9 Month Old Dual ACL tears

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Bland20
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9 Month Old Dual ACL tears

Post by Bland20 » Sun Sep 02, 2018 8:20 pm

Hey everyone,

Joined to try and figure out what the heck I need to do in this situation. Pup came up limp after running around in the field behind the house. Took her to the vet, they told me both of her knees has essentially grenaded. She is definitely lame, but can plant both back legs on the ground, I would think a dog with dual ACL tears wouldn’t be able to stand. I’m taking her to a more reputable vet to get her re examined and referred to a surgeon if necessary. Do I get the operation now or do I need to wait until she is older? Was told by the vet that a lot of people would refuse to operate on her because of her age. I can’t believe this has happened, seems like her hunting career is over before it began. Hate it.

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Sharon
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Re: 9 Month Old Dual ACL tears

Post by Sharon » Mon Sep 03, 2018 2:41 pm

Welcome to the forum.

Need to know how old she is now and the breed.
Amazing how much pain a dog will tolerate Probably bothering her much more than you know even though she can stand.Why would you wait until she is older?

My 13 year-old setter has had both knees fixed (tplo surgery )at 6 and 8 years of age. (Very common for the second knee to go too. ) No problems at all after 4-6 weeks after surgery . Now she has a bad arthritic elbow , but is now 13 so not getting surgery. Pain pills do the job so she can still run at full speed. :)

PS You didn't list your location , but if in Ontario, I can recommend a terrific surgeon.
" We are more than our gender, skin color, class, sexuality or age; we are unlimited potential, and can not be defined by one label." quote A. Bartlett

Steve007
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Re: 9 Month Old Dual ACL tears

Post by Steve007 » Mon Sep 03, 2018 4:04 pm

A) This is a link to the American Association of Rehabilitation Veterinarians. http://www.rehabvets.org/

You'll get a lot of information including contacts (probably )in your areas. Many --perhaps most-- of these people do not do orthopedic surgery, but they know who is good, and can further give you information on your specific dog after an exam and looking at whatever records are available from your local vet.

B) if nothing is available in your area, contact a veterinary school and take him there.

TPLO surgery is a (relatively ) new procedure. Don't go to a local vet for this surgery and don't think orthopedic vets know beans about rehab. Some do; not all, by a long shot.

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Sharon
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Re: 9 Month Old Dual ACL tears

Post by Sharon » Mon Sep 03, 2018 4:30 pm

Not that new Steve:

"Developed by Dr. Barclay Slocum, the TPLO surgery was first considered a radical procedure for addressing canine ACL injuries. Now in existence for over 20 years, the surgery has proven itself, time and time again, to be an extremely effective long term solution for addressing cruciate ligament injury in dogs." quote
" We are more than our gender, skin color, class, sexuality or age; we are unlimited potential, and can not be defined by one label." quote A. Bartlett

Steve007
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Re: 9 Month Old Dual ACL tears

Post by Steve007 » Mon Sep 03, 2018 4:50 pm

I know; 20 years is new surgery, and considering the specific training it takes to master a new complex surgical procedure and what a small proportion of a small animal vet's practice would be allocated to this procedure,it would be a blatant error to work with anyone but a board-certified surgeon who does a lot of these. And even then, you'd best be selective, and then find and go to a certified rehab vet very quickly afterwards.

Obviously, you can get lucky and dogs do recover from lots of things. But there's a reason why 50% of the dogs who get this procedure blow out the other knee. For your best odds, you had best do it right..

Bland20
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Re: 9 Month Old Dual ACL tears

Post by Bland20 » Mon Sep 03, 2018 5:54 pm

She is a 9 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon. not really sure of how it progressed. One day she was fine, the next she is struggling to stand.

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ezzy333
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Re: 9 Month Old Dual ACL tears

Post by ezzy333 » Mon Sep 03, 2018 7:40 pm

Steve007 wrote:I know; 20 years is new surgery, and considering the specific training it takes to master a new complex surgical procedure and what a small proportion of a small animal vet's practice would be allocated to this procedure,it would be a blatant error to work with anyone but a board-certified surgeon who does a lot of these. And even then, you'd best be selective, and then find and go to a certified rehab vet very quickly afterwards.

Obviously, you can get lucky and dogs do recover from lots of things. But there's a reason why 50% of the dogs who get this procedure blow out the other knee. For your best odds, you had best do it right..
They blow out the other one for the same reason the first one failed. Quite often it stems from early neutering.

Ezzy
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=144
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=207

It's not how many breaths you have taken but how many times it has been taken away!

Has anyone noticed common sense isn't very common anymore.

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Sharon
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Re: 9 Month Old Dual ACL tears

Post by Sharon » Mon Sep 03, 2018 8:23 pm

Bland20 wrote:She is a 9 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon. not really sure of how it progressed. One day she was fine, the next she is struggling to stand.
I did a little research, just for my own education and it appears that age and breed don't matter. It appears that pups can get a torn ACL too.

https://www.google.ca/search?rlz=1C1CHB ... 9&dpr=1.25
" We are more than our gender, skin color, class, sexuality or age; we are unlimited potential, and can not be defined by one label." quote A. Bartlett

Bland20
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Re: 9 Month Old Dual ACL tears

Post by Bland20 » Tue Sep 04, 2018 12:00 am

She has not been spayed yet. Going to another vet today. Will confirm the diagnosis and next steps.

Steve007
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Re: 9 Month Old Dual ACL tears

Post by Steve007 » Tue Sep 04, 2018 6:07 pm

Bland20 wrote:She has not been spayed yet. Going to another vet today. Will confirm the diagnosis and next steps.
Ezzy is absolutely correct regarding the dangers of early neutering, but is prone to overstatement at times. My male who has been through this is also entire, as are all the football players and most people who have torn ACL tendons (the human equivalent).

The major reasons 50% of dogs blow out the other knee are poor orthopedic work to start with and inadequate rehab which can lead to too much (or the wrong kind of) exercise too early. There is a LOT to modern rehab and it goes beyond walking or a lady in the orthopedic vet's basement with a treadmill. Anyone who has gone through similar surgery himself will realize this. Without it, dogs get carried away too early and the other knee goes. With a good specialist orthopedic guy and modern rehab, your odds are excellent. If only one knee is involved to start with, the other should be fine.

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Re: 9 Month Old Dual ACL tears

Post by cjhills » Tue Sep 04, 2018 10:10 pm

more likely accident or hereditary......Cj

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dog dr
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Re: 9 Month Old Dual ACL tears

Post by dog dr » Wed Sep 05, 2018 1:29 pm

Bland20 wrote:She has not been spayed yet. Going to another vet today. Will confirm the diagnosis and next steps.
what did the 2nd opinion say?

Steve007
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Re: 9 Month Old Dual ACL tears

Post by Steve007 » Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:05 am

dog dr wrote:
Bland20 wrote:She has not been spayed yet. Going to another vet today. Will confirm the diagnosis and next steps.
what did the 2nd opinion say?
I sent a PM to this OP yesterday asking him to let us know. Others here might do so as well . I expect we'd all like to know.

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