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Back To The Vet Tomorrow

5K views 45 replies 18 participants last post by  LadyDi 
#1 · (Edited)
Damn it. This girl cannot catch a break.

I'm pretty sure Mocha tore, or at the very least, injured her cranial cruciate ligament in the left rear leg. A few days ago, my wife and I were in the backyard, looking at our flowers, and Mocha was being her usual goofy self, having the zoomies and running around us and at us. On one of those runs, she pulled up and cut a corner, and came up limping. Right away I thought "Oh no" but after a few minutes, she seemed ok. Then yesterday morning, she still seemed ok for the little time I saw her before going to work and I told my wife not to let her run up and down the stairs or do a lot of anything and when I came home, my wife told me that Mocha wasn't any better and I could see she was definitely favoring the leg, standing on her tip toes, and sometimes keeping it completely lifted off the floor. And when she got up from laying down, there was a pronounced limp for the first few steps.

I was scheduled for some dental work today with sedation but as soon as we got done I took her to the vet for a walk-in. After sitting in the full parking lot for almost 2 hours, waiting, I called them to ask how many people were still in front of us and they told me they were pretty backed up and if I wanted, I could bring her in at 8 tomorrow morning for a scheduled appointment with the doc who's been seeing Mocha for almost 5 years so that's a plus.

I've already been reading up on the different types of surgeries like TTA and TPLO and the lengthy recovery process (no idea how that's going to work with all the stairs we have in our home and on the deck), and what worries me is reading that 50-60% of all dogs end up injuring the CCL in the other leg.

I'll know more tomorrow but knowing Mocha, it's not a sprained toe. This girl goes all out, all the time.

Sigh...
 
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#4 ·
Sorry to hear this I feel your anguish. My boy on June 1st came into the house and did not put his back leg down. He was a tripod. Off to my regular vet and after 4 x rays he not only fractured he also dislocated one of his toes. Off to the Orthopedic Surgeon with a confirmation. The Surgeon told me that for a single digit they do not put a pin in nor do they put a split on as that will only cause chaffing. So he was on lock down for 8 weeks only outside to potty on a 6 ft leash. Forward to a follow up x ray after the 8 weeks and the Orthopedic Surgeon said they could still see a visible line where the fracture was. Another 6 weeks of lockdown. Finally last week he was given the All Clear. There is a callous that built up around the fracture which makes the toe appear swollen on top. The Surgeon told me due to the severity of the fracture and dislocation of the toe that will probably not go down.

I wish Mocha the best please keep up posted.
 
#5 · (Edited)
From what I hear (and this is from the agility crowd) that for a CCL issue--either badly torn or totally ruptured the recommendation is to do a TPLO for big dogs.

Friends had a very promising young bitch who jumped for a flying squirrel (toy) and came down in a depression in the lawn and tweaked something. They took her to a highly recommended and very good orthopedic surgeon and after x-rays confirmed that it was a complete rupture of the CCL--set her up for surgery. When he released her, he sent her with a veritably book of follow up instructions. And promised them that if they followed the follow up stuff she would be running agility in a year.

So they did--and their house was many levels with lots of stairs--which all had to be blocked off so she couldn't try to go up and down them.

For the first several weeks they lived in the family room (in the basement) with her in an x-pen and slept on inflatable camping mattresses. She didn't get to go up or down stairs for nearly six months--Ken mostly carried her up and down when they got tired of the inflatable mattresses.

But after a lot of rehab as promised she did go back to running agility and became their first MACH dog.

Obviously the big problem is keeping very active dogs from being active.

I'm sorry Mocha--it's true you can't even catch a break...

ABTLH
 
#6 ·
I have had two different Staffords with cruciate tears. If you are really strict and don't give in those first 12 weeks they heal well and neither tore the CCL in the other leg.
We took them outside on leash, never let them off leash and right back in the house and in their pen. We gave them a big wire crate, in which we put a queen size bed, TV, recliner
and soft rugs which made it real cozy. No just kidding.
 
#7 ·
Meant to add how sorry I was to hear this happened. Sometimes when it rains it really does pour. This means you are getting all the bad stuff out of the way all at once and it will be smooth sailing from here on out.
Also, we have stairs from our deck to the lawn and had to carry the 50 lb lugs down each time. Couldn't do that with a Dobe. Just hoping it might be something less serious. Those surgeries are expensive.
 
#10 ·
Well crap. Just saw this.

Keep us posted.
 
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#13 ·
They took x-rays and moved/manipulated the leg and knee to see if there was a complete tear of the tendon. The x-rays were clean, leg and joint movement were normal (so no complete tear) and there is joint effusion (swelling and liquid) which is a sign of some kind of injury.
The vet suspects a partial tear of the cranial cruciate ligament but it could also be the lateral or medial ligament or the meniscus so Miss Mocha is on 14 days rest, no activity except very minimal walking, no stairs, and on the leash while going out to potty. She's also on anti-inflammatory meds. If we don't see marked improvement after 14 days, then she'll get a referral with orthopedics and they'll dig deeper to see what's going on and go from there.

My neighbor and I made some ramps to lay over the stairs but Mocha is scared to go on them right now. They are a bit steep, but better than using the stairs. I think I'll go to Lowe's here in a bit to buy some shingles or some of that non-slip sandpaper-like stuff so she can get some traction, hopefully that'll help.
 
#15 ·
Lots of love to Mocha. Hoping she can heal up like Bonnie's friends' dog.
 
#14 ·
I had a neighbor that had a Boxer with a partial cruciate tear. She had to treat it as you do post surgery with a complete tear. I had my doubts that it would heal, but they were consistent and never let her go outside off lead. No walks. Crate rest. No activities that required jumping. And, she did heal. She is fine today. Here's hoping you don't have to have the surgery and it heals.
 
#17 · (Edited)
From my experience and attempts to get various dogs to use a ramp, it can't be anywhere near as steep as typical house stairs are. If I had a ramp basically just covering a run of ordinary stairs, my dogs (depending on their personality) either freaked out or alternatively skipped the ramp entirely by jumping (or both).

For reference:

"Stair codes and guidelines prefer an angle of around 37° for normal stairways and around 7° for ramps." Ramps for humans in wheelchairs, that is—dog ramps can be steeper.
There are a couple of equations you use to figure out how deep and how steep typical stairs in your house or garden should be to be comfortable for people "2 risers + tread = 25 inches" combined with "rise + run = 18" If your stairs aren't steep (rise) they need to be deeper (tread, or run) to make the equation work.

I pulled this off a canine physical therapy website:

"Rise of the ramp should allow an angle of incline at roughly 18 to 25 degrees. A toy or small dog will need 18-20 degrees and a medium size dog 22-25 degrees. That might seem steep, based on ramp specs used for humans in wheelchairs, but canines have a lower center of gravity and have a mechanical advantage as “quadrupeds”. For a sofa or bed measuring 14 to 16 inches high vertically, you will need the ramp length to be 3 feet, in order to achieve the correct incline angle. For a vehicle loading platform of 24-30 inches high, you will need a ramp length of 5 to 6 feet."
 
#18 · (Edited)
We're going with plan B LOL. I tried a few test runs and like Mel said, Mocha is terrified of going both up and down the ramps. It sounded good in theory but once we put them up, I thought they'd be too steep.

So I'll break out her extra large crate, set it up downstairs, and I'll be sleeping on the couch or the bed down there for a while - probably the couch so that I'm close to her. That way there are no stairs involved, just a short walk through the garage out to the lawn. I'm going to move my desktop computer down there as well, we don't have a lan drop down there so I just went to Best Buy and bought a USB wifi adapter. I'm teleworking next week, so I reckon I'll be downstairs bound. And I'll most likely take the week after that as vacation so that she gets a solid 2 weeks of nothing but rest with very minimal movement. Heck we have a full bathroom down there, all I need is a fridge and I'm gold :wink2:

Question - does she need to be crated almost 24/7 except for eating/drinking and going potty or is it alright if she moves around in the house (the downstairs) some as long as she's not running, jumping, or going up or down stairs? I really, really, hate to make her stay in her crate except if we're not there. I'm thinking at night she can lay down on her pillow next to the couch.

Good times!!!
 
#19 ·
Glad to hear Mocha is on the road to mending.
Poor girl and you to !
Shoot tough couple of months for you folks.
IMO less is best except for the necessary trips and activities (eating-drinking-potty time)
Will she stay off that leg if she is near you ...it seems to me she is just as likely to stand up if crated.
At least if she is by your side at all times you can command her to stay down versus crating.
Anyway I am sure the others with experience will chime in with their opinions.
Certainly glad no mandatory surgery,just hate to mess with those areas.
 
#20 ·
Just so she isn't jumping on and off the couch. As long as she can't go upstairs when you're not looking. As long as she doesn't bolt outside off lead or go up the deck. Then she could be out of her crate at times. I believe it will be longer than 2 weeks for the ligaments to mend. What does your vet say?
 
#21 · (Edited)
The vet didn't mention crating at all. She said to give the anti-inflammatory medicine once a day, keep activity to a minimum, with no long walks, and no running, jumping, or going up and down stairs for 14 days, at which point we should see some progress, i.e. reduced limping and favoring of that leg. If not, then Mocha has to get referred to orthopedics.

It must be different for dogs than people. My daughter tore her ACL playing soccer (astro turf) and after the surgery, if I remember right, she was able to walk on the leg but had to get physical therapy to get full motion of the knee back. Of course she was told not do anything strenuous like running, jumping sports, etc but she was able to walk on it.

Today, I've been picking her up and carrying her up and down the deck stairs...I'm so happy she only weighs 60 pounds LOL
 
#22 ·
Yes, if she has surgery, she will need rehab. I've got a friend who's "Ilka from another mother" had CCL surgery a few days ago, and a couple more friend's whos dogs have had them, and after rehab, gone back into not only regular activities but competitive sports.

Using an x-pen or baby gates to keep her in one room would probably suffice to keep her moving around to a minimum, and of course leashed in the yard when pottying.
 
#23 ·
I know that keeping her crated all the time sounds a lot like punishment but it's so easy for a dog who normally gets a lot of exercise to deal with restricted exercise (especially since they aren't sure exactly what is going on with the ligament nor how serious it is) and I know (unfortunately) of several cases of partial tears that turned into complete ruptures and ended up needing surgery thought he could be out of the crate and safe in a single room.

One dog charged past an owner and ran up a set of stairs and finished tearing the ligament which had only a partial tear up to that point.

Another Dobe, a bitch normally well trained and very polite had a partial ACL rupture and they were trying to avoid surgery. She was being kept in a downstairs room and crated when someone wasn't there with her. They were alternating staying with her at night and had been crating her at night just so she didn't do something like trying to get on the bed (which she was not allowed on and was good about not trying to get on beds)

They were never entirely sure exactly what happened but the wife thinks that she fell asleep reading and the bitch wasn't crated and the woman woke up to a dog screaming in pain. They took her into emergency and emergency sedated her and reached her orthopedist who agreed to meet them at the clinic the first thing in the morning (ie 6:00am).

Turned out that whatever she did not only completely tore the ACL but also pulled her achilles tendon loose from it's mooring. So she ended up with two very expensive surgeries and a really long long recovery with a ton of rehab and restricted exercise.

I'd think that just to prevent the unlikely accident for stuff like that I'd rather crate than take any chances.

Poor Mocha--sometimes life just ain't fair....

dobebug
 
#24 ·
keep activity to a minimum, with no long walks, and no running, jumping, or going up and down stairs for 14 days

Did the Vet forget she's a Doberman ? :grin2:

I have to agree with Bug on this one - It is almost impossible to keep a Dober down - They will hear something - see something and the next thing they are running to a window or jumping up to investigate whats going on . then there is that " Pent " up energy = and they can turn into the zoomies in a heart beat , sorry Mocha - we are just protecting you dear girl
Lots of love and hugs Mocha :2smile:
 
#25 ·
We're cautiously and hopefully optimistic; she's no longer holding the leg off the floor or limping so I don't know if it's the anti-inflammatory meds doing their work or the rest, or a combination of the two. The hard part is going to be keeping up with this regimen and not letting our guard down or getting careless.

She's already resigned herself to being carried up and down the deck stairs, when we go out the door and get to the stairs, she stops and looks up at me and then she's not too thrilled about having to go potty on a leash. When she goes #2 she looks back over her shoulder up at me like "really, dad, can't a girl have some privacy?"

And then I have to be right there afterwards to make sure she doesn't do that grass kicking/scratching thing she likes to do after doing her business.

My biggest worry is, that we go through all of this for a couple of months, then when she's no longer on leash she decides to have a case of the zoomies or runs up or down the stairs and re-injures the leg again. I'll talk to the vet about what we can do as far as physical therapy when that time comes, maybe we need to slowly start with short walks and gradually build up to longer walks to build up the muscles again...playing fetch is out of the question for sure.

Oh well, one day at a time.
 
#27 ·
Do you have any sports medicine/rehab vets near you, TN? If so, you might consider contacting them. The rehab facilities often do things like underwater treadmills and prescribe at-home exercises (things like balance work on fitbones) to help with rehab. They can be really amazing.
 
#26 ·
Sorry to hear about the new issue with Mocha.
I have a issue with Redboy that causes limping. It has been several months now since a limp and i have been increasing his activity and everything is going normal. The one thing i do is avoid cold starts with him. I also give him a fairly rough massage and stretch every morning before he gets out of bed.
Good luck
 
#31 ·
TN- When we were taking Kasia and Ali to the VCA - They had a Therapy room - There was a tread mill in this big tank , they would get the dog in there and then fill it with water to float the dog some - take the weight off there legs and then start the tread mill - I asked about it one day , it's for dogs that has some sort of leg , muscle injury - Was just thinking about that and wondered if something like that could help Mocha .
 
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