My Pem and possible 2 torn ACLs!
UPDATE: Jake had his surgery on Tuesday the 27th and had a complete tear in the CCL as well as a blown meniscus so it had to be removed. Dr. guarantees us he can get back to his old running days but WILL have arthritis pretty badly in that leg when he is older. Dr. says that therapy will be crucial.
For more on the Tight Rope procedure, see below.
My Pem possibly torn a ligament in his back left leg in January and the vet saw him twice since then and he was on anti-inflammatories awaiting a visit to Ortho on Apr 23rd. Well, we just got back from vacation and boarding him for 6 days where he went to doggie daycare for 4 of those days and rested the other 2. I got him home, played with him a little in backyard and as he was running for a ball, he collapsed. THE OTHER LEG just gave out and it appears he TORE an ACL or ECL this time. He cannot put ANY pressure on it at all and now is trying to walk on the first bum leg. Called vet right after it happened. He's on a different antibiotic now awaiting the earliest Ortho appt I could make, Apr 13th. He now has to drag his back end around...but does show slight improvement on the anti-inflammatory. OMG, I've been in tears since Wed when it happened. My poor boy. He's only 2.5 yrs old. Anyone else go through this? What is it like if he needs surgery on both legs? Will he need a wheel chair as he heals? Therapy?
I'm so stressed out and feel it's all my fault for playing ball with him that day. The guilt is killing me.
Jill
http://www.arthrexvetsystems.com/en/mediacenter/clientinformation/u...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jill Usher on
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Jennifer -
Forgot to say they want to do one leg at a time. Higher risk of complications if both are done at same time. I think as far as the healing process....
Jill
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Markley on
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The hydrotherapy/laser, physical therapy is $496.96 for 8 sessions. We go twice a week for the next four weeks, and if she doesn't need the laser the whole time then they credit some back to us. The laser is supposed to help decrease inflammation. Otherwise, I think just the water treadmill is $38 for 1/2 hour. But we live in Iowa, so things are cheaper here than I imagine they are for you in your part of the country! Still a chunk of change, but if it decreases her recovery by half the time and makes her stronger in the longrun, than it's worth it to me. We just got home from her session tonight, and she is resting now. It really wears her out. She was really sore Wednesday morning too, and limping quite a bit, but once she limbered up for a couple of hours, she was back to normal. She hates the water--she likes to wade in the lakes and stuff, but hates to swim, so she whines quite a bit in the tank. It'd be much easier on me if she liked it!
I keep her in the puppy wire pen that we got all the time. She only comes out to walk outside and then it's right back in. She actually prefers it now, she runs right in there. She knows Sage can't bother her in there. Plus she doesn't have to guard her toys and rawhide (when she gets one). We have wood floors too--I just have a blanket down in the pen with two pillows--one an egg crate that's covered, and the other a thin dog pillow. Our pen is in the living room, and it's a short walk to the door, so we haven't had any problem with sliding or anything. I put her leather leash on her before I let her out of the pen, and take it off when she's back in--that way if she tries to bolt after a cat I've got her so she can't run or jump. At night she stays out in her pen too--we tried putting her in the large wire crate that we had for my shepherd/husky mix, but it was still kinda cramped and didn't give her as much room to move around and stretch during the night as the pen did. She adapted well to sleeping out here by herself--which she did some anyway as the floor is much cooler out here than the carpet or bed in our room. I made sure to keep the collar on her at all times when we weren't right here watching her. She doesn't have to wear it now that she got her staples out--thank goodness. She hated it....
So when is your surgery? Are they doing both at the same time? Let me know how things are going!
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OMG, Seanna looks happy in there. Great pic.
No, they don't want to do the surgery at the same time. I called for a written estimate yesterday (as that is what hubby wanted) and asked them about estimating rehab. We have pool therapy place about 20 mins away, so we def will do that. Sounds like, from you, that it speeds recovery.
Thanks for the info on what you do with her. Yeh, with a 105 Shepherd running around the house, I need to keep Jakey penned up right after surgery. Right now he is always by my side inside and out. I don't let him run, and he can't jump at all. He is walking better since he's on the anti-inflammatory. Still he gets tired REALLY quickly. My guy was in such great shape & muscle tone before all this and now he looks so tiny. He got a lot of exercise prior to this. Although not a working dog, he still walked about 2-3 miles a day and ran in yard rolling his ball all over the place. It's a shame.
Well, keep me posted on Seanna's recovery process.
All the best - Jill
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Permalink Reply by Sky and Lyla on
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OH dear! I'm so sorry to hear this. I started a discussion about a month ago when my Aussie had a similar issue. You can view it here.
My boy ended up not having a torn ligament, which I was so grateful for, but he did go to physical therapy for about 3 weeks to help his recovery.
Good luck with your baby and I hope everything turns out okay. I know how stressful it feels (especially having to think about that surgery bill!).
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Wow, I've been reading your discussion and it's unbelievable how this can happen.
Thanks so much for all the information (I'm still reading your discussion..very informative).
You and Jennifer were going through all the things I'm feeling now in the early stages of finding out. I feel guilty, sad for him not being able to play...all those feelings. He has been so clingy to me the last week. He usually is pretty independent and I call him my little poop because he can put Sheba in her place but still be such a love bug.
Thanks for the kind words!
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How is Sky doing? I've been wondering how you guys are doing! Seanna started hydrotherapy last night--she was really nervous, just not sure about the whole thing. Plus she doesn't like water very much, so she wasn't happy--but treats made it a little better. She was trying to FRAP when she got out of the tank....She was pretty sore this morning, but tonight is back to her normal self. Things are going good for us--better than I expected--hope things are going good for you too!!
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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I have not much to add except to say I'm very sorry you and your dog are dealing with this. I hope all goes well in his surgery and recovery.
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Bought this great product over the weekend at Sam's Clubs that is a 8 section interlocking mat mad of this awesome foam product. It is normally used for kid's playrooms or as an exercise mat. One side has little raised "hills" on it and the other is smooth. We set up our family room with 4 panels of this mat and will put his pen over that. This will give him really good stability when he stands. We also put some in front of his crate in our bedroom, which he usually sleeps in with the door open but we will close at night after surgery.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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Oh that stuff is wonderful! My daughter made a floor of it in her basement for my 2 year old grandson...so he can use his slide and other outside toys in winter!
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That's a great idea! Wish I'd thought of that! How is he doing?
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He is doing OK. He has his good days and bad days. Saturday he shot across the yard before I could grab him. He loves running after squirrels. My bad. We should have him on leash at all times but we just felt he will be on leash for 8 weeks or more AFTER surgery so we tend to give him a little more freedom now. He was sore yesterday, though. I am trying to give him a lot of love and attention without overdoing it. I still roll a tennis ball to him and we try to engage him outside in the backyard as best we can without kicking his soccer ball. He seems to be happy to just sit on the grass in the sun with the breeze blowing. :) The little pooper scooper (another one of my names for Jake) had enough energy to dig up two of my flowers I planted on Saturday! You have to watch him every second. He's always been a digger but we've got him pretty trained now to never do it but there are times.....like fresh Organic soil (smelly cow manure)....it probably was like a treat to dig in that! LOL!!!!!
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Permalink Reply by Judi, Dawn, Soffie & Griffyn on
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Jill,
I've been reading all your posts. WOW! I'm so sorry!!
Our girl Soffie tore her back left acl last summer. I'm sure you have your time full reading and researching. But if you find a few extra minutes you might want to visit our page and read our posts/discussions. We were fortunate in that Soffie's injury was not a complete rupture, so we opted to use CM controlled maintenance. (I think that's the term, I have a hard time keeping those things in my "ram")
Anyway..... the reason I'm writing is in one of your more current posts you asked about how you would keep him controlled. We purchased a folding baby pen. And believe me it proved invaluable!! We used it at home everyday for the first several months following her injury. We brought it on vacation with us (it folds up) and we still use it now.... we set it up around the couch to keep her from jumping up on it. Here is a link to it on amazon.com. If the link doesn't work it's called a North States Superyard XT Gate Play Yard. I'm sure you can google it. http://www.amazon.com/North-States-Superyard-Gate-Play/dp/B00020L78...
Good Luck Jill! We'll be watching your updates!
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