torn acl-needs surgery - Page 1

my 5 yr old gsd, male, was just diagnosed with torn acl and needs surgery. if you went through something like this, please post. how do i keep my dog from going stir crazy, what activities can he tolerate, what is recovery like, does he have to stay in a crate. our dog blaze is pretty docil and quiet and doesn't jump. we keep him in a carpeted small room. please let me know your thoughts. thanks!!!

My sister's 9 year old Border Collie, Tango, had ACL surgery last year. No stairs, no jumping, no activity for 12 weeks minimum. In the beginning Tango had to be kept very quiet, but she wasn't crated. My sister gradually (after 2 weeks or so) started taking her for short walks and slowly increased the distance. Everything was done gradually. All they could do was walk for the first 4 months if my memory serves me right. THey live a quiet lifestyle- no kids and no other dogs. It took about 8 months before Tango fully recovered and could walk without a limp.  Your vet will give you specific instructions.

Now, our son and his wife have a 3 year old French Mastif named Ben and he had ACL surgery this week. In spite f his orthopedic issues, Ben is a fairly active dog, plus they have a 6 month old puppy in the house and the two normally play a lot.  THey also have a five year old son, so there's always activity in the house. The vet said Ben will need to be crated for three months, just taken out to potty and eventually for walks.  

Good luck with your boy. I hope all goes well with his surgery and recovery.

I forgot to mention that swimming is beneficial during the recovery period.  Tango hates the water, so it would've been counter productive for her, according to the vet. Also, I forgot to mention that Tango had TPLO surgery and her injury was very severe. I'm sure recovery time can vary quite a bit- just depends on the dog, the type of repair procedure performed and the severity of the injury.  

Hello...
Our GSD had this operation. (Twice!!) Some things we found helpful:

Ice packs!! Lots and lots....You can make your own by mixing 2 c. water, 1/2 c. rubbing alcohol, 2 tbsp. salt. The frozen mix stays slushy so it can be wrapped around the whole knee. I had it triple bagged and in an old pillowcase....it leaked a bit, but I just froze the whole thing and the damp pillowcase turned into a giant ice pack. Make sure you put a piece of flannel or something on the skin before the icepack. The cold kept the swelling down and really seemed to help with the pain. I would use it for 30 minutes or longer every couple of hours at first.

"Mattress stitch" sutures. The first knee was stapled together. That lasted about 12 hours before we had to take him back for sutures. The sutures lasted another 24 hours before they started coming apart. Third time they used the mattress stitch and all was good. On the second knee, they used this from the start and we never had a problem.

Our boy couldn't handle a 'cone', (he just had to be able to see all around him) We slept on a mat on the floor with him the first few nights and just kept him from licking. We had a dense foam neck collar that worked well when we couldn't be around (like person would use for whiplash). We used a beach towel under his belly to help him out to potty.

I don't think crating would be very good. They really need to be able to stretch out to be comfortable. One of us stayed home from work the first week. Every time he stood up we were there to help him. He ate and drank on his bed. We did use Tramadol at the start...it mostly just helped him to sleep alot.

Our vet said most dogs would have the other knee go within the year. Exactly 11 months later we had to go through the whole thing again!! Poor guy!

Good luck to you and a speedy recovery!

My son's dog had this surgery, her injury was severe & the vet basically replaced the knee surface. They had 16 weeks of slinging the dog to potty, no weight bearing for 10 weeks, then only partial weight bearing for almost another 2 months. They had physical therapy in a warm water pool, kind of like a perpetual motion pool as soon as the incision was healed, but that was under the supervision of the veterinary staff. That was in Portland, Oregon.
My puppy person had my pup's knee fixed & had nearly the same instructions, but she couldn't wait, & the dog was going up stairs in a couple weeks, swimming in the creek again in a month; & really, he has a little gimp, but otherwise, he's OK. I kept thinking-omG, this is going to end badly,- but actually, it didn't.
Neither has had to have the other knee done, yet! Good luck!
jackie harris

My American Bulldog tore his ACL And my vet did the old school fish line (monofiliment replacement) for him and he did great.
I sat and watched the surgery as i worked for him at that time. He used 100lb surgically prepared mono line for the ligiment replacemet. Took about an hour to repair.
Dog was up and out of recovery by 5 pm and the sent me home with my still slightly drunk dog. He was stiff and sore for a little while, had to help him down 3 stairs. But he went out to the yard, stood on his surgery leg, lifted the good leg a peed on the bushes. I did not kennel him, He was really good about just keeping quite. It only hurt if he bumped it and his leg looked like the mummy for a week.
The worse part for Luther was the E-collar, he hated that thing and after a few days i too it off. He never bothered his stitches. Recovery was yard walks for a few weeks, and then swimming and walking on the loose sand at the beach. He recovered beautifully and never had another problem with his leg.
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b281/dragonfry/luthersurgery.jpg[/IMG]
Luther with Bandages
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b281/dragonfry/lutherpostop.jpg[/IMG]
Luther post suterues removed.
He even went on to dog some work in agility.
Hope the best for your dog and a speedy recovery

Trying pix again
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b281/dragonfry/luthersurgery.jpg

ok seems to not want to post, just cut and paste, feel free to look.

I agree with Thomas; ACL injuries are way over diagnosed and surgery should be your absolute last option.  You need to do some research before you spend a lot of money unnecessarily.  A good place to start is here: http://tiggerpoz.com/

If it turns out that your dog does actually need surgery, know your options and what the risks/expected outcome of each is.  I, personally, would opt for the, "Tightrope CCL," procedure rather than the much more invasive and riskier TPLO or TTA bone remodelling type of repair.

Oops...just noticed the original post was from May so this info is probably more than a little late but it might help someone else...