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Cruciate Ligament Injury?


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Our 5 year old GSD has had intermittent lameness after exercise since December. She has seen the vets and had blood and urine tests and xrays which didn't really show anything. Her xrays were sent to a specialist last week who said there was slight compression in the right hind knee but nothing to explain the lameness. We were told to wait 3-4 months to see if things improve. She has metacam to take during the periods of lameness.

Today at about 2pm after about 5 mins of running she went lame on her right hind leg and has not been able to bear weight on her leg since. People that I was with said it looked as if her knee was coming out of place when she was trying to walk This is the worst she has been and the first time that she has gone lame while exercising, it usually happens a while after. We rang the vet who just said bring her on Monday if she is still lame

I have been looking on the net and reading about ruptured cruciate ligaments and it sounds to me like this could be a possibility. What I wanted to know is would this not have shown in the xrays that she has had? and does any one have experience of this type injury? If so does it sound like a possibility that this is what has happened to Lily and what is the outcome after treatment.

I have given her Metacam and put a warmed wheat bag on her leg and although she doesn't seem in pain it is not any better :mecry:

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My little Terrier had a ruptured cruciate and the vet could tell by just manipulating the leg. I would say that if the cruciate was damaged in December then the vet should have picked up on it straight away.

 

Are you sure she hasn't pulled a muscle today. :unsure: I would certainly rest her until Monday, on toilet breaks in garden pop Lily on a lead.

 

Please let us know how you get on. :flowers:

 

Edited to add if it were her cruciate, then I would imagine she would be lame most of the time going on our experience before Dyl has his repaired..

 

Kazz xx

Edited by redditchlady
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We will be keeping her rested, the things I was reading about cruciate ligaments said they can either go suddenley or over a period of time and the symptoms of this are periods of lameness after exercise which is what we have been experiencing. It also said that with large dogs it is often hard for a vet to tell if the ligament has gone as they tend to tense the muscles when they are being examined and this keeps the knee in place so they need to be examined under sedation when the muscles are loose. I really hope it is a pulled muscle but I don't think it is because I would have expected it to ease with the heat treatment and painkiller :unsure: I will see how she is after a nights rest. All I need to do is to get the daft dog to sleep in her nice comfy bed and not on the hard floor :rolleyes:

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Both Gracie's crutial ligaments have gone, the vet thinks they could have partly gone before I got her. Aparently this is quite common for them to only partly go and be like that for a while. The reason she doesn't look lame is because of both going.

 

To operate on them they would have to do both but seperately. She would be on complete rest for about 3 months then they would do the other, another 3 months complete rest. Gracie is about 14 or 15 years old so she isn't going to have the operation. I do know dogs that have had it and it has been successful.

 

This injury does seem to be happening more and more these days, but for a young dog, the operation is worth doing.

 

:GroupHug:

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My Gyp went lame in November last year, which was intermittnet too. The vet wan unable to reach a decision simply through manipulation. She was on painkillers(Rymadil) and rest. In february, she finally had an xray, which confirmed a partial tear of the cruciate ligament. She was operated on just over four weeks ago, a full replacement. Gyp has been progressing very well and is no longer limping, however she's still on strict limited exercise, but her prognosis is excellent.

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Ligaments mend, and Homeopathy can help that process. To find a Homeopathic vet try here

http://www.bahvs.com/

 

http://www.trusthomeopathy.org/trust/tru_over.html

 

 

Also worth seeing someone who does gentle 'putting things back where they shoud be' - craniosacral, connective tissue massage, physio, bowen, acupuncture etc...

 

Hydrotherapy may help.

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Hi, I feel for you it is very upsetting when a dog is in pain.

 

Mr great dane ruptured her cruciate ligament last year, we were offered 2 different operations the 'usual way' tie back or TPLO (Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomoy !!!

 

I opted for the TPLO as having done alot of research in 'large' breed dogs the usual tie back can often snap again, she was very sore for 2 days, but then back up on her feet - the hardest thing was trying to restrict her !!

 

Good luck.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I thought I would just give an update on Lily. She had TPLO surgery yesterday for her ruptured ligament, the op went well and she came home today. She still seems very zonked out which I wasn't expecting, she also won't eat anything at all which is concerning me slightly because of all of the medication she is on. She was sick whilst under anesthetic so she has 2 tyes of medication to take to counteract any problems that may cause as well as her pain killer and antibiotics. The vet said she was eating there so I am hoping she will have something in the morning.

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Good luck Lily.

 

Misty's surgery was the standard type and she stayed overnight but she was still incredibly sleepy and not herself the next day - I postponed her well-wishing visitors. The following day though she seemed a lot more lively.

 

Misty wasn't sick during her operation - despite starving before the op, there was a bit of an explosion from the other end!

 

Once home she did eat, but she didn't pooh for nearly 48 hours, possibly a mix of the drugs and the fact it was not comfortable to do so.

 

I hope another 24hours brings a big improvement for Lily. Meanwhile, thinking of you :flowers:

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Just another update on Lily. She had been doing really well after her op and using the leg really well. Last night I noticed she wasn't using it so well and within a matter of hours she wasn't using it at all, it was horribly swollen and red. She is now in the isolation ward at the vet with a drain in her leg which has to be changed under sedation each day, she is also on very strong antibiotics and a drip for fluids :( We are not allowed to visit her because of the isolation and Wednesday is probably the earliest that she will be home. They said that we caught the infection really early so that has avoided any damage, I still feel like poo though and I am amazed that it came on so quickly.

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