Hind leg injury advice

New dogsey user here... and I'm sure this isn't a brand new or unique situation by any means. In fact, I've researched this topic quite extensively over the last several months but I'd rather hear some "real" perspective from K9 lovers like myself who may have experienced similar situations than the generalized google-search responses.

My situation:

I have a 6 1/2 year old black lab/pitbull cross. I am unsure of her exact lineage but she greatly resembles the lab, with certain features such as a more square head, deeper chest, etc., popular with the pitty side of her. Back in late November of 2015, I noticed severe lameness in her rear left leg several hours after an intense bout of frisbee in the back yard. This lameness DID subside somewhat over the next 2-3 days, but she was still noticeably favoring that particular leg. I took her to my vet... a highly respected, voted best in the city several years runniing, clinic. Our doctor diagnosed it as a partially ruptured cruciate ligament injury, and recommended a period of 4-5 weeks of rest and prescribed anti-inflamatory/painkiller medication, with a follow up appointment for a reassessment. The followup was promising... the doctor confirmed that the knee joint was significantly more stable than the previous appointment, advised against surgery at the time, and suggested limiting her to routine light exercise (on leash walks) for the next several months.

All was good... my dog was improving significantly, almost to the point that she didn't appear to be bothered at all by the injuiry. 4-5 months after the initial injury, we were out on a walk around the lake and I decided to let her off leash for a quick swim. Turns out that was a bad idea... she was lame again in the same leg several hours after returning home.

After about a (rested) week of only moderate improvement, I returned to our vet. His examination showed that the knee joint was in fact still stable, and the recent lameness was likely due to nothing more than inflamation and the pain associated with it. He again prescribed anti-inflamatory/pain killing medication and a period of rest. My dog seemed to improve almost immediately and was almost back to her old self within a day or two.

However... earlier tonight when I let her out to water the lawn, she took off after a cat that was in the yard. Almost immediately the rear leg was in the air and she wasn't putting ant weight on it whatsoever. This is the first time throughout our entire ordeal that the lameness has become apparent immediately... all previous times have come after several hours of rest following the extensive exercise.

Is this a sign that things have worsened? Her knee joint was "stable" less than a week ago.... can it really go from bad to worse so quickly, or is this just another case of her over-doing it, and she'll likely be feeling better in a few days? My understanding is the whole point of the TPLO is to temporarily support the knee joint while the dog naturally builds up enough scar tissue to do so on its own. Seems harsh to subject her to a 6+ month rehab schedule, not to mention the $4-5000 it would cost me, to do a surgery unless absolutely nescessary.

Of course a return visit to our vet will happen if she doesn't improve over the next few days, but in the meantime, any insight would be appreciated.

Hi Grundle,

Sounds like the knee was re-injured, or something caused her immediate pain to throw her leg in the air and have you notice her lameness. If the tear was only partial, it sounds likely that she could have repaired her knee on her own without surgery. The thing is, the knee may be weaker or "less stable" than it used to be before the injury. You might want to give her some extra support in that region when she's out playing and running and being her normal self.

I have a 4 year old american stafford that had an ACL rupture. Our vet's reaction was pretty similar to yours, total rest, anti-inflammatories, and see what happens. The results were promising and she was able to heal on her own. We used (and continue to use) the Ortocanis dog knee brace to help stabilize and support her knee. It helped during the recovery to stabilize, and when we take her out on long walks or more intense activity, I pop it on.

It doesn't have any hinges and the material doesn't bother my dog at all. She adjusted to it right away. Maybe ask your vet about getting her a knee brace, or do some more research into yourself online. I know for us it worked, and I know of other people it's also worked for. The quality of the brace has held up over time and I really think it's been a contributing factor to her successful recovery.

Hello Chris,

From your description your dogs injury sounds a lot like our Casey who went lame about four hours after a walk. Our vets have x-rayed the joint twice and he has had a lot of anti-biotics (Big pink ones, very expensive) and two other types and of course the anti-inflamatories.

They haven't been able to give me a definitive diagnosis, one vet at the practice said it might have been a snake bite, another also mentioned possible partially ruptured cruciate ligament injury, a third said some sort of arthritus.

They did extract a huge amount of septic fluid from the leg which had swollen, did they find any septic fluid build up in your dog

Sorry can't be more help but I can say Casey is improving each day and I just hope and pray that whatever it was does not come back like it seems to have done with your dog.

Thanks for the reply. I have briefly talked about a brace with the vet already and he didn't seem too keen on the idea... something about the dog needs to use the knee (lightly of course) in order to strengthen it and to keep her muscle mass from deteriorating. I'll definitely research it some more though.

As for her knee being "stable", I dont doubt at all that it's weaker than it was prior to the initial injury 5 months ago. I only meant to say that 6 days ago when I had her checked out due to a resurgence of mild lameness, the joint was still being supported by the scar tissue she'd built up since the initial injury. Kind of like a twisted ankle as opposed to a broken one. This instance seems to be worse - the lameness was instant and after 12+ hours of sleep she still refuses to put any weight on the leg whatsoever. I'm thinking her partial rupture may have become full blown.

At any rate, I've made a makeshift sling out of a cloth grocery bag by cutting the ends off to help support her rear legs (towel walking) during bathroom trips, I'm borrowing a crate from a friend for while I'm at work, and I still have ~2 weeks worth of meds for her. I'll call the vet shortly to see if he recommends coming in immediately or holding off for a few days to see if what I already have been doing may help.

Sorry to hear about your buddy. It does sound similar to mine, although there hasn't been any fluid needing to be drained. Arthritis should show up in an Xray if that's the case I'd imagine. I dont know anything about snake bites but if it is a cruciate ligament his knee would likely feel very loose... to the point where you can actually move it around with your fingers. At any rate I'm sure your vet is better suited at diagnosing than I am... just hope he continues to improve.

How kind is that I always think that they know when we are trying to help them, and they handle pain so much better than we do.

Thank you. We have to put our faith in the vets even if it sometimes looks like they could do better. I hope your dog's injury is soon sorted as well, please let us know how she makes out.

Unfortunately she doesn't seem to like the sling much and tries to escape when I try to apply it... which certainly can't be good for the knee. :/ Work in progress.

Hey Grundle. You should check out online there are lots of products to help support your dog's hind legs, especially for potty breaks.. going up and down stairs.. etc. There is a rear support harness from the online store Ortocanis that is intended just for this.. You can hold the support in the same hand as you hold the leash so you don't have to be bending down all the time. I've also seen that they sell a sling, your dog probably wouldn't mind it as much because it's manufactured for this purpose!

I recommend you check them out online. It could make both yours and your dog's lives easier in the meantime when you're both dealing with this.