Possible cruciate ligament 4yo dog

[ElsaSnow]

I’ve been up most of the night stressing that my 4yo dog might have torn her cruciate ligament.

From online it suggests the surgery if required is approx 4k, is this accurate? I have just checked the small print of my policy and despite the annual limit being 9k it only covers 2k for cruciate ligament injury!

I have read the opposite leg is likely to go soon after - again from those who have experienced similar did this turn out to be true? Also do insurers then not pay for the second leg as it’s a bilateral condition?

As she is only 4 if surgery is required is she likely to bounce back and return to her previous energetic self quickly or is she going to struggle for years stiff and in pain? Can anyone offer advice until I can see the vet?

@Blondebrownorredwhat were you dogs symptoms and how old were they? How was the recovery and how are they doing now? Who are you insured with and did you have any issues?

It was obvious what she'd done. She helped then was holding her leg up tightly. Couldn't put it down for the first day or so then started putting it down but couldn't put weight on it. She was 9 when she did it. I'm with Animal Friends.

Well we had £2k cover because we were advised by the insurers that the average vet bill was £800. We’re never advised to increase it at renewal. Was our first dog so we were naive. They paid out that minus excess and 20% less because she was over 8. Was Animal Friends. Have to say they were great in quick agreement and pay out.

You need to get her to the vets she must be in a lot of pain

When did it happen? We were advised 48 hr rest then vet .

I don’t think conservative management is advised for total rupture. But it sounds as though OPs isn’t total as they are bearing weight.

@YourWinterhow long was the strict rest for?

We had this happen with a 10 year old fairly large terrier (weight 11kg) we were given the option of cage rest for several weeks first before surgery. We don't insure our pets. He was remarkably compliant thanks partly to an expensive but lovely new dog bed I bought for him and made a full recovery. We didn't need to bring out the dog cage. We've kept him fairly quiet ever since though, he really can't cope with long walks any more his back legs start giving way. He's 13 now and able to jump up onto the pouffe to get to the sofa with no difficulty, so he's happy.

I think I carried in and out to the garden to pee etc for 6 weeks, no stairs or steps, or jumping on or off the sofa, then started with 5 minute on-lead walking around the lawn. Built up to 15 minutes each way, on lead, vet then gave the ok for some of the walk off lead, and we are doing 40 minutes now.

My springer busted her cruciate ligament coming up to 2 years ago when she was just turned 4.

She was chasing a ball which hit a bump in the ground and bounced off in a different direction. She span round to follow it and ended up somersaulting. She limped for a few seconds but carried on running around as usual - at least that’s when I think she did it. She was fine for weeks afterwards, it wasn’t until we went on a day out with her and she started limping towards the end of the day that I realised there was any issue.

Vet confirmed it was her cruciate.

Op was £4.5k which included her X-rays (2 lots). Insurance paid out minus my £99 excess. Mad increase on her premiums though, but I’m loathe to change insurance companies in case she does the other leg.

Recovery was 8 weeks in a crate, although we bought a pen from Pets at Home as she freaked out in a crate. It was hard going for her. Plus we had to carry her up and down stairs, lift her down into the garden, into the car, etc. No jumping on the couch, no jumping up, 5 minute walks 3 times a day which increased as recovery went on.

Once she got the all clear after her 8 week check, longer on lead walks only and we started on physiotherapy and hydrotherapy which she had for about 6 months.

She’s back to normal now, although we have banned balls on walks. She swims, runs off lead, etc.

Touch wood, she hasn’t done the other leg so far

Mine (cocker spaniel) had a partial tear of her cruciate ligament when she was about 8 and just needed rest for a couple of weeks, and no walks. No jumping up on the sofa and we carried her up and downstairs. We also had to stop playing with her ball thrower which we were very sad about. We then gradually started short lead walks, and went from there. But she got better and really didn't miss the ball when going on walks and sniffed more. She did get arthritis, but I feel that was an age thing rather than a side affect of the tear. We were told she might have it happen in her other leg but that didn't happen.
We did put her on a diet as she was a little overweight and I feel that took the pressure off her joints. We also gave her golden paste and Yumove joint supplements.

A slight limp won’t be cruciate tear. It’s a lot more serious than that, usually not weight bearing and in a lot of pain.

Ball chasing is a major risk factor for injuries of all severities as knees are not designed to twist! Look at a slowed down version of your dog chasing and you’ll see the issue.

Have spoken to vets via video who have said it’s not rupture as she is still weight bearing and not even constant limp just an occasional. Said keep an eye and rest and come in if seems worse. Thanks all hopefully can calm down my nerves now and reassuring to read most young dogs can recover fully. We will def not be using ball thrower any more, will have to play find the ball instead of running.

TLDR, my dog was weight bearing on a torn cruciate for almost a year, so it is worth a vet visit.

I posted earlier about my dog who had the surgery on Friday. She also only had a sporadic limp. Initially we rested her and she seemed to recover. I got little steps for beds and sofas, although she preferred to jump. She was running around, jumping etc most of the time (short legs so has to jump.for most things), but would limp slightly for a few days when she had overdone it.

We saw the vet about her anal glands just before Christmas and mentioned the occasional limp. The vet examined her and could feel the knee was crunching and unstable, so we had the xray a week or so later. (It's taken until now to schedule the surgery as the anal glands had a nasty infection which has been stubborn to treat and could have been a complication in the surgery.)

Thankfully it didn't fully rupture since the initial injury almost a year ago! The torn ligament was described as "a thread", so we were lucky it held on so long.

Good luck OP, hope your pup recovers from the limp well.

It's worth checking the small print.
Every insurer I've been with Inc up to £7500 annual cover had a limit on cruciate ligament ops.

My inlaws fell foul of this...surgery cost £3k but they didn't realise cover was only up to £1500 for CL.

Sorry

Same - although it was about 3 months - if it happened when we think it did - and our vet thought it probably did.

In that time she was running around, swimming, jumping, etc, her usual self.

It was a full rupture, and a folded meniscus.

There were no signs of a limp or reluctance to run, jump, etc, at all.

We went to a county show and were there all day. She just was mooching around the show on her lead with us and towards the end of the day I noticed a slight limp, which was worse the following morning so I took her to the vet who felt her knee was unstable. X-rays confirmed it.

Fingers crossed it’s nothing and all is fine, but after our experience I would get it checked.

@CatsorDogsrule our insurance is with Many Pets and they paid out in full minus the £99, really quickly.

Just had tplo surgery for my dog at parkvets hospital in Foots Cray. Had to get the specialist surgeon in to do it as she's 12kg but very fine bones on the xray. The hospital vet said that it was very possible that she'd get in there and her metalwork kit would be too big. It was £5200. The hospital vet price for the surgery would have been £3500. Xrays before the surgery as part of the evaluation were £900 as sedated ! She's a cocker.

We are on day 7 after surgery. Atm its just rough for us both. She's on plenty of meds to try to keep her calm. She's very sad that she can't hop up on the settee or go out into the garden by herself and not on a lead.

Ah good luck @Iamaslummymummy . We are a year on but last April was a haze. You will come out the other side.
FYI for anyone else reading, other reason lateral suture is cheaper is because one veterinary surgeon can perform it whereas with the tplo and wedge surgery they need two.

My daughter did in her cruciales ligament about 18 months ago. Literally just walked out the front door and started limping! She got a shot of painkiller and some meds and just told very short walks. No surgery. She’s was ok after about a month. Took her a very long time to go up stairs though.

This is a dog. In dogs it’s different because their legs are constantly at an angle and that’s why it’s degenerative and not caused by trauma.

Thank you. Not helped by the fact that I'm sleeping in the living room as I stupidly let ex h let her into our bed when she was young. Now she won't sleep alone so I'm on an airbed next to her crate with my own chronic pain conditions. I'm hoping that she'll get used to it but I think I'm lying to myself!