Dog Community

Torn Ligament

Posted : 6/20/2006 10:50:49 AM

Hello all. My boy Tashmoo is recovering from surgery to remove a mast cell tumor, we have been keeping him quiet, but he started limping when we let him out last night, so off to the vet we went this morning. It turns out he tore the ligament in his back right leg. Does anyone have any experience with this? He is having surgery next week.....

dyan

Posted : 6/20/2006 2:18:54 PM

My Dane/Shepherd Cindy had a torn lig. in her knee...had to take her to a specialist because of her size. She came thru it fine,,,and healed great. I believe they put a pin in her knee at the time,,,been a few years now,,hard to remember. But she was a big girl, we sure couldn't carry her around and she was fine. I remember I used to make her lay with a heating lamp on her leg,,,,,for my own good!

Tashmoo5454

Posted : 6/20/2006 2:34:34 PM

Thanks Dyan! well he's a smaller dog, about 40 lbs, and they said he will need to lose weight also. did you have to do any physical therapy after the surgery? i think we were in too much shock to even ask any questions when we were at the vet today!

What does the heat lamp do?

dyan

Posted : 6/20/2006 8:49:13 PM

What does the heat lamp do?

Beats me! LOL! But it was something that my mom and dad would use every time they had aches and pains,,,but actually, now adays everything is ICE. To keep swelling down. Probably the worst thing I could do is put a heat lamp on her, but it felt like I was helping her feel better.
She did not go for therapy after! Can't remember having to do anything after to be honest..but you know, things have come such a long way since then. Good luck...keep us updated.

angelamarie

Posted : 6/20/2006 9:10:12 PM

Sorry to hear of this injury to your dog.

My dog didn't have torn ligament repair, she had luxating patella surgery on both legs. I just popped in to add that you should have the surgery done by a Board Certified Veterinary Surgeon. Do your research before you choose who will do the surgery, you need to have a good outcome on the first go around.

glenmar

Posted : 6/21/2006 8:01:23 AM

With any injury, blood goes rushing to the area, the little army of soldiers running in to fix the problem. The reason for ice at first is to prevent so many of the soldiers from getting into the area that it causes a log jam trying to get out. (swelling) So ice IS good for the first 24 hours or so. Then HEAT will encourage them to come back in a bit more orderly manner, so to speak. Heat will help increase the blood flow to the affected area which, in the case of a muscle injury, will help to carry the toxins from the damaged muscle OUT of the are so that it can heal. A damaged muscle releases TONS of toxins and if blood flow isn't sufficent to carry those toxins out of the area, then you get "knots" in the muscle....or a build up of toxins and the lovely spasms that go with that.

Tashmoo5454

Posted : 6/21/2006 10:05:39 AM

Thank you for all your replies - we have been told he is to do no walking whatsoever, and we have to bring him in next week for blood tests (he needs to fast first) and then they will decide on surgery, which sounds kind of strange to me. He is unable to use the leg at this point, so i don't understand why there will be a delay. We have set up an appointment with an orthopedist in our area, so he can hopefully answer all my questions. My husband's concern is that Tashmoo needs some kind of exercise, and that sitting in a crate for a week is going to do more harm to the rest of his muscles.

We will be checking out the surgeon, thanks for the advice Angelamarie.

Glenda, should we be applying heat to his leg even a few days after the injury?

glenmar

Posted : 6/21/2006 10:39:29 AM

I honestly can't answer that intelligently. That's how it works in PEOPLE so I'd think it works the same with all mammals, but I wouldn't want to advise you to do anything without checking with the vet (ortho preferably) first.

Pam

Posted : 6/21/2006 2:29:36 PM

My dog had both her knees (Anterior Cruciate Ligaments) done, 2 years apart after jumping up to get a basketball. About $800 - $1000. She is almost 10 and is doing great. No arthritis that I can tell. Make sure you pay for the pain patch, it is well worth $80 extra dollars to keep her comfortable. The first surgery they didn't even have the patch pain and she kept me awake all nite in pain. The second surgery was a breeze with the pain patch. I did have to carry her 40 pounds down 2 steps to get to the yard. I did sleep with her in the family room for days, it was too much to carry her up a flight of stairs the the bedroom. After the cast came off a month later, I had to walk her very slowly for exercise to rebuild the muscle.

Pam

Posted : 6/21/2006 2:38:05 PM

Yes it is imperative that your lose weight for the future good of the knee. My dog had just lost 8 pounds by substituing green beans for half her kibble right before the injury. I had the surgeries done 2 years apart. They say when one goes , the other will follow,,,sure enough. During the 3 weeks with the cast, her leg muscle shrank to nothing, very scary. That is why walking or swimming is imperative after the surgery.

PS - I used frozen pea bags on the legs, they wrap around very nicely. Just make sure its no more than 20 mins "on" and off again.

Tashmoo5454

Posted : 6/21/2006 3:42:59 PM

Thanks Hollysmom! now i'm getting very apprehensive and worried. he is recovering from another surgery from last week, and we have had him crated and are taking turns sleeping downstairs with him, he also weighs about 40 lbs, so we've just been lugging him around. we don't even know how he did this, he just went outside to pee, DH was out with him, next thing we knew he was limping.

we will definitely go with the pain patch, i hate to see him hurting, anything to help him. and i'm going to start him tonight on the green beans (raw, yes?) and see if he likes them. i appreciate all the advice, he's 9 years old, and i just want him around as long as possible. he has been so happy and funny lately too, this is just so hard that all this is happening to him at once. thanks again!