Knee Injuries -- Looking for any Guidance!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I know that if a dog tears the CCL in their knee that they can do surgery to repair! However, that hasn't happened (yet!). I say that because Sophie just injured her knee for the third time. Fortunately this last time wasn't too bad and she seems to have recovered fairly quickly. The first time we limited her activity for almost 2 months. When we let her start having her normal activity levels it was about 4 months before it happened again. That time we restricted her for about 6 weeks. I just started this week letting them out together to play and rough house, trying to control it somewhat. Thurs eve when I took both of them out to potty (which I rarely do at the same time) they must of been full of energy because they wanted to play. I had them on leashes but they were just going crazy and jumping on each other and Sophie pulled back and pulled out of her collar and took off wanting Lucy to chase her. (in the fenced back yard so don't panic here). Well, I got Lucy in the house and then tried to coax Sophie to come in .... she was having no part of it! She wanted to play. So, I got the bubbles out which is something that I know will always make her come to me. I blew some bubbles for her and she was jumping and catching them when she jumped up and just came down wrong on that leg! I knew exactly the moment it happened! She came up on three legs and hobbled into the house and layed down in the living room! At this point I'm sick to my stomach because I'm feeling like I can't ever let her out to just play and be a doodle! Anyone have any suggestions on things that I can do to try and strengthen that legs muscles to try and prevent this from happening! Anyone know anything about the swimming therapies? Will that help?

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I have no suggestions but I do have sympathy and concerns. I am so sorry.

My neighbor has a dog who for 9 months has injections into the knee to avoid surgery but his play is limited. No running, no steps. I don't think you want this option.

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

Poor Sophie. Do you have a proper diagnosis from the vet? If not, I would definitely have xrays done to see what is really wrong. A "knee injury" can be many different things. She may need to go to an orthopedic vet for eval & treatment; obviously if the injury is re-occuring, something is not healing right and could get worse if you self-treat at home. Good luck, I know firsthand how difficult it is to keep an injured dog quiet :(

[Michele Barton]

Oh I feel bad for you and Sophie. My old dog Artie had 3 knee surgeries on the same knee, all this after having a total hip replacement. He required a much longer recovery period (i.e., no roughhousing, running, etc.) than the hip surgery. I remember the ortho vet telling me that swim therapy could help him recover more quickly, but by that time I had no money left and it was winter so I couldn't even use our swimming pool. I don't know, however, if swim therapy can prevent further injury. I think you should really talk with your vet. Like Eva (Lilo and Rocky) said, knees are very tricky and there are lots of different things that can be wrong with them. It sounds like Sophie should be evaluated by an orthopedic vet, especially since this has happened more than once. Best of luck, and please keep up informed as to how Sophie is doing. She is soooo pretty!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I do know that one therapy used for strengthening the leg muscles in dogs is walking on an underwater treadmill; they have a rehab facility with one of those at our veterinary specialty center, and I know of several others in my area. You might try looking into that, but I would check with the vet first to make sure it won't further inflame or damage the knee. I agree with Eva that you should really have her checked to find out exactly what it is before you try any kind of therapy or exercise. Two of Jack's friends have pulled leg muscles in the past few months, and they had to refrain from exercise for awhile.
I hope that Sophie is okay and doesn't have anything serious wrong with her!

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

I had a dog that blew her knee out and the vet suggested $1000 worth of surgery. Couldn't so it at that time but we gave her glucosamine and it healed on it's own. She then blew out the other knee and we did the same thing and again we had success. She may need the surgery but it couldn't hurt to try something else too.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Thanks everyone for your replies. We have been to the vet on the first 2 occassions. She indicates partial tear, and recommended restricted activity for 2-3 weeks to allow it time to heel. We have always restricted the activity for longer than that just to be sure. She has indicated that the x-rays are an option to double check her "professional opinion", but so far it has always heeled and we've been ok with it. My concern now is that she just keep reinjuring it so I'm thinking that we need to have it further investigated. Appreciate everyones input and I'll keep you posted.

[Lynda Kamrath]

From a human perspective, I also have had bad knees for many years. I "blew my knee out" (actually dislocated it) skiing in Europe 40 years ago. I didn't want to ruin my vacation, so I stayed off it a couple of days, then braced it and continued on my trip. I overprotected it after that and injured my other knee (also skiing). They said at that time that I had "football knees" and should have my medialmeniscus removed. I asked what good that would do and they said it wouldn't hurt any more. Naaahh, I didn't want that because I thought pain was a body's means to commuicate with you, so I would wrap or do physical therapy when it was bad and suffered through the bad times. Two years ago, I finally had orthoscopic surgery on my knee when I couldn't ride my bike and was limping from the pain. It seems to be working well, but the doctor said I will need to have a knee replacement in a couple of years.
So, what does this have to do with your dog's knees? They are making so much progress with joint surgery with humans, it will of course filter down to vetinary. As long as you can keep your dog comfortable with her knees, you might want to also wait it out. Orthoscopic is very quick healing, and they will probably be doing that with dogs before long. Another question for you. How old is your dog and how old was she when she was spayed? My friend who is a coach and a dog trainer says that early neutering can effect joints. My goldendoodle was neutered at 6 1/2 weeks (at the breeders) and she really objected to that. However, no problems yet.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Lynda ..... Thanks for your input. That is truly something to give some serious thought to. Lucy is just over a year and a half. She was spayed right around 5 months .... I don't think that would be considered early, but I could be wrong. I'm sort of new to all this dog stuff. I think I'm going to do a lot of research prior to our vet appointment so I'll be armed with all the right questions.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

5 months is not early. 5-6 months used to be the average time it was done, right around the time they would normally go into their first heat. Early spay/neuter is when it's done by the breeder before they even come home to you.

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

I dont understand how a vet can diagnose a partial tear in a ligament without xrays or an MRI??!! There could be other things going on and if you dont get the problem diagnosed correctly and treated accordingly, Sophie could end off worse. I would take her to an orthopedic specialist vet for a thorough examination and diagnosis, especilly since this is her third incident/accident. Best of luck.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Ask your vet about wrapping the knee ( like with a horse leg wrap) or a doggie knee brace. Just when she is going to really play hard. Maybe that would work if you protected it for several months to a year to let it really heal. You would not want to wrap it all the time. Con't try this without asking your vet though.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

My Springer Spaniel tore his CCL in August. Gordie had the surgery and I can give you the information I got about his surgery if you want but what I did was go on line and accessed it from different surgical vet pages. My regular vet and his surgeon said that without surgery the dogs do kind of heal, but down the line they are way more prone to arthritis, more injuries, etc. Also dogs who tear one CCL are 50%-75% more likely to tear the other one. I will tell you that rehab is really important and really hard. The surgeon said we could walk Gordie for miles and it helps but.... We don't have a treadmill or a pool available or a masseuse.