ACL tear

[Carlene]

Well. my poor Tara has a new challenge. She's been limping badly for the last couple of days - wouldn't put any weight on her left rear let and I knew it was more than her HD. We took her to the vet and sure enough she tore her ACL. She goes for surgery on Monday. I'm just sick because my girl spends many happy hours snoozing on our bed. No more. She can't jump or at least she's not supposed to. We are going to go look at the pet store for a ramp, but she's such a weenie, I'm not sure she'll use it.
Any sage words of advice?

Carlene

[Chumplet]

All I know is my friend's lab had that condition and the surgery. She spent a happy decade being careful not to overdo it because the joint might pop out once in a while.

[heyjude]

Oh, Carlene I feel for you and your pooch (how old is she?). We went through this with our greyhound. He injured himself (who the heck knows how, coulda been from his racing days). We took him for surgery and he recovered beautifully. It was tough keeping him down for a while, but it was so worth it. It's been 5 or 6 years and he's 100%. He runs, jumps, etc.

BTW, we bought him a ramp and he was terrified of it. Not a brave bone in this dog's body.

Is your dog having the TPLO surgery? That's what I recommend. We have experience with both, and the TPLO is far and away the better (and of course more expensive).

One other note: our vet surgeon told us there was a 70% chance the dog would tear his other ACL, but it hasn't happened (yet, please God!).

Bless you and Tara!

[kristie911]

I had a German Shorthair that tore her ACL. She had surgery to repair it but we waited too long and arthritis had already started, so the ACL was repaired but she was always pretty gimpy on that leg. But if you're having surgery right away, your baby should recover fine. Good luck.

[Carlene]

Thanks for the replies. I'm sitting here bitting my nails because she goes in today for surgery. She's five and VERY big - tall and leggy but overweight too. She has bad allergies so gets six Benedryl a day and they make her sleepy, so she isn't as active as she should be. We were just diagnosed on Saturday so I'm hoping no arthritis yet. One of my friends is a house call vet and she, too said there's a high probility that she'll tear the other side in the future - I sure hope not! We tried getting her on the ramp yesterday and she freaked - she's a big weenie. We'll just keep at it because the vet said no more jumping for Tara. It breaks my heart because she spends most of her days on our bed!

I'll let you know how she makes out.

Carlene

[Fenika]

I would talk to your vet about non-drowsy anti-allergen meds. 6 benedryl is a lot anyways- sounds like she could be getting all the side effects and none of the benefits (or maybe she's just bigggg, but still, you can get non-drowsy antihistamines)

[Soccer Mom]

Make her a comfy bed on the floor. My elderly Aussie Shepherd is looooong past her days of jumping on the bed. But I put her bed right next to where I sleep so she can sit up and touch me with her nose, which comforts her. (she's getting senile :( )

Hope Tara comes through well.

[Carlene]

Well, we all survived - barely. Tara ripped her first collar off after surgery while in her kennel and distroyed it! She figured out very fast how to get it off. She's a pistol. It took four of us to get her into the car for the ride home. She is big but also too heavy - 122 lbs. We got her home and then she didn't want to get out of the car. The entired night was horrid. She cried, she whined. Everytime I put her collar on, she smashed around the bedroom, the sat, put her paws on either side of her head and pulled the colllar off! She's a very smart girl. I gave her more tranquillizers about 2:30 and another Deramaxx about 3:30. I spent most of the night lying next to her on the dog bed (they aren't bad!). I was reluctant to keep her doped up, but I guess it's best. It's really hard because both my husband and I work and we're taking time off and alternating watching her. We take her back Thursday for Atiquine (sp?) shots - twice a week for three weeks!

She's been on six Benedryl since she was a baby. If I cut back, she gets bad belly bumps and they get infected and has to get antibiotics. This is one expensive dog - but I love her to bits and will do whatever I have to, to keep her healthy.

More later,

Carlene

[Komnena]

Concerning the ramp I'd suggest training her to it by paying her lots of attention at its bottom and then very gradually moving up the ramp. Be very careful to see she associates the ramp only with good things. Don't speak harshly to her near it until after she's fully accepted it.

[awatkins]

:Hug2:

[heyjude]

Why did the vet say no more jumping for Tara? Surely not never. A repair should be just that, a repair. Our vet told us the dog's leg would be 100%, and it is. He jumps just fine into the back of the Jeep!

So don't give up hope...

[Soccer Mom]

What a rough night, Carlene. Glad she made it through okay. :Hugs:

[Carlene]

Oh, thanks HeyJude! Tara has spent most of her life curled up on our bed and I love to stretch out with a good book and cuddle with her. Of course she won't be able to do it for a while until she's healed, but I sure hope she can resume her favorite spot!

My vet also said she'd have to take a Deramaxx every day for the rest of her life - I do NOT agree! I'm afraid it would kill her! One of my other vets (I know about eight in San Diego) said to use Deramaxx like aspirin -if the dog is in pain, give her one.

Any thoughts on pain control????

Carlene (who slept REALLY good last night!)

[heyjude]

Ask for some Rimadyl (for pain). Our guy has von Willebrand's (makes him bleed) so he can't have aspirin. Rimadyl seems to work as well or better. Plus good for joints.

Give Tara a nice pet for me!

[Cate]

Boy oh boy can I sympathize with you! Our dog has HD, blew out his ACL (we opted for traditional repair, which worked very well) and has terrible allergies!! I think I recommended going to a yahoo group called "orthodogs" for advice before, but if not--I highly recommend it! The most important part is keeping your dog from damaging the repair until it heals. I don't know if you had TPLO or traditional, but either way, it can be tough to keep them down. Our pup is 90 lbs, so I understand how hard it can be w/ a big pup. Don't feel bad about doping your pup up for now--it is much more crucial that the leg has a chance to heal. I don't know much about rehab with a TPLO, but if it is traditional, you can e-mail me and I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have if I can. We learned a LOT! All the best of luck to you!!!!! Hang in there--I know it is rough!!

[heyjude]

Carlene, wondering how Tara is doing? I hope well!