DennasMom
Well-Known Member
Thought I'd make the subject line easily searchable...
I'm searching and not finding a lot on the group's personal experiences with CCL tears, TPLO surgery and other knee related issues...so...
Anyone here been through a CCL injury? (I'm guessing YES).
What did you do? Surgery? Conservative Management?
I read Griphon Mastiff's blog on Brinkley, which was very helpful. http://gryphonmastiffs.blogspot.com/2012/12/MastiffTPLOSurgery.html
I also read the recommended link on Conservative Management (CM): http://www.tiggerpoz.com/index.html
Which now has me third-guessing my recent decision (second-guessing was last week) to get a surgical consult for Denna.
Denna tore her CCL sometime last November, and we didn't really think anything of it - I figured it was an over-exertion injury, and she'd be fine in a few days. She did seem fine, although if we went for too long of a walk, she'd start limping... so walks got shorter. She probably re-injured it running after my sister's dog over Christmas (which I put a stop to quickly, but not immediately)... so... fewer walks, more naps... without smaller meals... she put on 10lbs over the last 3 months.
Talked to our vet on Feb 1st, she took x-rays and diagnosed CCL tear with onset of some arthritis. She put us on meloxicam to get Denna using the leg a bit, which worked. After a month, we stopped the meloxicam and the limp returned worse than before...so... we're back on meloxicam and my vet suggested surgery.
Today, I went to a holistic vet and we talked for about an hour with Denna napping at our feet. After all the talking, he did not suggest any alternative treatments (and he's a certified acupuncturist, which I was hoping he would offer)... he gave me the names of a bunch of surgeons in the area that would do a good job for us. He also gave us some high-potency curcumin tablets. Which makes me scratch my head, because from the turmeric group on Facebook, the concentrated curcumin is no better (and may be worse) than good ol' golden paste. Hmpf....
Now I'm thinking we'll go back to restricted movement at home (on-leash in the yard), add in some water therapy, higher doses of turmeric, glucosamine and chondrontin, lower doses of calories, and check back in a month to see if we're improving. And... getting off the meloxicam (or at least reducing the dose to every-other day), and letting her limp - which is what the CM link above suggests is better for natural knee scar tissue development. If there's no improvement in another month, then do surgical consult?
The other gotcha, is fitting in a surgery and post-op care in our summer schedule... we really need her to be mobile by the first of September, and preferably the first of August when we have events planned that she's a part of. Her limping during those events would not be catastrophic, but her not being able to walk up stairs would be.
Thoughts??
I'm searching and not finding a lot on the group's personal experiences with CCL tears, TPLO surgery and other knee related issues...so...
Anyone here been through a CCL injury? (I'm guessing YES).
What did you do? Surgery? Conservative Management?
I read Griphon Mastiff's blog on Brinkley, which was very helpful. http://gryphonmastiffs.blogspot.com/2012/12/MastiffTPLOSurgery.html
I also read the recommended link on Conservative Management (CM): http://www.tiggerpoz.com/index.html
Which now has me third-guessing my recent decision (second-guessing was last week) to get a surgical consult for Denna.
Denna tore her CCL sometime last November, and we didn't really think anything of it - I figured it was an over-exertion injury, and she'd be fine in a few days. She did seem fine, although if we went for too long of a walk, she'd start limping... so walks got shorter. She probably re-injured it running after my sister's dog over Christmas (which I put a stop to quickly, but not immediately)... so... fewer walks, more naps... without smaller meals... she put on 10lbs over the last 3 months.
Talked to our vet on Feb 1st, she took x-rays and diagnosed CCL tear with onset of some arthritis. She put us on meloxicam to get Denna using the leg a bit, which worked. After a month, we stopped the meloxicam and the limp returned worse than before...so... we're back on meloxicam and my vet suggested surgery.
Today, I went to a holistic vet and we talked for about an hour with Denna napping at our feet. After all the talking, he did not suggest any alternative treatments (and he's a certified acupuncturist, which I was hoping he would offer)... he gave me the names of a bunch of surgeons in the area that would do a good job for us. He also gave us some high-potency curcumin tablets. Which makes me scratch my head, because from the turmeric group on Facebook, the concentrated curcumin is no better (and may be worse) than good ol' golden paste. Hmpf....
Now I'm thinking we'll go back to restricted movement at home (on-leash in the yard), add in some water therapy, higher doses of turmeric, glucosamine and chondrontin, lower doses of calories, and check back in a month to see if we're improving. And... getting off the meloxicam (or at least reducing the dose to every-other day), and letting her limp - which is what the CM link above suggests is better for natural knee scar tissue development. If there's no improvement in another month, then do surgical consult?
The other gotcha, is fitting in a surgery and post-op care in our summer schedule... we really need her to be mobile by the first of September, and preferably the first of August when we have events planned that she's a part of. Her limping during those events would not be catastrophic, but her not being able to walk up stairs would be.
Thoughts??