Anyone have a dog pull a ligament before?

[hunter]

Hunter has pulled his ACL ligament in his leg. He has had four injections of cartogen to help with the pain and to hopefully strengthen it. He now has to have surgery to correct it. The two kinds of surgery to fix it are a tracapsular repair or a tibial plateauleveling osteotomy. The second one I believer is more expensive money wise and more complicated. Both he has to be on puppy rest for eight weeks (two weeks with a cone). I am worried about him being in pain and having to explain to him he can't jump, take a any stairs or steps or have any walks. Anyone had this problem before? pulling a ligament?

[POPTOP]

So sorry. No experience other than a pulled muscle that just needed rest.

Wanted to send along mojo and good thoughts.

[barry581]

I've never had any issues like this, but since surgery has been recommended I would think the ACL/CCL is torn. There are a few folks here who have dealt with torn ACL/CCL, and will comment.

[Tanya]

pulled or torn? Many of us have gone thru surgery to fix a torn CCL (or ACL as it's called in the human). Penny had TPLO June 1. I considered tightrope but since it didn't seem to have the same amount of data behind it (numbers wise) I opted with TPLO (and plateau levelling surgery - there is also the TTA though)

Recovery is serious business. For both of them really. For TPLO/TTA they break and place the bone so you are talking bone healing. Full house arest for a long while (varies based on surgeon). the other surgeries use various techniques (depending on specific surgery) to stabilize the knee but not always recommend for larger dogs (also depends on the angle of the tibial plateau I think - if it's off by too much it's less likely to work...If I am not mistaken).

I highly recommend talking to a board certified surgeon. What type of operation will depend on the dog in question (age, health, activity level before and after surgery) and budget (some people jsut can't get the TPLO so manage with other options) and what the surgeon (or surgeons) you talk to are more comfortable with - generally they can do all but have one they are more comfortable and proficient with (and having a surgeon you trust is important).

I don't think the pain was horrible per say. if anything she was in worse shape BEFORE surgery. Pen was one sad sad puppy. after surgery things started improving.

Anyway there are many posts on here many of them pretty recent. A few other members are in recovery mode now.

Your Stories and Information About Labs with Cranial Cruciate Ligament (CCL) Tears

Also see posts by Coopspuppy and SamsonsMom (both have dogs recovering for TTA)

[Sue-Ram]

Ram had TPLO surgery last April and he had to have the plate removed four months later as he wasn't recovering as well as he should have. We started physical therapy as soon as the staples were removed from his initial surgery and continued with weekly sessions for five months. As Tanya mentioned, the recovery is serious business and it's very important to follow the instructions provided.

I used an exercise pen for Ram's jail time and if he was whiny while I was home I would put a leash on him and tie it to the leg of the coffee table with his bed. During the day while I was at work he stayed in the kitchen because I didn't fully trust the ex pen if I wasn't home.

This website is very helpful. Dog Knee Surgery and Ligament Injury Help Resource

[Jenica&Diesel]

Jenica hat TPLO a few years ago. She tore her ligament chasing a squirrel, just as she had finished recovering from another surgery (yes, she had a few bad months).
She went very quickly from the tear (on the weekend) to assessment at her vet (Monday) to assessment by the specialist (Tuesday) to surgery (Wednesday). During the first part of the recovery she clearly knew that she could only do very limited things, so she did not push herself and us too hard. We only had a couple of occasions where she scared us - one was trying to jump up on the bed and not making it, the other one was slipping. We started with our own physical therapy when she was cleared to start and while the specialist recommended to have it done at a physio therapy center, he did support us when we made the decision to do the work at home. Pain did not seem to be too much of an issue, but Jenica is a tank with a very high pain threshold. She just seemed to be more depressed by being so limited, but again, this came after another long recovery period. It happened that we went on vacation for a few days in this recovery period and spending some time with her favourite dog sitter did definitely cheer her up and she came back much happier for the rest of the process.
She did recover very well, but as she ages (she is now 13) we do see more issues with walking in that leg than in any other leg. It seems a little more loose and uncoordinated at times.

[hunter]

Wow thanks everyone I was just wondering if this was a regular lab thing to happen. To answer peoples question I was told Hunter has a pulled ligament but since we need surgery maybe it is also a tear? maybe I will have to ask next time we see the vet. The plan is to recrate train him because we did before but I don't think we did it properly when he was a puppy (he is our first dog). I know we will have him in the crate for a little bit everyday when I go to work and when we can't watch him fully. I think the rest of the time he will have to be on leash and then attach the leash to someone's leg or a table leg lol. Yes this will be funny! I was telling people he will now need not a sitter but a bodyguard to watch him lol! Thanks for the help and I will have take a look to the two links people posted!

[Tanya]

honestly it's a ridiculously common thing for many dogs. I cannot believe how many dogs I know who are having this issue - I had two friends go thru surgery around the same time I did and then found out many other friends had gone thru this in the past. It's INSANE. I still cannot believe how common it is. but yes many lab tend to go thru it. Generally it is refered to as a degenerative desiese. So either the ligament was weaker from the get go OR the angle of the tibial plateau is off causing more regular pressure on the ligament and over time causing it to break. This unfortunately means it's likely the other knee may go (generally I ear from 40-60% of dogs end up getting both done). YOu want to be SUPER careful to manage exercise pre-surgery to avoid extra pressure on that other leg (which is overcompensating and working harder) and if you do have surgery work on building up the surgery leg muscle before letting the dog go fully free again (because they lose tons of strength and muscle mass during surgery/recovery so if you just let them run freely once the bone is healed they are still putting extra pressure on the non surgery leg which could lead to issues - rehab and building up the surgery leg will help on that front). Keeping the dog slender helps over time too (but no guarantee).

Get an assessment by a board certified surgeon on what the issue really is before having surgery. I haven't heard of surgery for a "pulled" ligament. you need more info, concrete diagnosis.

Penny lived in ex-pens, it was just easier than a leash (because it was a small space and the leash would have potentially let her get onto furniture, or try, even if it was short). She was luckily very content in the ex-pen. she was crated when I was gone. it's a long 16 weeks process. if all goes well some small things are allowed after 8-12 weeks if bone healing is going well. But no stairs, no off leash time (use short leash) no going up/down furniture. Carpet any slippery floors….