Being a NE Patriot fan (and yes they really did win the Super Bowl this year), anytime we hear ACL connected with names like Rob Gronkowski, Dion Lewis, we cringe. Fact is, the knee is prone to a number of injuries as any football player is living proof of. Well your canine friend has an ACL of sorts, it’s known as the CCL (cranial cruciate ligament) and it’s one of the most important stabilizers inside your dog’s knee. One of the most common knee injuries in dogs is an injured cruciate ligament, notice I use the word injury rather than torn or ruptured, it just sounds easier to swallow. Super Bowl weekend we learned our fearless Patriot puppy was not immune to the fate of so many dogs – fast forward – our first knee injury.
Knee anatomy
The knee is a joint that is formed by 3 bones: Femur (the long bone extending down from the hip); Tibia (the bone between the knee and ankle); and Patella (the kneecap). These bones are joined together by a number of ligaments, which are tough fibrous bands of tissue. Two ligaments crisscross in the joint from the femur to the tibia and are called cruciate ligaments (cruciate means cross). The one towards the front of the leg is called the anterior cruciate ligament and the one crossing behind it is the posterior cruciate ligament. These ligaments prevent the ends of the femur and tibia from moving back and forth across each other.
The injury
You’ll notice the injury when you spot your dog limping or favoring the leg, in our dog’s case, Madison wasn’t using one of her back legs at all. She’s a feisty little gal, and despite the ambulatory set-back she still insisted on bopping around on 3 legs. While she was indeed adorable doing this, such a resilience in dogs, we knew it wasn’t a good thing. We brought her to the vet for a full work-up and x-rays and an orthopedic consult; they determined it was either a partial tear of her CCL, a really bad sprain, or issues with the meniscus. So much for easy answers. We researched everything, fearing the worse and hoping for the best. We were prepared to do whatever we could, but also leery that an ortho might recommend surgery, even if it wasn’t the best option for her in the long-run. They do after all literally make a living by performing surgeries. And surgery is never easy and the rehab is even harder, and having personal experience with knee surgery, I for one wasn’t an advocate. But wait, now I’m jumping the gun.
The recovery
We decided on a conservative management plan. Here’s what we did: First we restricted her activity. No jumping on and off the couch, no running around in the yard (and yes that required her to be on leash, because this little girl is spicy, full of life and energy, full of moxie); if she was off leash it was in her crate; on-leash she was tethered. This girl just might be Gwen reincarnated, those long legs, in Gwen’s case graceful, in Madison’s case, gangly. Our goal was to restrict movement and allow stabilizing scar tissue to form. Madison hated this “plan”. Now if it had been Bella, I tend to think she’d have been fine with it. DNA test revealed that Bella is indeed half Yorkie and half a baked potato. Next, we added a new heavy duty joint supplement, the kind typically given post-operatively to aid in the recovery process; we are giving her NSAIDs, prescribed by the vet, but we are mindful not to keep her on those too long for fear of liver and kidney issues. We made changes in the house too, adding non-slip area rugs, so Madison (and Bella) wouldn’t slide on our wood floors and tweak their legs. Knock on wood, and not the floors, cuz now they’re covered in rugs….Madison is doing well and we’re seeing improvement. We still have her on light duty, and she isn’t out of the woods yet, and I imagine we’ll continue this through at least the end of the month; it’s important not to aggravate the leg, and while your dog may know what’s best for you, and it’s true, they can detect when you’re lonely, sad, afraid, hurt, instinctively becoming ever more vigilant, they don’t always know what’s best for them……that’s our job. And in the words of Coach Belichick “Do Your Job”.
Knee anatomy
The knee is a joint that is formed by 3 bones: Femur (the long bone extending down from the hip); Tibia (the bone between the knee and ankle); and Patella (the kneecap). These bones are joined together by a number of ligaments, which are tough fibrous bands of tissue. Two ligaments crisscross in the joint from the femur to the tibia and are called cruciate ligaments (cruciate means cross). The one towards the front of the leg is called the anterior cruciate ligament and the one crossing behind it is the posterior cruciate ligament. These ligaments prevent the ends of the femur and tibia from moving back and forth across each other.
The injury
You’ll notice the injury when you spot your dog limping or favoring the leg, in our dog’s case, Madison wasn’t using one of her back legs at all. She’s a feisty little gal, and despite the ambulatory set-back she still insisted on bopping around on 3 legs. While she was indeed adorable doing this, such a resilience in dogs, we knew it wasn’t a good thing. We brought her to the vet for a full work-up and x-rays and an orthopedic consult; they determined it was either a partial tear of her CCL, a really bad sprain, or issues with the meniscus. So much for easy answers. We researched everything, fearing the worse and hoping for the best. We were prepared to do whatever we could, but also leery that an ortho might recommend surgery, even if it wasn’t the best option for her in the long-run. They do after all literally make a living by performing surgeries. And surgery is never easy and the rehab is even harder, and having personal experience with knee surgery, I for one wasn’t an advocate. But wait, now I’m jumping the gun.
The recovery
We decided on a conservative management plan. Here’s what we did: First we restricted her activity. No jumping on and off the couch, no running around in the yard (and yes that required her to be on leash, because this little girl is spicy, full of life and energy, full of moxie); if she was off leash it was in her crate; on-leash she was tethered. This girl just might be Gwen reincarnated, those long legs, in Gwen’s case graceful, in Madison’s case, gangly. Our goal was to restrict movement and allow stabilizing scar tissue to form. Madison hated this “plan”. Now if it had been Bella, I tend to think she’d have been fine with it. DNA test revealed that Bella is indeed half Yorkie and half a baked potato. Next, we added a new heavy duty joint supplement, the kind typically given post-operatively to aid in the recovery process; we are giving her NSAIDs, prescribed by the vet, but we are mindful not to keep her on those too long for fear of liver and kidney issues. We made changes in the house too, adding non-slip area rugs, so Madison (and Bella) wouldn’t slide on our wood floors and tweak their legs. Knock on wood, and not the floors, cuz now they’re covered in rugs….Madison is doing well and we’re seeing improvement. We still have her on light duty, and she isn’t out of the woods yet, and I imagine we’ll continue this through at least the end of the month; it’s important not to aggravate the leg, and while your dog may know what’s best for you, and it’s true, they can detect when you’re lonely, sad, afraid, hurt, instinctively becoming ever more vigilant, they don’t always know what’s best for them……that’s our job. And in the words of Coach Belichick “Do Your Job”.