pool may help to strengthen her legs. Still can't take her walks yet so don't know if the time is right yet, but we see the vet again in a week so will ask him what he thinks.

Thanks Kaz

Hi Nic

Sorry for the delay. We have now seen the vet and he has said the legs are no worse but her gait has changed considerally. She seems quite happy and he has said to keep her quiet for a further 2 weeks but to let her move around freely (no walks though). We are considering taking her to a hydropool in an attempt to strengthen the back legs a bit. We have heard of encouraging results from similar injuries so am hoping that the vet will say it is ok to try. We are just taking each day at a time and hope that things will get better. Hope all is well with you.
Kaz

I had a retriever, Tia, who tore her cruciate ligaments in both back legs at the same time. Obviously it wasn't possible to operate on either leg as she hadn't a good one to stand on. I asked the vet would she have to be put to sleep and he suggested that we just leave it and wait and see. One of the legs had a ligament completely severed and the other leg the ligament was almost severed.

Gentle exercise over the next few months and she made a complete recovery, her back movement wasn't exactly show ring movement but she could race around again.

Her recovery took just as long as another one I had who had the operation. Makes you think doesn't it.

I had a Dobermann cross & she tore cruciate ligament in a rear leg & following advice of my vet & considering home situation, living with 4 other dogs & not being able to leave the house without going up steps, she was not operated on,
but put on Metacam & she eventually recovered.
Thought for a long time that she would only be able to go out on her own for very short walks but she recovered and was back to her old self, out with all the others on long walks.
Steph

Hi Steph

Thanks for replying. Trixie is still on metacam, did your Doberman cross have to stay on metacam for life? How long did the recovery take? Did she walk with a limp or go on to develop arthiritis? It is good to hear of success storys it certainly gives us some hope that we too will be out on our walkies again soon.

Kaz

Hi Kaz
Wondering what breed Trixie is?
Amber my Dobermann cross unfortunately died from a stroke a few years back now so I am having to rack my brains for the answers to your questions (sorry old age setting in!!!)
I was expecting her to only be able to go for very short walks on her own for the rest of her life when I saw how bad she was - some days she wanted to go out just for the drive in the car as I had to coax her out of the car, she would do a quick wee then back into the car. I took her out in the car as I didn't want to just take her up & down the street, I wanted even her five minute outings to be a little bit interesting.
The vet advised me that there was a fair chance that she would tear the ligament in her other rear leg & she did.
She wasn't on Metacam for ever, several months as far as I recall but I was prepared for her to continue with it for the rest of her life if necessary.
She just gradually started to do more and wanted to come out when the other dogs were going out instead of staying at home so I let her come and we did some short walks just so I could see how she was doing and eventually she went back to long walks along with the others.
Amber didn't have a limp, more like her gait was a bit odd but not noticeable to anyone who didn't know what had happened to her.
She did develop arthritis but kept it under control with the help of the vet & homoeopathic remedies.
Hope some of the above helps - if you want any further info don't hesitate to contact me
Hope Trixie continues to improve
Best Wishes Steph

Kaz
How is Trixie doing?
Steph

Hi Yappy

We have had the operation fail so many times that i sometimes wonder if we made the right decision. This has been going on for so long now, due to so many failures that i do often wonder how she would have been 6 months down the road without any surgery. In both cases the vet said that the ligament had snapped and was in pieces when he operated. She was totally lame each time so just hope that we made the right decision. She is able to walk around in a fashion, she has moved the majority of her weight onto her front legs and so walks a little hunched and stiffly. The vet has warned us that she is more likely to get arthiritis due to the injuries did Tia go on to develop any? She is on arthriaid to try and help.

Thanks for replying
Kaz

Kaz

Dylan had an cartilage injury that has led to arthritis in his elbow, conventional medication didn't help at all, glucosamine helped a little, but swimmimg has been the key, going once a week has meant he can now go on normal walks, chase the occasional wildlife and run after the ball (when he wants to tease my other dog). I have heard so many success stories from the pool, even from some very severe injuries. I think the trick is to find a very good pool with excellent people, my pool doesn't use hoists which tend to just frighten the dogs. Whereabouts are you?

All the very best with Trixie

Hayley

Hi Kaz

My lovely Tia went on to the ripe old age of 14. Her back movement wasn't show standard but she was fine only stopped going on long walks when she was 13, unless it snowed and then she was out front with the others.

She didn't get arthritis but did get stiff in the back end, but would she have done anyway, who knows, we will never know.

I know that I wouldn't ever have the operation again on one of my dogs and since having told other people they haven't had it done and their dogs have recovered just the same. As I said the period of recovery is about the same time, several months. Nowadays you have the swimming therapy pools and I would certainly go down that avenue to strengthen everything. You have nothing to lose.

All the best

Bobbi (Yappy)