ACL tears

[str8strm]

Our 3 year old Basset tore her ACL last summer and had a TPLO operation. She healed well despite being a houdini. Today we saw the vet cos she has lost strength in the other hind leg and sure enough she has a partial tear of the ACL on that side. I thought she might beat the odds of 1 in 3 having the opposite side tear, oh well. We have 3 weeks of rest and re evaluation but I'm thinkin we are going to go thru the whole shebang again. In the long run the results are good with a decrease of the chance of arthritis in later life. Anyone else go thru this with their dogs?

[CanoeStream]

Yes, our squirrel-crazed airedale ended up tearing both her back ACLs about 18 months apart when she was young. The surgical repairs worked out well and she's still just as goofy and entertaining in her geriatric years here. She is stiff on occasion but generally gets along much better than a springer spaniel we had with hip dysplasia. And the spaniel made it to seventeen. We crush an aspirin and large glucosamine-chondroitin on the airedale's food twice a day.

[str8strm]

that is great to hear, our 2 bassets are either full throttle or asleep and now they have a kitten who challenges them and makes off with the best sleeping spaces in the MoHo.......10 pound kitten, 60 pound bassets-- they are generous and I think a bit confused by the ball of fur that jumps at them out of now where and bats their faces!! Mickey the kitten can also levitate straight up but we have not been able to get it on film yet!!!

[cameront120]

I'm sorry your Bassett is having to go through a second round of TPLO surgery. My two labs have fortunately been free from joint problems so far. I see it quite frequently over at the lab forum I belong to and surgery seems to work very well. Sending good healing thoughts to your pup!

[str8strm]

thanks she did pretty well last time but did have some problems with separation anxiety because she was confined and our other basset went out to "protect" our property. The first 2 months after surgery were VERY long! She started howling which she never did before. It was especially tough about a month out when she was feeling no pain and could not understand why she could not play and our other basset did not understand why he had lost his playmate!

[rebel beck]

We have a Basset (Annie May) she is 1 1/2 and already the vet has us on Cosequin for her joints. No problems except when we go for long walks she gets stiff. I hate your Basset is going through all that. We love ours soooo much they are great dogs. Good luck and keep us all informed.

[str8strm]

Do you have pics of Annie May?

[clancy_boy]

Yep, Clancy (hence the name Clancy_Boy) my 11 year old lab has a bone spur on his spine. It was a quick transition from an unbelievable bundle of energy to a wimpering, hurting but still loving big lug today. The fire is still in his eyes and he still gets the paper each morning, brings the ball to play but you can tell it's an effort to please me more than his desire to endure the pain of running after the ball. I make a show of throwing the ball a few yards and talking him up a few times to make him believe it's still there but we both know it's not. More like a child - I will support him as long as I can and he lets us.

[05ModPod]

Wow sorry to hear your babies are hurtin....They are pretty tough though - a lot tougher than we think. It is just so hard to see them in pain.

The surgeries today on the canine and felines is up to par - If not BETTER than some of our human surgeries - and we are a lot more humaine with our babies too.

The RR is the important part and of course a few pain killers at the enset of post surgery.

Canoestream - have you ever tasted a sprinkled crushed asprin on your cereal??? - Tried that one with the Lab Taz and watch the tongue movement - it was plain as day YUUUUUUKKKKK!!!!! But hungry dogs will have to push by the taste to get to the rest of their meal....a little hint - by a cheap jar of peanut butter - and give a dollop on the side of the bowl and push the pill(s) inside it - it is good for them a nice treat - keeps the pill intact for correct dossage release and although he can't thank you - he really will.

[str8strm]

our vet was good with the pain killers:fentanyl patch for 3 days, rimadyl for a week and then glucosamine and chondrotin we also used a lot of rescue remedy and calms forte for the first few weeks

[BamCamper]

So sorry to hear about Lucy. It's really hard when our pets are hurting (and so expensive!) My golden had hip surgery and was quite a trooper. The peanut butter or canned food with the pill works great (or wrapped in a bread ball). Even Ed gets an allergy pill every morning. Sigh.

Best wishes for a quick recovery. She has rallies to attend!

[bradk]

Originally Posted by clancy_boy

Yep, Clancy (hence the name Clancy_Boy) my 11 year old lab has a bone spur on his spine. It was a quick transition from an unbelievable bundle of energy to a wimpering, hurting but still loving big lug today. The fire is still in his eyes and he still gets the paper each morning, brings the ball to play but you can tell it's an effort to please me more than his desire to endure the pain of running after the ball. I make a show of throwing the ball a few yards and talking him up a few times to make him believe it's still there but we both know it's not. More like a child - I will support him as long as I can and he lets us.

You should get him into see a Chiropractor (no, really). We see a pile of dogs, cats, and horses through our clinic. There's probably someone in your area that would be able to help. A bone spur that's developed in the spine is due to some sort of imbalanced mechanical stress and can probably be managed readily.

Not many realize that animals can benefit from the care just as humans do. The lifelong medication approach, as many on this thread are trapped in, is no more healthy for animals as it is for us, something natural and conservative is worth exploring.

Our Airedale, Spokes, has tweaked his knees/elbows a few times at the park (he still thinks he's the fastest at the park) and we've been able to fix him up very quickly. We still check him each month.

brad.

[BamCamper]

Clancy, I love your story about the "pretend" game of fetch. I do that with mine who is a die hard fetcher to the end. She brings me the ball and I roll it a few yards and then act like I used to when she would make those amazing frisbee grabs in mid air. She is still a big sweetie and like you I'll hang in there til the end. She is retired from camping and rallies now but still queen of the house and supervisor of all. Ya gotta love their hearts.

[str8strm]

My horse get chiro adjustments every 2 months and she definitely moves better afterwards. Our last basset lost the use of her back legs when she was 5 after being hit in the back by our wolfhound. She had acupuncture twice a week for the summer, regained use of her legs and lived a full life to the age of 15 Can you say million dollar basset??

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by str8strm

Our last basset lost the use of her back legs when she was 5 after being hit in the back by our wolfhound. She had acupuncture twice a week for the summer, regained use of her legs and lived a full life to the age of 15 Can you say million dollar basset??

Wow, our oldest dog Bandit started showing signs of arthritus in October 2006. He now can barely walk and Patty and I have started thinking of letting him pass on. The drug given to us by the vet was causing other side effects so we stopped that. I started giving him glucosamine and chondrotin about 2 months ago and an occasional baby asprin. He just has seemed to lose strength in the legs and can't stand for long on a non carpeted surface without falling. I have never seen something progress so fast. Can any of this damage really be undone by other types of non drug therapy?

Jack

[bradk]

Originally Posted by jcanavera

Wow, our oldest dog Bandit started showing signs of arthritus in October 2006. He now can barely walk and Patty and I have started thinking of letting him pass on. The drug given to us by the vet was causing other side effects so we stopped that. I started giving him glucosamine and chondrotin about 2 months ago and an occasional baby asprin. He just has seemed to lose strength in the legs and can't stand for long on a non carpeted surface without falling. I have never seen something progress so fast. Can any of this damage really be undone by other types of non drug therapy?

Jack

I have a "patient" named Jade, a 13 year old rottweiler with a similar history, arthritis, multi-level disc herniations that were causing alot of problems with her legs. We adjust her every 3-4 weeks and she's now hitting the off-leash park in style each week.

So yes, in many cases, conservative treatment can be very effective.

b.

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by bradk

I have a "patient" named Jade, a 13 year old rottweiler with a similar history, arthritis, multi-level disc herniations that were causing alot of problems with her legs. We adjust her every 3-4 weeks and she's now hitting the off-leash park in style each week.

So yes, in many cases, conservative treatment can be very effective.

b.

OK, so how do I go about finding someone locally who we could see to consider this alternative?

Jack

[bradk]

Originally Posted by jcanavera

OK, so how do I go about finding someone locally who we could see to consider this alternative?

Jack

Animal Chiropractic - Find an AVCA certified doctor to adjust your horse, dog, cat or exotic.

let us know how it turns out!

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by bradk

Animal Chiropractic - Find an AVCA certified doctor to adjust your horse, dog, cat or exotic.

let us know how it turns out!

Thanks, it looks like we have 2 in the St. Louis area and one of those is somewhat close to us. I'll give him a call and see if we can get Bandit evaluated. Thanks so much, I'll let you know what we find out.

Regards,

Jack

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by bradk

Animal Chiropractic - Find an AVCA certified doctor to adjust your horse, dog, cat or exotic.

let us know how it turns out!

Well we took Bandit in today and the vet found that Bandit has blown out his knees in his two back legs. That's the cause of the arthritus. He gave him an accupuncture treatment. Took about 9 needles. He also shaved his paws down to remove some fur and trimmed down his nails quite a bit. We also have a herbal medication to take. Bottom line I'm $200 poorer, but Bandit obviously got relief and is walking around much better. The vet feels that the treatments will help over time and he is scheduled in next Monday for more accupuncture and a blood test.

I'm very impressed with the vet. Apparently is is well known and does a lot of teaching in the areas of herbal medicine, accupuncture, chiropractic treatment, and holistic care. Also interesting is that my regular vet sends folks too him. We never asked so we didn't know.

Thanks so much for your information we wouldn't have even known where to go or what to do. I really thought the answer today was that Bandit would be put down, but the vet thinks we can make things a lot better for him. I'm hopeful at this point. I'll keep you posted over the next few weeks as to how he is progressing. Some karma is on the way to you!

Jack