# Partial tear ACL



## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

Ok, so my wonder poodle, Paige, of the airborne division finally hurt herself. She was supervising the feeding of the 'common dogs' (her phrasing) and jumped on top of a wire crate to better see if I was doing everything correctly. This is normal SOP for her. Anyway, when she jumped off, she miscalculated and hung her left hind leg in the wire grating. My daughter and I tried to rescus her, but she managed to thrash herself free on her own. She was walking three-legged, so we bundled her up and headed straight to the vet

The vet found nothing out of place except her temper (I now know she wears a muzzle with grace and style), gave her a pain shot and advised to have her try to remain quiet. Yeah, right. *eye roll*

Ok, she seemed ok over the weekend, wasn't really able to keep her as sedentary as I would have liked, but by Monday am, she was starting to gimp a bit and occasionally hold her leg up. Back to the vet, this time to be sedated and x-rayed. He found no luxation of her patellas before anesthesia and only a very tiny amount on the injured leg after sedation. X-rays showed beautiful hips (I am used to large breeds and was curious) and no bony damage to her joints. He diagnosed a partial ligament tear and says that since she's under 10 pounds 
(7.6) she should heal nicely on her own. He wants her on rimadyl which I don't like to use. 

Any suggestions for her. I feel badly since she stills limps some, but the little beast, and I swear this is done in defiance, has figured out how to flat footed clear a 4 ft fence. Which she now does every chance she gets, but only when I'm around. This didn't start until after the injury and diagnosis. I am crating her and I guess now having to leash her for all visits outside, but, she climbs everything in the house, launches herself off anything and takes great joy in being airborne. I swear, I'm going to hog tie her. 

Any body else been through this with a tiny dog? I do have a retired cowdog that has blown out both her knees. But, she's quite a bit older and was injured while working. (two different incidents, that's why she's retired). Will Paige ever be completely sound again, or will she always be a little 'ouchie' like my older girl (who is about 40 pounds and soon to be 10 years old).

Thanks.


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## liljaker (Aug 6, 2011)

BerderKelpie: I could probably write the book (and the budget) on CCL tears (cranial cruciate ligament) since Jake had 2, at age 10 and 11, and full surgeries on both. Feel free to PM me if you need any additional information beyond what is posted. And, BTW, tiny dog, large dog, the only difference is the weight on the joint --- but treatment is same no matter of size.


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

liljaker, 
Thanks for the reply. I just might take you up on the offer to pm you. I would like to get as much info out in public to help anyone else who may experience this, too. 

When Pelli (retired cow dog), came to me two years ago,she had already injured one knee, and then injured the other while I had her. I still feel guilty about that. I have never had knee injuries in my dogs before and now in two years, there's been two. Not to mention the separated pelvis on my BC-Kelpie mix, but that's a whole 'nuther thing. 
What am I doing wrong for this to be happening? The only thing I can think of is maybe I'm micro-managing them too much. Maybe they'd be better off with out being babied so much.

Anyway, I like my vets, but they don't get really carried away with invasive surgeries. If she can heal on her own, I'm ok with that, but if she needs more, I want to do it for her. She's my responsibility and I wish to take care of her properly. 

The vet says she will heal just fine while using it regularly, but since I've stopped her training, she's become much more active. I'm thinking maybe put her back into tracking since that can be slow and controlled and just forego the OB, agility, and silly parlor tricks for a couple of months. Maybe thinking through some easy tracks will help settle her down. She's so bored right now, she's trying to dig a hole through my porch. 

Would wrapping it be helpful or could that make it worse? Is surgery advisable even for a partial tear?

I'm sorry, I guess I'm rambling on, but I adore this little monster. She is about as much fun as I have had in a long time with a dog. 

Thank you, again.


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## katbrat (May 8, 2011)

BoderKelpie, we had a toy who was 5 3/4 pounds soaking wet who tore her ACL when she was nine years old chasing what we began to refer to as the "evil bunny that lived under the shed." She did end up having surgery. We were told to keep her quiet and still and the second night home, put up a baby gate so she could not get up the stairs. She climed the gate and fell from the top of it. For the next few nights ds slept on the floor with her to keep an eye on her. We did have a physical therapist come by the house twice a week for the first two weeks and then once a week for several more after she got her stitches out. It was about two weeks between when she tore her ACL and she had the surgery. When we took her in for her knee, we found out she had a few bad teeth the vet was concerned about and had to get those taken care of first. She was was very used to hiking that back leg up and not using it and there was concern that once heeled, she just might be so used to not using it that she wouldn't. The therapist would use a tens unit on the area and do massage therapy. We filled in with physical therapy excersise she showed us. She heeled up as good as new and never had any more trouble with her knee. She even continued to chase the bunny in the yard.


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

katbrat, thank you. 
I will keep a very close eye on my Wonder Poodle and look into the physical therapy for her. 
I've talked to a trainer that also said tracking would be ok to try to burn off some energy. Tracking is also what we retired Pelli to do as it keeps her mind working and it makes her so happy. Her surgeries didn't work as well as she still gets a little 'ouchie' at times, but she still plays and loves life. She is no longer allowed to even see cattle anymore since her need to herd over rides her need to not tear her knees up again. Although, she does like putting the ducks in a pen for me. 

Thank you for sharing your success story with me, I feel a little better. I am going to revamp my entire management system to see what I can do to prevent this again.


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