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Cruciate liagament


darren m
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hi - my young ESS bitch just under a year old as torn her cruciate ligament. not sure how bad as yet .

 

shes booked for the ortho vet next week.

 

what i,d like to know is if anyone as had this happen to there dog working or pet , what was the outcome.

 

thanks all

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This is one of those cases where the more money you have the faster your dog will get better. Is the beastie insured?

 

1. Conservative treatment with painkillers and strict rest for 2 months does work, although the dog may remain slightly lame, most do very well.

 

2. Some simpler surgeries can be done by a lot of vets in practice and rely on either sutures, or skin, or tendon to help support the knee. The dog will recover faster than with rest, but may have some lameness for a month or more [depends on the dog].

 

3. A TPLO [tibeal plateu levelling osteotomy] is a major specialist surgery. It's the best chance of getting the dog back into full work, but a section of bone is removed and screwed back on using a special surgical plate.

 

TPLO7.jpg

 

Option one may cost a hundred pounds, option two a few hundred and option three thousands. If the dog is insured then the TPLO is likely the best option.

 

All knees that rupture cruciate ligaments will go on to get arthritis in the joint at some point. If a dog ruptures one ligament it is much more likely to rupture the second.

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had this with one of my springers at about 3 year old, had it to the vet for diagnosis, would not pay for the recommended surgery, ok this was maybe 20 years ago, rested the dog, only took it out for evening and morning walks until it stoped limping, give it no work/training for a couple months just to be sure, had other dog/s for that, this dog worked until it was 13 and was fitter than most, the problem never reoccured

supersport

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had this with one of my springers at about 3 year old, had it to the vet for diagnosis, would not pay for the recommended surgery, ok this was maybe 20 years ago, rested the dog, only took it out for evening and morning walks until it stoped limping, give it no work/training for a couple months just to be sure, had other dog/s for that, this dog worked until it was 13 and was fitter than most, the problem never reoccured

supersport

 

Best not to advocate going against veterinary advice though....

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Right she's home , but it was bad news .

a lot worse than i believed .

 

he said he found other problems that are going to end a possible working career

 

his report reads " Unusual to see CCLR in young springers and also mild OA and intact menisci. she also has bilateral grade 1 patella instability , even more on the other leg , along with HD with subluxation "

 

he as performed TTO and discharged her on tramadol , metacam , seraquin and ceporex and advised hydotherapy and review the patella and hip issues.

 

not sure what all that means really , but i,m really upset and i wished i,d not put her through it...

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****** thats bad news, hard as it sounds I know what you mean on the last point. My mates springer was over 10 when she did her Cruciate and made a full recovery with a young dog with the other issues its a real shame and fingers crossed you can get her to a decent standard of living otherwise its a difficult decision to take

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been back to the vets today ,the wound is weeping a fair bit so more antibiotics , now shes taking 3 different sorts , hope to god its all worth it.

 

only 86 more days of rehab :( and then we dont know if the other knee will be ok .. the vets talking about getting in a claim for that one as well :/

 

i,ll be glad when the stitches are out at least she'll be able to get the collar off and make her more comfortable at the mo i have to keep half drugging her up on tramadol ( vets advice ) to keep her sedate..and for pain obvisiously

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been back to the vets today ,the wound is weeping a fair bit so more antibiotics , now shes taking 3 different sorts , hope to god its all worth it.

 

only 86 more days of rehab :( and then we dont know if the other knee will be ok .. the vets talking about getting in a claim for that one as well :/

 

i,ll be glad when the stitches are out at least she'll be able to get the collar off and make her more comfortable at the mo i have to keep half drugging her up on tramadol ( vets advice ) to keep her sedate..and for pain obvisiously

 

I hope she gets well soon.

 

If it had just been the torn cruciate and you have the money (or better, if the dog is insured), I'd always recommend TPLO. The recovery period is so fast with great results. I have a breed where this injury is common, and once one cruciate goes, it's common for the other one to go within 12 months.

Edited by darebear
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  • 3 weeks later...

I have a springer that has had both done..she had an unstable knee cap from a trauma as a pup to , she did the first with sports injury but the second was predicted to go due to the first injury putting the strain on the bad one..unfortunately she was uninsured ( and would have been exempt due to the precondition knee trauma ) but hey ho..£1000 a piece each leg each done 4 month apart and each time it was 1 months of cage rest 1 month of garden walks (not easy with a springer ) then a gradual build up of normal walks..last month back to normal...then just 4 days ago giving her a wash and she starts to limp..leg now up ...no idea what to do now as cant really afford another 1k ..hope its going to straighten itself out..or will just have a 2k dog with a limp :oops: did my best but that's life I guess , lovely dog to . Anyone have any indication if this is hereditary as the vet didn't think so in this breed of dog and shes from good lines

Edited by PWD
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That's hellish Darren, don't know what the right decision is. I suppose you have to go with it for a while if you think there's the prospect of a reasonable outcome whereby the dog can life a comfortable and more importantly, fulfilled, life. A springer bred to work that either can't, or isn't allowed to, work would be a frustrated dog. Hope things get a bit more positive as time goes on.

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thanks for the comments lads

 

her stitches are out and the vet is pleased so far , still on cage rest and still on one antibiotic per day .

 

i dont think i want a springer as just a pet they love/live to work too much , she was coming on really well and i could see her making a good working dog .

i was really hoping she would make a full recovery even if i have to have the other leg done ( providing the insurance covers it ) and eventually work her lightly but who knows what will happen , only time will tell.

 

in the mean time i,ve got my other bitch , who as been a total *** this last few days of the season , running in / going too far etc. cant afford to look for a new one yet so i,ll just plod on .

 

cheers

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update

i dont bleive it , after what seemed like she was improving she started limping badly again on the operated leg.

 

any way i took her back to the vet who on x-ray discoverd she had fractured her FIBULA bone.

shes been on cage rest just going out for a pee/poo , how the hell could this happen.

 

vet said he was very suprised , but looking at my copy of xray ( when i got home ) one of the screws at top of plate looks very close.

 

Anyway no treatment required as yet , got to go back next week and hes given me Diazapam and propranolo to sedate her and more tramadol for pain and more cage rest.

 

not looking good , just wondering now , when is enough , enough and i,m thinking about the poor pup , not just me

 

all the best

Darren

ps, vet said not too worry as she does,nt actually need the fibula ) how does that work ?)

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On a plus note ..and I take heart in this with my own dog..my brother in law has two dogs both have done the same cruciate ligament in on the same legs and were never given any treatment as he got them off a keeper like this ..bizarrely my BIL also has a gimpy leg on the same side ..but his dogs a springer and a sprocker can and do sod off for miles/hours..they run with the leg giving a slightly wider swing but the can go as fast and as far as any dog i have seen and no reason why they couldnt do a days beating or picking up (training aside ), far as I was told the operation is to lessen chances of arthritis in later life , the leg may well stabilized its self in time as the dog learns to adapt .A gimpy dog ain't so bad...how many gimpy beaters do you see..a fair few on our shoot . And I sympathise to..my springer was born 1/2 trained, but I did all I can and now I have just got to let nature have a go ,dogs not in any pain or discomfort ..just a bit of a limp , which lessen when shes on a scent :unsure: . Good luck for your dog :good:

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i can only live in hope mate , if they do self stabilse that would be great.

 

gonna keep her as the family love her to bits , but looking around to see if anyone is off loading a young springer or cocker for free or very little expense to strat training again.

may try springer rescue :rolleyes:

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i dont belive it :/ took cali the pup back for another check up last night ( after the fibula break ) and vet finds another problem

apparantly the screws holding her plate are coming loose , so shes back into day for bigger screws , gotta start all over again :(

 

my poor dog dont deserve this neither do i , i,m seriously thinking about PTS :hmm:

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