Guest alannamac Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Hi all, Bandit had been limping for a few weeks without improvement, so I took him to the vet last week where she strongly suspected a torn cruciate ligament in his knee (I didn't even know he had a knee!), but was unable to fully manipulate it as the area was quite tender to him. Does anyone have any experience or advice with this type of injury? I have to take him in on Wednesday to be mildly sedated so she can see how much movement is in the joint. He's doing ok and does walk on his leg (it's a hind leg), but does hold it up from time to time and squeals sometimes when getting up, so I know it hurts He's on trammadol, but the dose she wanted me to give him gorks him out so much that he's not eating. He really seems to do better off of the pain meds, and stays much more alert and happy (but less active....which is probably good for healing right?) He's 72lbs and the dose she's recommended is 100mg 2X a day with food. What I was doing before we went to the vet was giving him 1 trammadol (50mg) in the morning and keeping his jammies on which kept him warm and snuggly and inactive but happy. I am inclined to revert to this again. Anyway, sorry to go on about that, really I was just wondering if anyone had experience with this sort of injury and did they recommend surgery or natural healing? I understand that once you've messed up a joint, it's never perfect again either way, and I was hoping to minimize Bandit's trauma (He's an older guy....11 now) Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burpdog Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 It can heal if you do the appropriate measures. Surgery is another whole thing. There are different types. Bottom line is you must get it healed or operated on. Sending prayers. Quote Diane & The Senior Gang Burpdog Biscuits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbotaina Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 (edited) Greyhounds by and large have excellent knees, not to say a torn cruciate can't happen. I don't want to frighten you, but I'd do an x-ray immediately as that location is where osteosarcoma frequently appears. Again, a cruciate injury is certainly a possibility, but I do know of at least two greyhounds that were misdiagnosed with one. If it is, in fact, a torn cruciate, it's a bit of a long healing process - leash walks only, etc. My friend's border collie had a partial tear and she got around OK without surgery. I guess before deciding what to do, you need to know how serious the tear is. Edited November 24, 2008 by turbotaina Quote Meredith with Heyokha (HUS Me Teddy) and Crow (Mike Milbury). Missing Turbo (Sendahl Boss), Pancho, JoJo, and "Fat Stacks" Juana, the psycho kitty. Canku wakan kin manipi."Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alannamac Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 (edited) Oh, sorry should've mentioned in the post.....x-rays were taken immediately to check for tumors etc He's ok thank heavens (at least in the affected leg....I'm always worried about the big C appearing) It was the first thing my vet was worried about too...... I was hoping to hear that surgery was not a necessary thing. I can certainly baby him as needed. He's a pampered darling and will continue to be! Please let me know if you have any advice for the natural healing. I'm assuming it's minimal activity and stairs. I've closed the bedroom doors so he can't hop up on our beds now, and must stay on his bed. Any further recommendations are welcome! Thank you for your advice. Edited November 24, 2008 by alannamac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazehund Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Yep, DaBones had a CL tear. He was non weight bearing on it for the most part, but occasionally would balance himself on his toe. No surgery for him, no drugs. He was much younger when he did it, but he still was the same quiet guy he is today. I just didn't let him run, not that he would have if given the choice. He was about 3 months until he healed. No further occurrence and it does not bother him today. CL tear is apparently not a common injury for a greyhound, but it does happen now and again ( according to my vet). Go luck with your boy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbotaina Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Oh, sorry should've mentioned in the post.....x-rays were taken immediately to check for tumors etc He's ok thank heavens (at least in the affected leg....I'm always worried about the big C appearing) It was the first thing my vet was worried about too...... I was hoping to hear that surgery was not a necessary thing. I can certainly baby him as needed. He's a pampered darling and will continue to be! Please let me know if you have any advice for the natural healing. I'm assuming it's minimal activity and stairs. I've closed the bedroom doors so he can't hop up on our beds now, and must stay on his bed. Any further recommendations are welcome! Thank you for your advice. Whew! One thing you might want to look into is orthotics. They are pretty spendy, but a knee brace may work well for your dog. Are you consulting with an orthopod? Check out these folks: Orthopets K9 brace/Handicapped Pets Quote Meredith with Heyokha (HUS Me Teddy) and Crow (Mike Milbury). Missing Turbo (Sendahl Boss), Pancho, JoJo, and "Fat Stacks" Juana, the psycho kitty. Canku wakan kin manipi."Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeofNE Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 If his ACL is torn, the vet should be able to tell easily enough. There's a simple manipulation. It took the specialist I took my last dog to about 10 seconds to diagnose! I had a mixed breed dog. He was running (cantering, really!) on a flat grassy surface one day. He went, "Yelp!" and simply stopped using the leg. Wouldn't bear any weight at all. Naturally I freaked out. It was a completely ruputured ACL (which will NOT heal on it's own). I can only speak to that, since I have no experience with a partial tear (although my father has a partial tear, and because of his age, they're not doing anything for it). There's really only one viable repair in a large dog, according to the orthopedic department at Angell Animal Medical Center here in Mass., the TPLO. I won't bother going into the gory details because you need to find out if your dog's is torn. Suffice it to say it was very expensive and painful, and unfortunately for my dog, he got a bone infection following surgery, which required a second surgery that was even MORE expensive (he actually almost died). The long and short of it? About $8,000 and over a year later, my pound puppy was almost as good as new! Normal healing is about 12 weeks. The cost of veterinary care here is very high--but if it's a total tear, and if they suggest TPLO, it does work, but it is expensive. PM me if you want more details. I have pictures too! Quote Susan, Hamish, Mister Bigglesworth and Nikita Stanislav. Missing Ming, George, and Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kelli123 Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 There is a sling type brace called a-trac. that they can where not sure if it works. Around 400.00 needs to be worn up to a year you can find info on the web. They thought that was what was wrong. with my gracie. After xrays it is ocd or a badly chipped bone showing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kelli123 Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Here is the link for the brace. http://www.woundwear.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grey8greys Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 My one girl had a partial tear. We did crate rest for 8 weeks, no running for 4 weeks after, and she healed just fine. Walks on a leash just to potty, also no jumping on the couch Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lizmego Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 I think we had a foster that had this injury a couple of years ago. I'll have Shannon come over and talk about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alannamac Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Thank you all for your suggestions! That brace looks like a really good idea. I'll know more about the extent of the injury on Wednesday when I take him in for the sedated range of motion test, but he does put weight on it, so I'm hoping a partial tear not a completely blown ligament. Wow JumpingGeorge! that was a really expensive operation. I'm glad to hear that your pup recovered fully after the complications. This is precisely why I was hoping to avoid surgery if at all possible....besides the expense, Bandit is just older and I'm sure like people, injuries take longer to heal and surgery has more and more ways to go wrong. He's such a happy boy and likes to hop around when he knows we're about to go outside (even just for potty). It's hard to keep him from jumping around and making this worse. I'll update after Wednesday's vet vist. Thank you all again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shannon252 Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 We did take an adoptable dog a few years ago that had a cruciate ligament tear. Some of this information will be from our experience and some is what I know from another of our volunteers that had this problem with her Lab. There are two surgeries. One is sometimes referred to as the "fishing line" surgery. It's the least expensive of the two and they do literally use fishing line to repair the problem. This surgery was under $1000 (if I remember right) but, it is also the most likely to tear again. The other surgery is MUCH more expensive; in the thousands of dollars if I remember right. We took this little girl when we were still a relatively new adoption group. We just didn't have the money to pay for the more expensive surgery so we did the best we could at the time. We went with the fishing line surgery. That was over 3 years ago and she is still doing great. Her adoptive family knows everything and they watch her closely but, she's living a pretty normal life as a silly little greyhound girlie. Our volunteer with the Lab opted for the more expensive surgery. We've exchanged stories many times and neither of us have been sorry that we went the way we did. I know this isn't a lot of information but, hopefully it gives you a little bit of info. Shannon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tricolorhounds Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 My ShepherdMix had TPLO surgery back in 2003... With a complete tear, the way my Vet described the different procedures was... For a young active dog, TPLO was the only way to go... For an older, quieter dog or a small breed of dog, the "fishing line" repair as the previous posters have mentioned is the way to go. Fizzy's surgery was about $3500 when all was said and done... She had no issues and her bone healed in record time. She's 10 now and has not had any additional problems. For more, google TPLO < Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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