ACL torn. My options?

My bulldog tore both her ACL's jumping for a basketball on concrete (stupid me allowing that).  She had the first surgery about 6/7 years ago and the second about 4/5 years.   The vet used fishing line to reattach them.  He said she would never have a problem with them for her whole life and that was true.   I do recommend you spend the $80 for the pain patch.  It made all the difference in the world with her pain , the first surgery they didn't offer it and she suffered for next few days. The second surgery,  she slept a lot with the pain patch,,,it was great.
She was unable to hold her bladder so we had placed a heavy moving blanket covered with towels for her to lay on in the livign room.  I slept on the floor with her for about 4 days.  (our bedroom was on 2nd story) .  I had to carry her 40 pounds  down 2 steps to get to the yard to pee.  You should get a sling, if your dog is bigger.
 
After the surgery, maybe a month later I would take small slow walks with her to rebuild her leg muscle - it had atrophied so quick.  It took about 3 months of slow walks and she was to normal.
 
They always say, that the other knee will go in about year after the first.
 
The most important thing for the rest of her life is keep her trim.  Obesity will reck the knees and cause much more pain and arthitis.  We also never let her jump again, we bought her a low chest thing to jump to jump on our bed.  She didn't like the baby steps we bought her to climb on the bed.
 
My dog just died of heart attack at 10 years, very trim and very unexpectly, but bulldogs only live short lives,  but I kept thinking it would be her hips or arthritis that would get her in the end. 

Interesting.  So the vet re-attached the existing ligament?  I have not been offered that option.
 
Were the ligaments completely torn off or partially?
 
And thanks so much for the detailed reply!
 
 

Our lab had ACL or Cruciet surgery about 7/8 years ago, she was about 4 years old at the time.  She slipped on some ice/snow.  She is now 12 and her ACL leg has never given her a bit of trouble.  Granted I opted not to do things like agility with her, but we always played fetch with her and she ran around like a normal highly active dog.  The only thing slowing her down now is old age and other issues not related to her cruciet.  I believe our vet reattached the ligament.  We have been diligent about keeping her weight down as Hollysmom suggested.  Keeping still after surgery is also key.  We crated Lille and leash walked her for a good bit. 
 
Good luck! Your dog is a cutie!!

just an opinion but if there are enought of the original ligs left then it would be better to reattach with out adding anything artificial....but easy for me to say a thousand or so miles away.... It also depends on how much is left  and wether  the lig is viable...I suspect  the vet should be prepareed for both options  so when he/she gets in there he/she can do what is best for the situation....I don;t know if you have a vet orthopod in your area or a vet school but either of these would be preferable because they can change options immediatly---good luck

Giz tore her curcit ligiment and the vet decited that confinment was the answer for the first few weeks.  I healed on it's own but she was still limping we did x-rays and turns out she also had hip displaysia along with the torn ligiment.  We did the surgery on the hip first and then the crucit healed on it's own.  Uaslly if it's not torn all the way it has a chance of healing on it's own without the need of surgery if you limit the activity of the dog.  There surgery is very intese and after that you would need to keep your dog very confined and only take him outside on a leash.  They also make leg supports custom to your dogs leg if you don't want to do the surgery but a custom leg support almost cost of same as the surgery, last time I check it would be around $500 not including whatever price the vet would add on, it would have to be fitted by a vet.

a little addendum--the pain patches are fine and work well but in this case I would be a little hesitant in using them becasue too much lack of pain can result in excessive jumping etc whcih might add insult to injury

You know I'm not sure if they were completely torn , its was so long ago.  I will see my vet next week and ask him.
 
We tryed the holistic route for 1 month first with no success so we had to get the surgery(s).
 
Dvet has a point about the pain patch, labs are pretty active, bulldogs are not. But my baby panted all nite, I had to keep iceing her leg with frozen peas bag, for serveral nites it was awful for her.

Thanks all.  I am just dreading this.
 
I can remember thinking; "Man those crazy people that spend big bucks on just a stupid dog..."    Before I got mine.  Quite different when it happens to you!  I'll do what it takes to get my baby healthy.  [>:]
 
If anyone has more to add, please share.

no more to add or share but whatever rtechnique you or your vet decide on I would go for it soon..the longer the wait the  shorter the injured ACL  gets and if a natural repair, ie suture the lig..the longer the wait, theless chance of it working

First, that is a beautiful girl you have.  Being the owner of 2 full and one mix golden, I am partial to them.  My KayCee, who just turn4ed 7 last month, had to have knee surgery on both knees for luxating patella, and the 2ed one also involved ACL damage and repair.
 
I belong to several forums and you would not believe the number of dogs that have to have knee surgery.  I have typed the story so much that i finally just stored it and copy and paste for the ones whose dogs "kneed" knee surgery.  Or course this isn't just about theACL, mostly about the patella, but I think the few weeks after the surgery would pretty much have to be the same.  This will give you some clues as to what I did with kayCee.  As I said, this is copy and paste that I have stored.
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My golden retreiver, KayCee had to have both knees operated on, the first at 16 months, the other just a little over a year later.    This condition happens far more often in smaller dogs and that is probably a good thing as the larger heavier dogs are more likely to "undo" the surgery with their weight and being over active to soon.

Before surgery they will a blood panel to make sure her  kidneys and liver, etc are working properly.  I had this done a couple or days before surgery both times.

Okay the first time KayCee had to be inactive for 4 weeks.  Having her litter mate brother and an older golden made it a little harder for her to be tied to sofa leg all day, but it had to be.  I would take her on leash out to do business 4-5 times a day.  After about 2 weeks I was able to to take her for very, very short walks, like down the drive way to the driveway of the house next door and back.  Gradually they got a little longer, but not much until she was 'released" by our vet.

Her 2ed knee was much worse and took more procedures as the ACL had to have a lot of repair to it also and she was in a spllint for a week.  She could not get up or down with that splint on.  I kept her on a blanket in the livingroom and drug it outside, get her into a sitting position and use an old christmas table cloth as a sort of sling to carry her back side around while she did her business.  And then I would get her back onto the blanket and drag her inside.  Once the splint came off I no longer had to use the sling.

This time she had to be inactive for 6 weeks. Because she has senstive skin and got bad razor burn, I smeared her skin with aloe vera gel seveal times a day and it not only helped heal, but it also soothed her bare skin.  And because she couldn't roll around on her back, get exercise, etc, i massaged her spine and leg muscles several times a day and boy did she enjoy that.

She was like 2 years, 4 months when she had her last surgery.  She could not even get onto the sofa or bed and she couldn't really run as that knee would go out all the time.  She will be 7 on Aug. 19 and she jumps onto all the furniture, she runs and plays with the other dogs and enjoys life without pain.

HOWEVER, chances are arthritis has already set into your dog's knee.  I put KayCee on Glucosamine/MSM after her first surgery and added the SynoviG3 chews joint supplement I get from my vet. I do believe these have really helped her.  With your little girl, I would talk to the vet about joint sups, what, and how much.
 
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That last paragraph was because the dog was a little chihuahua. 

Dvet is right,  sooner than later. Think we waited 1 month while trying the holistic ligament repair med, then gave up and did the first surgery.  When the 2nd went out, we took her in right away.
 
My vet gave us a break at $800 for the first and $1000 for the second.
 
She came home with soft casts so that is why I had to carry her out,,,and prop her up like a one legged pirate in hte yard to pee  for 2 weeks ,,poor baby.. Think I wrapped her cast in a plastic bag to keep urine and grass dew off it.
 
Sandra's idea to drag her on on sheet was a good one.
 
I gave fish oil for the joints later in her life,  I never gave her the gluc/chondro/MSM cause she never looked to be uncomfortaable or limped her whole life,,even tho I had bought it
 
She was our only dog and pretty inactive like a bulldog so I can't imagine having to keep an active lab "inactive" especailly with playmates!  But don't fear,,it will be FINE !

Thanks again.
 
Yeah, I'm OK with sooner rather than later.  Its the vets that are taking their sweet time.  My best guess is surgery will be something like 6 weeks after the injury!
 
I'm leaning to the TPLO option, and I'll be seeing that vet Thursday.
 
Meanwhile we are already adjusting the family routine more toward life in the ground level of our house where we anticipate Sadie staying.  We don't want her to feel like an outcast.
 
Already pooping/walking on a leash.  (She pulls, that has me a bit worried.)  No stairs for a good while.

Hi there -
 
It was so long ago, I don't remember all the technical terms, but my experience may help.  I had a mixed-breed pup, who at a year or two old, got away from me and darted after a squirrel, and tore a ligament in his hind leg.  The first vet I took him to said he had probably dislocated a joint, resulting in the limping, and it would mend in a week or two.  When the condition did not improve in a week, I took him to a vet group, who diagnosed a completely torn ligament.  Their options were (a) they could leave him alone, and he would lose the use of the leg; or (b) try a new procedure whereby they use part of the muscle tissue and attach it in place of the ligament.  It was a new procedure, and they had seen promising results.  I opted for the surgery, and it was a great success.  My sweet dog had the full use of his leg until the ripe old age of 16.  I wish I could remember the proper name of the procedure as this was 20+ years ago, but I would certainly try your vet's similar suggestions, as I had such wonderful results.  Good Luck!!!

I have no idea if this is helpful or not but I was reading in Women's Health Magazine (Sept 2006) that Collagen is being injected to restore torn ACL's in people. Apparently it forms a bridge "between the torn ends of the tissue for blood vessels to move into and begin healing". The study was done by Martha Murray, M.D., and the research is at Children's Hospital of Boston. It restores 40 percent of the ligament in six weeks.
It may be worth investigating.