Quote:
Originally Posted by Tire_Guy
Sorry, Bob, I just saw your post this morning. The ACL tears happened about six weeks ago and 3-1/2 months ago. I wasn't able to see the same vet for the second dog's tear so saw a different vet and got two wildly different opinions. The first vet encouraged the non-surgical route saying that most people couldn't afford the surgery while the second vet said surgery was my only option. The first vet gave me one 10-day course of Rimadyl and was reluctant to give me more without blood tests while the second vet said my dog would likely have to be on Rimadyl for the rest of his life if he didn't have the surgery and gave me a three-month supply of Rimadyl. I've been giving one Rimadyl tab/day to both dogs along with Proanthozone daily at the advice of a vet on this forum. Both dogs were placed on a diet to lose weight and they get exercise daily. I'm watching them to see how they do and both are gradually getting better, however, sometimes I notice that their limps are more pronounced than at other times. I'm still undecided about the surgery.
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Now, I would like to tell you my dog's situation in before and after segments
I am sure it will help you.
Bobby is an 8 year old German Shepherd.
He tore his acl by jumping off the rear deck( a three foot drop).
He gets excited whenever he sees a cat, or other four legged animal come into the yard.
If in the house, he would run out the back door leading to the deck, and completely vault over the steps, and land on the ground, never touching the steps.
This is what caused the tear.
Being 8, the vet was a bit leary about surgery, and suggested laser therapy.
Tried that a couple of sessions, and didn't see much improvement.
Went on line with the idea of putting a brace on the leg.
Found a web site that sold braces, and the cost was really high,but I needed to do something for him.
Still searching, I came upon a website from a vet who emphatically stated,NO BRACE, EVER.
His web site pages were many, with tons of info.
What he said was "conservative management" which has a definite course of action, and stated it works.
To understand an acl injury, one must research, which I did online.
Conservative management is time consuming, but like the vet stated, it works.
We all want our pets to be pain free, and with the limping, you know they aren't.
Pain from any injury, is caused by inflammation.
So instead of rymadyl (carprofen) for pain, I used an anti inflammatory(NOT an nsaid) like prednisone) to bring down the inflammation.
Doing that took away the pain.
IT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO USE RYMADyL FOR LONG TERM.
By long term, I mean more than two weeks.
You need to use glucosamine and chondroitin, available at pet stores.
They are an anti-inflammatory, and actually good for the dog.
Follow direction as to dosing for the weight of your dog.
Now, here is the part that is going to take up some of your time.
You need to monitor your dog closely.
Limit exercise to slow walks, no more than 200 yards total, for the first month.
Absolutely no running, or jumping, and that means on and off of furniture.
Check the knee daily for swelling.
If it is swelled(which it more than likely is), an ice pack on the inner knee for 15 minutes twice a day will reduce the swelling.
If soreness is present(which in some cases it is) use heat on the inner knee.
If you are using heat, here is how to do that (by the way, this works for we humans who have aches and pains, especially muscle pain.)
Take a wash cloth, run it under the faucet, wring it out to the point it is still wet, but not dripping, and more than just damp.
Put it in the microwave for about thirty seconds.
Remove it (careful, it's going to be very,very hot)place it inside a bath towel, and fold the towel a few times to ensure when you place it on the knee, it is producing medium heat only.
Leave this on the dogs inner knee for 15 minutes, checking frequently to make sure the skin is not being overheated, and causing a skin burn.
What I did was keep my hand under the towel, on the side of the towel opposite the inner knee..
That way I could tell how hot the towel was becoming.
Your dog will welcome the soothing warmth, and lay there comfortably.
I did the heat treatment only if I sensed the leg felt stiff to the dog, and I could tell that by the way he walked.
This treatment was done only for a three week period, off and on.
You will continue with the glucosamine/ chrondroitin indefinitely.
Healing should be complete in about eight months, as long as you maintain a good monitoring of the dog.
You can gradually increase the walks to normal time and distance in a few months.
Look at these walks (especially in the beginning) as "walk and sniff" outings.
No fast walking.
Now, I don't know what your living arrangements are, but for me, and the Shepherd, some things needed to change.
Here is what I felt I had to do to help him heal fully(which by the way, after 8 months, he has).
He used to love jumping up on the bed so he could look out the window.
I had to lower the bed to the floor so he could walk on the bed, not jump onto it.
I removed the steps on the rear deck, and built a 16 foot ramp so no more climbing steps, or more importantly, no steps to jump over.
Replace the couch in the living room with two recliner chairs, so no more jumping on the couch.
Built a ramp for the pickup truck,so that when we go to the park, he walks into, and out of the truck, instead of jumping into, and out of it.
All these things helped in the healing process, and today he is fully healed. without surgery, or leg brace.
Hope this helps you.
Bob.
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