Cruciate ligament damage in dogs

MRSCARNEY

Briar is doing well. She's back for her last check up (fingers crossed) a week on Monday. She's still on her lead for now and we can't wait for her to be free again.

On the subject of insurance, we get £7k per condition with More Than, both ops have been treated as seperate conditions. The surgeon advised that we should not expect any further problems now both legs have been operated on.

Joyful

Good to hear she's doing well.

louisebbctlc

Hi
My bullmasiff had the same problems with his knee when he was 6 months old, he was runnin off his lead and his leg gave way under him and thats when we took him 2 the vets and it all started...

1) Xrays 2 c if he has broken it and blood tests.

2) Is op 2 but a wire 2 hold knee 2gether. In plaster 4 2 wks.

3) Wir in his knee snapped and had 2 open him bac up but this time puttin in a plate and screws. In plaster for 8 wks.

4) After the plaster was off he was opened again 2 take plate and screws out (which i ave kept) and then in plaster 4 another 2 wks.

so after 3 plaster casts 100s of staples 1 metal plate 5 screws a number of xrays and blood tests and many over nite stays it cost.......£6500!!!!

Just glad we had him insured!!

He was not aloud 2 walk outside on a lead for 5 months in all so is now very unsocialable with other dogs but this is not his fault.

Iam happy 2 say he is 4 now and 15 stone! He is a super family dog and a ace guard dog my 2 children love him 2 bits as he does them, just hope he has many years with his legs holdin out as they said his other knee could go at any time!

MRSCARNEY

Just a quick update on Briar.

She went back for her final check up this morning and the vet is really pleased with her :j :j :j

He wants us to keep her on the lead for another month as he knows she will runround like a lunatic when she gets off it :rotfl: He did say that we could let her off for a bit at the end of the walk though.

Hopefully this will be the last visit to the vets for a while now and fingers crossed the insurance premium won't shoot up to much when it's time to renew.

I hope the other patients are recouperating well

Joyful

Glad she's doing well. I'm sure she'll love the little bit of time off the leash. Misty seems to be increasing her exercise at her own pace now. She'll sometimes play ball or run, other times just have a calm walk.

MRSCARNEY

I don't think Briar would increase things slowly, her only pace is mad Springer pace and that's more or less what the vet said and why he wants us to keep her on the lead a bit longer.

Glad to hear that Misty is being sensible

meames_2

£2500-£300!

My dog (sheltie / collie cross) did that last year to his right leg and cost £500 including meds and several follow up visits. The little bleeder did the other one when the support was taken off and was a further £100 as a little arthritis has already set in when they operated and he probably wouldn't gain a lot. Your dog is a bit larger so probably would cost a bit more but £2000 more....

I was told about glucosamine (dog version - human stuff won't do) and a couple of weeks after the op I started these and cod liver oil and he is great you can't really tell anything was wrong when walking. He is sometimes a little stiff when first moving and can't always manage the stairs as he used to (unless he wants to when I'm out - otherwise he wants me to carry him!!!) and he was never a playful running type of dog but that might just be old age and arthritis.

Would recommend glucosamine!

Good Luck

Michelle

WolfSong2000

A number of years ago, our Golden Retriever damaged his cruciate ligament - we found out it was due to the food we'd been feeding our boy (Oscar) as a pup. It was causing him to grow too fast for his body to cope with, which put him at risk, then he got hurt.

Anyhow, after treatment we were told that he'd be essentially crippled with arthritis by the time he was 3/4 years old. To counter this, we put him on Cortaflex (It's a glucosamine compound, but has smaller molecules so is more easily absorbed by the body and therefore more effective). We also used a magnetic collar, which worked wonders. He only really started going lame when he was about 8...he's now 13 and it's gettinf moderately severe, so he's also getting green-lipped mussel and rose hip tea, and while he's definitely not sound and he has "off" days, he's still in relatively good shape for a dog his age.

It's important to get them on the glucosamine early, though, as the earlier you start, the more it will help. Just be aware that "regular" glucosamine may not be as easily absorbed as Cortaflex .

Michele+3

WolfSong2000 you make an interesting point as my first golden retriever suffered with athritis later in life, around 10 years old and I put him on the green lipped mussel which did seem to ease him.

The vet that treated my current retriever is also an alternative vet and Meg is now on a strict rice, veg and fish with a supplement of sea kelp tablets diet which he says will keep her weight down and hopefully will protect the other leg. She has lost weight and is looking good now and has returned to her usual playfulness with our springer after her recouperation but must say does seem to be more aware and not so manic off the lead but then she is 5 years old now.

Mrs Carney - Great news about Briar - at least you can see the end in sight - we had the same advice of a run around after a walk which is again easier said than done - would hate to have the experience with our springer! She is two and still does laps around the garden like a mad thing even with snowballs hanging off of her!

Congrats to Louise - have a lovely day!

WolfSong2000

worth mentioning that magnetic collars can also work wonders...our youngest has started getting a little "stiff" (he's 11 now, poor guy), so we put a collar on him and he's visibly improved with that. I think we use the bioflow ones