second fully torn cruciate ligament in 12 year old dog

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I'm hoping that some of you may have gone through a similar situation or be able to offer some advice....

Two and a half years ago our dog tore his CL in his right leg. On vet's advice he had surgery but has never fully healed and I would say that his right leg is about 70% of normal. Doesn't fully weight bear and after a long walk will start to limp. The vet has done numerous investigations to find out why but without much success. He was scheduled to have steroid injections in in next week. And then -

Two days ago he ruptured the CL in his left leg - he is now having to fully weight bear on his weak leg. The vet wants to do surgery on his left leg but feels we have to get the right leg as good as possible - there are signs he may have an infection, not in the joint but some nodule on his knee. They may want to take the pins out of his right leg......

He is 12 years old and given the first surgery wasn't a success and we've spent over 2 years trying to sort it out I am very reluctant to put him through another one - in fact I vowed I wouldn't do it.

Has anyone got experience of conservatively managing this injury - not going through surgery? I don't expect him to recover 100% but given his age I don't think that is too worrisome.

I am totally gutted that this has happened....

This is awful. poor ddog :(
My boy has had bilateral cruciate surgery and so far it seems successful, thankfully. A friend of mine had a dog who ruptured a cruciate and amazingly did manage to heal it by very strict crate rest and anti-inflammatories, but he is a smaller, lighter dog than mine which I think has bearing.

This is a blog post I came on before ddog had his surgery ( while we were considering 'management' type options with out vet ):

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/notesfromadogwalker.com/2013/11/05/canine-acl-tear-non-surgical-option/amp/?client=safari

In the end I think surgery was the best option for a very active, big ( 32kg) dog. Had he been older and less active I think I would have tried hard with less aggressive treatment.

Our chihuahua tore his cruciate 18 months ago, we kept him on strict crate rest, anti inflammatories, and painkillers. He's recovered really well, and is now absolutely fine.
The vets at our practice felt it was worth trying that before surgery and think that it's more easily avoided in little breeds.
Hope your ddog is ok

Thanks for your replies. I've also asked around a few friends and have come across one or two who have managed this conservatively. So for now I'm just going to wait and see - some recommend 8 weeks rest before making a decision about surgery and given DDog's age I know I'd prefer not to operate but to let it heal and keep him comfy.

What weight is he?
Under 15kg and theres hope....over that and the odds are not in your favour so surgery would be the better option.

Our 9yr old lab did hers two years ago. The vet suggested not operating as the x ray showed arthiritis and he thought the other may go. So we put her on Metacam and initially rested her a good month (garden only, no walks or ball throwing). We also took as much weight off her as possible. She did wonderfully. She now does short walks, swims, chases balls and runs around with our otheir dogs. We think of her as retired - I wouldn't even attempt a longer walk, half a mile is enough, but I'm really pleased with how well she's doing, and I hope this slowing down will let her age slowly and perhaps give us a good few more years.

I'm taking my nearly 11 year old lab/springer to the VET this morning to discuss his cruciate. Some days he's fine, others, like yesterday and today he can scarcely put weight on his back right leg. i don't know what to do for the best, but on the basis of that blog post I am going to ask about conservative treatment. I can't bear the thought of him not being able to do what he loves. But the thought of an op on an old dog isn't great either.

Hi there. I found your post because I’m in exactly the same situation right now.. My cocker spaniel (who’s 12 and a half) has just snapped her cruciate in left leg exactly 2 years after doing the right one 😥 had surgery on other one but never gained full movement ( just like you) so not putting her through that again. She’s really struggling now having to depend on her not very strong right leg.. I’m gutted.. what did you end up doing with your dog please? Thanks for any advice x

My 12 year old pit lab mix had tplo surgery aprox 7 years ago on his left hind. He’s now needing surgery on his right hind. Struggling to put him through this at his age any recommendations about steroid injections? Thank you

My springer managed to damage both cruciate ligaments at the same time, he’s 11. Vet wanted to operate on both legs but I was put off by the recovery time and that they would have had to do one and then the other a few months later so double the trauma for him. I took him to hydrotherapy and by the end of the first course of 10 sessions, was able to start walking him again. He is now back up to hour plus long walks everyday and doesn’t limp. Hydrotherapy sessions are now fortnightly and I’ll probably always take him as he absolutely loves the swimming and can chase his ball in the water without worry of damaging his leg again. It has worked for him and might be worth a try. It does need a bit of commitment, he went twice a week to start with, then weekly and now fortnightly. I also take my 14yo springer and it has helped with her arthritis as well.