Dog owner question

[bcgal00]

Any of you with dogs ever had to deal with a CCL injury (cranial cruciate ligament) of a hind leg? This past week has been a nightmare with Remi, she screeched and then couldn't weight bear on one of her back legs. Emergency animal hospital confirmed ligament damage and erosion in her knee. She has been heavily medicated and crated to allow swelling to go down and although surgery was in the process of getting set up, she has done well with recovery and is able to weight bear a bit. So no surgery right now, but limited walking, no stairs, no running, lots of quiet crate time and no jumping allowed. This is really hard with an aussie, they are such active dogs but Remi is being such a trooper, has adapted to the crate easily and tomorrow a big dog playpen will be delivered so she won't need to be in the crate as much.

Any info or stories to share?

I will have to find more mind games to play with her to keep her entertained so she doesn't get too restless. They said she shouldn't be allowed to run and leap up into the air anymore to retrieve ball launches unfortunately which is her favorite thing.

[lovely1m]

Oh gosh, trying to keep an Aussie chill is gonna be hard. I have a Goldendoodle so I try to get lots of things for her in the winter like puzzle boards and stuff.

[bcgal00]

Oh gosh, trying to keep an Aussie chill is gonna be hard. I have a Goldendoodle so I try to get lots of things for her in the winter like puzzle boards and stuff.

Mari - yes, I have a few puzzles too. I just saw a video today about putting dog treats into a muffin tin with tennis balls covering each hole.

[AmieN1]

Oh I'm so sorry! That would be hard to keep her activity level low!

Our Nelly (2 yr old english bulldog) tore her CCL on her L leg when she was a puppy. It was during covid, so I never got to talk face to face to the vet, but the vet tech that I we saw pushed the TLPO surgery so hard that I ended up getting a 2nd opinion, as well as so rudely informed us of her hip dysplasia. They basically wanted us to do hip replacements as well as the TLPO surgery on our puppy. The 2nd opinion vet called me in person and gave us all the options, including surgery but I just felt like I was given so much more information and could make a better decision. None of her images showed the CCL was completely torn, so we ended up doing pain meds and limiting her activity (not super hard, since she's pretty lazy!) ;) She has healed up perfectly. They also recommended supplements that have seemed to help her hips. Occasionally after a bout of high activity she'll act like her hips bother her, but our vet had has assured that it's normal. She might not be pain free once she reaches advanced age, but we can cross that bridge when it comes.

[bcgal00]

Amie - can you let me know what supplements were recommended? I would like to have some names on hand to share with the surgeon and see what they say. I feel like you, I want to do lifestyle changes and restrictions to see if enough scar tissue builds up to protect the knee. Did Nelly use a brace? There are so many available and not sure if this should be used on her or not. I like to get as much info as I can to help make the best decisions for her. We have two crates and a large indoor dog pen for her so restricting her activity hasn't been too bad so far. I have to a LOT of mental training to occupy her though.

[KristinCB]

A few months ago our dog started limping and we took her to the vet. She doesn't have anything torn but the vet said she had arthritis and we also discovered she had previously broken her leg/had a plate prior to us adopting her. Anyways we were also recommended supplements and they seem to really be helping. She was given an injection (I can't remember what) at the vet and they said she would likely need to come back each month but she hasn't been limping so we haven't taken her back.

https://i.imgur.com/Tr2PJzJ.png

[AmieN1]

Amie - can you let me know what supplements were recommended? I would like to have some names on hand to share with the surgeon and see what they say. I feel like you, I want to do lifestyle changes and restrictions to see if enough scar tissue builds up to protect the knee. Did Nelly use a brace? There are so many available and not sure if this should be used on her or not. I like to get as much info as I can to help make the best decisions for her. We have two crates and a large indoor dog pen for her so restricting her activity hasn't been too bad so far. I have to a LOT of mental training to occupy her though.
For supplements- she recommended a Glucosamine & Chondroitin supplement- and told us that the one from costco for humans is okay for dogs too. She gets one every night with her dinner.

She did not wear a brace- we did look into it but the vet said that they really dont work well as they are awkward & hard to keep on where they are meant to be.

[bcgal00]

Thx Kristin and Amie. I'll look to see what Costco has. A friend was recommended one on amazon, Dasuquin. I'll have to research a bit. The surgeon didn't recommend surgery at this point and no brace but just to restrict her for the next few months with slow increase in walking and maybe climbing stairs after we get back from our cruise mid Oct. He said we'll always have to keep an eye on it b/c it could tear again but then again, he said maybe it won't. Poor girl is on two different probiotics b/c her GI tract got totally messed up with the meds she was on. I still haven't slept much b/c I have to keep taking her out for bathroom breaks throughout the night but hopefully by the end of the wkend that will improve. I miss sleeping in my bed :)