This past summer our dog tore her knee ligaments and required knee surgery.  At the time, we knew nothing about this process, but are pleased that she has made a complete recovery.  What follows is a summary of our experience with this event and how the recovery progressed.  When the injury initially occurred, I searched the internet and somewhere read that 5 times more dogs than humans tear knee ligaments and in my own community have learned of at least 5 pets who have had this occur. 

On June 13^th, around 11 am our 10 year old, 30 pound dog, Cassie, was enjoying her daily romp chasing the squirrels in the backyard.  I was weeding the garden and heard her bark at the squirrel and take off chasing it.  She suddenly stopped, and was holding up her rear leg.  I picked her up, carried her into the house and tried to determine what she had done.  It was obvious she had hurt her leg, but I couldn’t determine exactly what was injured.

As it was a Saturday, my regular vet did not have office hours.  I scoured the phone book, before finding a vet’s office that was open.  The vet, Dr. Singh in Niles, Ohio  agreed to exam Cassie.  In short order, he  determined she had torn the ligaments in her right knee!  

Surgery was scheduled for Monday, June 15^th.  Dr. Singh performed a Lateral Fabellar Technique (Extracapsular Technique) .  From what I’ve researched, this is more successful for smaller, light weight dogs.  Cassie is a small framed, Sheppard/Terrier mix and weighs about 28 pounds.  We were assured she would recover, but just didn’t know how successful the recovery would be.  

Fortunately she has done really well.  Our thanks go out to Dr. Singh and his staff for their willingness to see Cassie on an emergency basis, the compassion of Dr. Singh and the staff, and the success of the surgery.  The following time frame may help you understand the process a dog may go through.

Week 1: 

We left Cassie at the vet’s office Monday morning.  She stayed overnight and we picked her up the next afternoon.  Surprisingly she hobbled to us on three legs, wagging her tail, but obviously groggy.  Our instructions were to keep her as inactive as possible, allow her to eat normally and to keep the incision dry.  She had about 6 inch incision on her leg.  The entire leg had been shaved.  We commented it appeared to look like a chicken breast.

The first night she wet herself, probably from the pain medication that kept her sedated.  On the third day, there was some swelling in the heel area.  The vet reexamined her and instructed us to message this area several times a day to dissipate the fluid.  After three or four days, the fluid build up had disappeared.

I would carry her outside often during the first week to limit her use of steps, and she was able to move about the yard on three legs fairly well.

Week 2:

Tuesday the vet removed the sutures.  He demonstrated the therapy exercises he wanted me to perform on Cassie.  Basically they were stretching of the leg in various directions.

During this week Cassie began toe-touching with the leg when outdoors.  She did this more for balance rather than actual weight bearing.  

Week 3:

The third visit to the vet resulted in more therapy techniques.  Cassie is showing more weight bearing on her leg and is adjusting very well.

Week 4-8.

By now Cassie is showing more and more use of the leg.  She was released from the vet’s care during the sixth week after surgery.  She shows weight bearing on the leg and runs.  I’m still cautious about letting her run too much but she seems to tolerate it well.  I began short walks with around the 6^th week and have extended the length of the walks each day.  By week 8, she is walking fairly normal, although there is a slight limp.  Her thigh muscle still has not fully regained its regular strength as it had atrophied significantly during the initial few weeks.

Three months after surgery she is fully active.  Her muscle mass in her thigh appears nearly equal to the non-surgical leg.  Our walks are up to 30 minutes.  She still limps a bit, but it is hardly noticeable.  She runs, jumps and seems like her old self.  When standing, she tends to put more weight on her non-surgical leg and often will limp real noticeably when she first gets up from laying down.

Overall, I am quite pleased with her progress.  It appears she will make nearly a full recovery, if not a complete recovery.  She runs and walks with ease and can jump on and off the bed although we still try to deter the jumping.

12 Weeks after surgery.

Cassie continues to do well.  Our walks have returned to pre-surgery length of 20 to 40 minutes.  She can run, jump and do all that she did before.  She does limp and favor the leg when she first starts to move, and this is as the vet told us would occur.  He also said she’ll likely develop arthritis as she ages.  She’s currently 10.  She takes PhyCox daily.  Dr. Singh prescribed this to minimize the arthritis.  Overall, we are very pleased with her recovery.

One Year Later.