Dog has torn CCL, I need advice.

So Maverick was running up and down the fence last with the neighbor's dog on the other side of the fence, he does it every night.
He suddenly stop and started limping.
Not the limping when he sprains something and it gets better in a few days, but a no weight on the right rear leg holding it up limping.

Took him to the vet today, they did scans and x-rays and they say has a torn ACL.
The soonest time they can do surgery is April 18th.
They said to keep him in the kennel, give him pain meds, and only let him out to eat and go potty for a month.
Apparently, they don't do this surgery and have a rotating surgery team once a month.
We called a few local vets and they all said the same thing.
FUCK THAT.

Wife is contacting a Dallas Vet surgery center tomorrow to see when we can get him in.
Our vet sent them the referral.

The problem tonight, he won't eat or drink.
He did urinate last night and earlier tonight.
I know he needs to poop but feels like he can't squat.

He is probably dehydrated (won't pee or drink) and just doesn't feel like eating because he is in pain and on pain meds (won't eat).

I'm sure he will eat and drink when he gets hungry and thirsty enough.
EDIT: he did finally eat and drink tonight, it just took awhile..

My question is has anyone been thru this or any other major canine surgery?
Our other dogs had stuff like tumor removals and teeth cleaning stuff, but nothing as serious as this.

Part of me says he will adapt to the situation, but a bigger part of me feels so bad for him.
Any advice or input would be appreciated...

 

We have a Daniff, Great Dane/ English Mastiff and she tore her (I think in dogs it's a CCL). Anyhow, long story short, we put custom made brace on her leg during the day and took it off at night. Took months to get better, maybe a year but today she's moving around great. Highly recommend these guys:https://www.aocpet.com
The concern for us was that with surgery the likelihood of her tearing the other leg was significant not to mention the chances of her re-tearing the injured leg. So, we decided to try the brace first and it worked.
Best of luck with whatever path you choose.

 

Did they give the dog anything for pain? My guy pulled a ligament in his leg once (Chesapeake Bay Retriever) and could only toe touch as it was so painful. The vet gave him Deramaxx, which is a lot like Celebrex for humans. He took a tab or two and literally was up and running ( literally) within a few hours. Never did need any other type of intervention after that.

 

Our old Jack Russell tore her acl. She was active until her last day. Took awhile for her to adapt and occasionally would aggravate it but surgery was not an option for her as she had major problems with anesthesia. She lived many years on the torn acl and you would have never known it. In the initial stages of injury the vet would use a splint made out of tape to stabilize the joint. After a few weeks of that we just kept her from running and jumping. Still took long walks. After a few months she was back to running, chasing squirrels, playing ball, etc.

 

Wow..
He has 2 pain pills, 1 every 24 hours and 1 every 12.

I think the worst part of all this is that it just happened.
I need to give it some time so he can adjust..

Thanks for the input..

 

That sucks! My Pug, Stella, blew her knee out years ago. The vet explained there are 2 options to handle it. Cheap, is pain meds until the joint stiffens up and they are on some kind of medication for pain as needed for the rest of their life. Non starter for me. Expensive is the surgery, and that varies by the size of the dog. Stella is a small dog, so they were able to put the knee back together with 80 lb monofilament (essentially fishing line) and a stainless steel crimp tube. On larger dogs they replace the knee, apparently.

Anyway, after the surgery and physical therapy Stella has no ill effects. She ran and played and still thought she was 10 feet tall and bulletproof until age slowed her down. The only way you'd know she ever had an issue is from the scar and because that leg sits a little further out when she pees/poops. Just make sure you keep up on the physical therapy afterward and Maverick will be good as new in no time.

 

Glad he ate.... We've been through a couple of knee issues, and they do well after the initial shock of it. One dog we did surgery, and the other we did not (due to health risks from other issues) but used a knee brace similar to this...
https://orthodog.com/products/dog-knee-brace/

it was kinda a pain at first to get used to putting it on him, but once we got a system figured out it wasn't too bad. The brace stabilizes the knee and then wraps up over the hip and secures to the opposite hind quarter. Once he had the brace on we tried to keep his activity down to let the injury start to heel a bit, but within a couple of days he was back to playing and even running short distances. He continued w/the brace for almost a year and after that he seemed to be pain free w/o the brace...

The dog that had the surgery did very well, and the vet recommended a similar device post-surgery while it was healing. That dog was back to normal within a few months after the surgery.

I hope all goes well; for what it's worth, it also seems like rear leg injuries are much easier for the dogs to cope with and recover from than front legs

 

I had a 70lb female boxer that had the same thing, and I just like @831Tun mentioned, I think they call them CCL’s in dogs.

Anyway, Kona was getting better pretty quickly with the anti-inflammatory medication they put her on, but it wasn’t meant for long term use.

We decided not to go for the surgery and ride it out a little. She was a bit in the heavier side for a female boxer and wasn’t as active as most. It only seemed to bother her again on the days that she would chase after deer or we would go on longer than normal walks. We had already spent several thousand dollars on other X-rays and surgeries like removing an impacted tooth from her jaw.

There are three types of ways of doing that surgery, and of course my vet did what they considered the best, but also the most expensive.

It really comes down to how much you’re willing to spend (my dogs are like family to me as they are for most) but even I’ll put up with some discomfort before finally going to doctor or having major surgery and ultimately the dogs quality of life. Unfortunately for us, Kona lived with that injury for maybe 1.5 years before lymphoma finally took her. But she lived pretty well and only occasionally did it seem to bother her.

There are a couple of license vets in this forum who started their own thread who may be able to make some recommendations as well.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/are-you-looking-for-pet-advice.54954/

Best of luck to you and your pooch!

 

How old is your fur friend ? We had a Lab cross that was 13 years old and we had surgery done on her hind leg, she never recovered and passed. I look back on it and wish I would have done some more research. I think at her age we should have gone the pain med route.

 

Damn, sorry to hear, @1lowlife . My pittie is going through almost the same thing. A few months back, she hurt herself pretty the same way, running back and forth across the fence playing with the neighbor dog. She came in limping but wasn’t in as much pain as your pup is experiencing. We took her in and the doc told us she may have a slight tear and didn’t recommend xray. She gave us pain meds and told us to keep her non active. Now her pain is still here and we’re scheduled for xrays this weekend. I’ve heard bad things about them just tearing the acl again after surgery, so I’m really curious the route you take. I’m really undecided as far as the surgery goes, and we’ll see what they recommend on Saturday. I wish you luck and I’ll be following.

 

My oldest dog is 10, and for being almost 100 pounds I try to keep her as comfortable as possible. The other day she got all excited when I opened the door, guess she really needed to pee. Anyways ran to the door, slid on the wood floors, hit the mat and ran into the door. She lost her footing and did a backflip. I know accidents happen, but not sure how to handle these kind of situations. I lost one dog a few years ago, and it was extremely difficult to process.

 

Our dog needs ligament surgery. Been waiting on the vet to call me back with more info since Friday. If I don't hear from him today, I'll have to talk to another vet we've used in the past.

I've been trying to carry him up and down the stairs and I can see it's tough for him to sit comfortably but he's still running around and jumping and stuff so it can't be that bad (or he's just an idiot).

 

I personally have not. We had our dog, Domino, taken into the vet for what we thought was a torn ligament...but it was actually bone cancer. We went from thinking it was no big deal...to saying goodbye in the space of about 5 days. I didn't think I was a dog person until then.

 

@1lowlife sorry your dog is going through that, it sucks. Our lab went through the same thing in fall 2021, she was 8 and super active but we didn't have any trouble with her eating or using the bathroom. Our vet couldn't do the surgery for a month so we had to kennel her and take her out on a leash. We asked if we should use a brace of some sort to try and limit movement but they said they don't recommend it. After the surgery we asked the vet for a sedative to help calm her down during the first couple of weeks and allow her to heal better. She took about 4 weeks longer to fully recover than the doctor figured but she did and has been doing fine since. We were told that it is common for them to injure the other one so we are always cautious of that now, so keep that in mind too. Best of luck!!

 

Consider Getting at least one second opinion. Some vets will do anything you're willing to pay for, others will weigh pros and cons for you more honestly.

Our 48 pound Pitt Rott mix did that a couple years ago at maybe 11 or 12. Launched herself off the deck steps to chase a rabit thinking this is finally the day she snags it and came back limping hard.


Our normal vet Wanted a couple grand, I forget the exact price. While we're figuring out what to do and treating it with painkillers we decide to get one more opinion. As we prep to go I note the dog's limp has improved a tiny bit. Wife glares at me like I'm just trying to save the money. Then we go for the other visit and Vet #2 says they'll do it if we want but sometimes the difficult recovery period and potential complications for an older larger dog can outweigh the benefits. With dogs that fit her profile they tend to weigh more Heavily in favor of letting it Scar up on its own, and most can get back to decent mobility just with an advisory for no super crazy activity level.

2-plus years later she has at most a very slight occasional limp that goes away with rest. And that's if she sees something that excites her and makes her forget she's too old for that shit causing her to get a little wild. Even that is very rare now. More frequent in the beginning, then happened much less as time passed. She actually seemed to recognize her limits and got a bit better about policing herself. Now Gets around as well as any other 14 year old medium sized dog and can still do a walk around the block without any obvious problems.

 

Thank you all for the input.
Y'all are correct, it is his CCL.

Maverick is 6 years old and weighs 67 pounds.
He is starting to drink more water this morning.
I gave him some treats to take with his Gabapentin which he gets every 12 hours, and gets Carprofen every 24 hours.
Wife says we have an appointment with the surgery center March 30th, I'll take a day off work for that.
The vet estimated the cost at $5K if they did it, that doesn't surprise me.
Money isn't the issue, it's whatever is best for Maverick.

I'm sure he (and we) will adapt better to the situation.
It just sucks watching him not be himself.
He looks a bit stoned from the meds....

 

Sorry about your dog, geez the cost these days. I had a newfie back in 1980 that broke her front leg. She was in the vet for a month, came home with metal pins and a cast, cost me $200 total.

 

This is very true. We went through a few vets before finding the one we are currently with and really like her.

 

I've always had German Shepherds and years ago had a large male (over 100 lbs) who had this injury. He slipped on ice while chasing his toy and tore his CCL. He was 5 or 6 at the time. The first surgery was successful (about $1200), but the repair failed about 18 months later. The second repair was done by a different vet (around $1500) and held up until he died. He lived a totally normal, happy life and I would do it again without hesitation. If your dog is healthy and has normal weight, I would think your chances of a good outcome are high.

As with anything else, finding the right vet to do the repair is key. You want someone who does this regularly with success.

 

That is a tough decision at 6 years old. Our lab had a torn CCL at 3 yo and we paid about $6k total to get it fixed. If she had been 10+ we probably would not have done it. She recovered fully and shows no sign of ever having an issue now. If it will heal on its own, the arthritis will likely start earlier and be worse, based on what my vet told us. We are fortunate to live near an Auburn Veterinary School extension site where they treat animals like this our normal vet said they did not do these types of surgeries.

 

Scary when your happy go lucky dog is under duress like that. Mine caught that nasty dog flu last month. Wife was in tears watching her. Had her since before we were married, through that, fertility treatments, and adoption.

Sometimes this flu does something to their legs and for a bit they can't walk or stand up. She could barely lift herself up. I was bending down and scooping that 50 pounds up and carrying her out to do her business and back in every time. Her legs were so weak at one point she squatted to poop then her hips gave out and she collapsed in it.


Then after a stretch on some antibiotics it suddenly cleared up and she became mobile again. With her age and how we knew it was hitting younger dogs we thought it was the end. But she pulled through, like she sensed what we were thinking and was like "Nope, I ain't done yet!"

 

So sorry about your dog, I hope he is able to heal quickly once he has the surgery! You sounds like great doggy parents, and he is in good hands! Sending well wishes from the North East!

 

Did it on my Airedale. My vet did a figure eight with some sort of heavy line across the joint. It was good for another 6 or 8 years. Dog recovered very well.

Might call A&M for a consult too. Long drive but they are top notch work. Fixed a ruptured disk that had my beagle mix paralyzed and he was back to annoying the crap outta me in no time.

 

Neither one of them have been on the forum in a few months.

 

This was back in ‘04 or so but my 2 year old (at the time) boxer, Tucker, decided to sprint across the back yard, grab the rope-swing in his mouth, went flying and lost his grip. Landed all weird and we heard the *pop*, torn ‘ACL’. He went in within a week for surgery, $2k+ and a month of helping him walk with a towel under his belly whenever he had to go potty. Keeping a boxer chill is damned near impossible though, it was a royal pain in the ass. He suffered through it and made a full recovery eventually with some extra hardware and a scar to show the ladies.

 

For me, the decision was not that difficult. Even at age 6, Kingston (my GS dog) was very active and energetic. Without surgery, his life would have been dramatically different and, honestly, I could not handle the thought of leaving him to that.

 

Dude, first, sorry. Dogs are life.

Second, ask your vet to make a call to the Texas A&M small animal vet clinic in College Station. Best there is. They will see you ASAP.

 

Thank you all again.
We have an appointment Saturday with another vet surgery place.
We'll see how that goes.

I think we are all adapting better to the situation.
Even limping and on drugs, he is starting to eat, drink, pee, and poop.
He likes being in his kennel anyway so that isn't an issue..
Even when we are home, he will sit in there with the door open..
It is his place of comfort and security.
When we are at work he has the run of house, but I think he stays in his kennel when we are gone, even with the door open.

I'll keep y'all posted on his progress.
I'm glad we're getting different opinions and quotes other than the local vet.
I appreciate all the input, knowing your experiences has helped us learn and what to expect...

 

Yes, three time.

My prior dog Emerson got blind slided at a dog park and tore his cruciate ligament. He was young (maybe 3) and we did the surgery. PM and I can give you details, but the short version is:

He lived a terrific life afterward, generally unimpacted by the injury. We would not hesitate to do it again.
It is specialized so there is generally a rotating surgery group going around major urban areas doing a bunch at a time.
It is expensive. The surgery is one thing, but the meds, follow up with vets... It adds up quick so budget for it.
It is not foolproof, we had to do it 3 times. First time was not successful and we needed to do it again within about 6 months. The recovery is painful for all especially when. You just "recovered" and need to do it again. A few years later after #2, we had to do it again. The geometry changes from the surgery and either the same knee or the other are prone to failure as a result.