Torn ACL

[dinah_kay]

Hey everyone! Sorry it has been so long since I have been on the boards. Between a toddler, three dogs, my husband deploying life had been crazy. I thought I would post here to see if anyone had any experience with torn or torn acl? My vet thinks Dave has partially torn his cruciate/acl due to his lameness. While all his x rays looked great (hips and spine were perfect) he expects the instability is in the acl. We have tried reducing his activity, which provides difficulty since I don't think he knows what slow and walk even mean. I haven't seen any decrease in lameness, but as typical of this injury a lot of physical activity will bring on sudden extreme lameness in the hind leg. In the past few weeks I have noticed he favors the leg on a more constant basis. So anyone have any advice or prior experience with this? I have left my vet a message to see if he wants to examine again or refer us to a ortho specialist like Texas A&M.

Thanks, and I hope everyone had been doing well!

[ajones]

Hi, Dinah--Sorry to hear about Dave's lameness!

I have had luck treating two such cases non-surgically, but they have both been older dogs and one of them wasn't super-active to start with. Somewhere I have an article from Whole Dog Journal that another rescue person forwarded me that lists options for conservative treatment...it gave me a set of specific possibilities to discuss with my vet, and I found it really helpful. If you reach a point where you'd like a copy, let me know, and I will hunt it up.

Hope you get some answers and a plan for Dave soon...and that everyone else is doing well.

[CollieCallix]

You must avoid the dog from making any movements that will involve the torn part. You may also try cold and warm compress to lessen the pain and swelling.