Rogan tore his ACL
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Rogansmommy
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Rogan tore his ACL
I know I haven't been around much lately and what a way to return! It looks like Rogan tore his ACL clear through. We've got an appointment with an Ortho-vet on Wednesday and our regular vet gave him Previcox to help with the pain and swellling. It's never dull around here!
Michele
^Rogan^ at the Bridge on 5/16/09 -- always in my heart
^Rogan^ at the Bridge on 5/16/09 -- always in my heart
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threedogjeep
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cheriekynb
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Michele:
My female chow Gracie had ACL surgery and she's doing great! First couple of weeks after surgery we had to keep her confined to a leash and room. Week 3 we had to start walks each day and week by week we increased the walks. We still had to keep her separated from my male Cooper for about 2 months because they wanted to play and we couldn't take the change of her making the wrong move.
I have no regrets about going through the surgery. This is a very fixable condition. Sometimes you can even keep them quiet for about 6 months and it can heal on it's own. 6 months was just not an option for us.
I wish you the best. Everything will be fine.
My female chow Gracie had ACL surgery and she's doing great! First couple of weeks after surgery we had to keep her confined to a leash and room. Week 3 we had to start walks each day and week by week we increased the walks. We still had to keep her separated from my male Cooper for about 2 months because they wanted to play and we couldn't take the change of her making the wrong move.
I have no regrets about going through the surgery. This is a very fixable condition. Sometimes you can even keep them quiet for about 6 months and it can heal on it's own. 6 months was just not an option for us.
I wish you the best. Everything will be fine.
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Rogansmommy
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We're not sure of how he did it that's one of the problems. He's almost 10, so there's some concern that it could be degenerative. That's one of the things we'll find out on Wednesday. He's had a history of knee problems since he was young - one of the reasons I retired him after his CD was because his knees couldn't handle the strain of the jumps for CDX.
He's hanging out - we're trying to keep him as calm as possible, but being the dog he is, he's got to be 'on guard' at all times, so we've resorted to crating him until I can get to the store tomorrow and get an X-pen. He'll go insane if he's got to stay in the crate.
As for pain, well, it was bad today. The vet did two tests - the drawer test and the tibia test; Rogan had to be partially sedated because he was so tight the vet couldn't feel anything. Thankfully, he's not vindictive or a grudge-holder, he just wanted out. When he got home he was in alot of pain so I gave him a baby aspirin and that seemed to help. He's eating well and not panting so hopefully he's comfortable now. At least he seems to be...
It's been a rough few months here. We lost Jake (my father-in-law's male rott) in May to osteo; my dad's been having heart problems again; Nina's still hanging on but has had some serious episodes; on top of life in general. At this point, I'm just going to weather this and hope for the best.
He's hanging out - we're trying to keep him as calm as possible, but being the dog he is, he's got to be 'on guard' at all times, so we've resorted to crating him until I can get to the store tomorrow and get an X-pen. He'll go insane if he's got to stay in the crate.
As for pain, well, it was bad today. The vet did two tests - the drawer test and the tibia test; Rogan had to be partially sedated because he was so tight the vet couldn't feel anything. Thankfully, he's not vindictive or a grudge-holder, he just wanted out. When he got home he was in alot of pain so I gave him a baby aspirin and that seemed to help. He's eating well and not panting so hopefully he's comfortable now. At least he seems to be...
It's been a rough few months here. We lost Jake (my father-in-law's male rott) in May to osteo; my dad's been having heart problems again; Nina's still hanging on but has had some serious episodes; on top of life in general. At this point, I'm just going to weather this and hope for the best.
Michele
^Rogan^ at the Bridge on 5/16/09 -- always in my heart
^Rogan^ at the Bridge on 5/16/09 -- always in my heart
Michele:
Why don't you give him the Previcox? It would probably help with the pain. That's what the vet gave Gracie and it really did help. I didn't give it to her everyday but it sure helped on the bad ones.
I didn't know Rogan was 10 years old and understand your concern. Isn't the vet recommending surgery? I'm so sorry to hear all the problems you are having.
Do you have a room he would be comfortable in? I can see why the crate will make him crazy. They have a job to do and take it very seriously don't they. Although, I must admit keeping Gracie quiet in a room was challenging. My husband or I would take turns sitting with her.
Poor guy, it's hard on him and you.
Why don't you give him the Previcox? It would probably help with the pain. That's what the vet gave Gracie and it really did help. I didn't give it to her everyday but it sure helped on the bad ones.
I didn't know Rogan was 10 years old and understand your concern. Isn't the vet recommending surgery? I'm so sorry to hear all the problems you are having.
Do you have a room he would be comfortable in? I can see why the crate will make him crazy. They have a job to do and take it very seriously don't they. Although, I must admit keeping Gracie quiet in a room was challenging. My husband or I would take turns sitting with her.
Poor guy, it's hard on him and you.
Just another thought. I've never throught of a torn ACL as being a degenerative disorder. He might have had some weakness in the knee area or torn it out a little in the past but it's a wrong moment that tears it clear through.
Gracie's wasn't torn all the way but she keep reinjuring it by not staying calm. I'm certain that in time she would have a complete tear. We really felt the only option for her was to have the surgery because she's an active girl and I just couldn't stand to see her in pain. But, when she was on a mission she did what she had to and then would come limping back, on 3 legs.
Gracie's wasn't torn all the way but she keep reinjuring it by not staying calm. I'm certain that in time she would have a complete tear. We really felt the only option for her was to have the surgery because she's an active girl and I just couldn't stand to see her in pain. But, when she was on a mission she did what she had to and then would come limping back, on 3 legs.
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IliamnasQuest
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I'm sorry to hear that Rogan has a torn cruciate. Poor guy!
I had a nine year old German shepherd tear a cruciate and I opted not to go for the surgery on him. It wasn't hard to keep him quiet, though, and with time he did get much better. I used some pain meds with him to help him get through the initial pain but didn't have to continue with them. Lots of glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM to help keep joints strong, slow easy walks to keep muscle strong, and pain meds only as needed seemed to work for him.
Please update us after your next vet visit -
Melanie and the gang in Alaska
I had a nine year old German shepherd tear a cruciate and I opted not to go for the surgery on him. It wasn't hard to keep him quiet, though, and with time he did get much better. I used some pain meds with him to help him get through the initial pain but didn't have to continue with them. Lots of glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM to help keep joints strong, slow easy walks to keep muscle strong, and pain meds only as needed seemed to work for him.
Please update us after your next vet visit -
Melanie and the gang in Alaska
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Rogansmommy
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UPDATE:
So we just got home from the ortho-vet and we got good news and not so good news. I loved the vet and his staff; very nice people, no fear and he knew his stuff. He was in the exam room with me for 45 minutes, answered every question thoughtfully and was very good with Rogan.
The good news is that we're going to try and treat this without surgery. It's not torn all the way through, so he gave me piroxicam for the pain and said to keep Rogan 'relatively confined'; no crating, but confine him to one room and don't let him do any extreme exercise.
The bad news is the reason why he wants to hold off on the surgery. Rogan's other knee is swollen as well and the vet is afraid that if we move to surgery, by taking all the weight off of the torn knee, it could cause a tear in the other. Also, he feels that it's because of the swelling in the other knee that is the reason why Rogan's still using the torn knee (he's not keeping it up all the way at all, and is putting about 50% use on it) so he's less likely to lose muscle mass.
We're going to watch him and keep a diary on the calendar of good days/bad days. The doctor said that if the piroxicam doesn't work and we string together bad 5-7 days, then we will need to move toward surgery. But he wants to take a cautious approach.
So we just got home from the ortho-vet and we got good news and not so good news. I loved the vet and his staff; very nice people, no fear and he knew his stuff. He was in the exam room with me for 45 minutes, answered every question thoughtfully and was very good with Rogan.
The good news is that we're going to try and treat this without surgery. It's not torn all the way through, so he gave me piroxicam for the pain and said to keep Rogan 'relatively confined'; no crating, but confine him to one room and don't let him do any extreme exercise.
The bad news is the reason why he wants to hold off on the surgery. Rogan's other knee is swollen as well and the vet is afraid that if we move to surgery, by taking all the weight off of the torn knee, it could cause a tear in the other. Also, he feels that it's because of the swelling in the other knee that is the reason why Rogan's still using the torn knee (he's not keeping it up all the way at all, and is putting about 50% use on it) so he's less likely to lose muscle mass.
We're going to watch him and keep a diary on the calendar of good days/bad days. The doctor said that if the piroxicam doesn't work and we string together bad 5-7 days, then we will need to move toward surgery. But he wants to take a cautious approach.
Michele
^Rogan^ at the Bridge on 5/16/09 -- always in my heart
^Rogan^ at the Bridge on 5/16/09 -- always in my heart
Torn ACL
Our 8 year old, Sullivan has torn ACLs in both hind legs, hip dysplasia, and osteosarcoma. We've opted not to do surgery for any of it because the prognosis is the same for the cancer, no matter what we do.
However, I'm not trying to sound like my problem is worse than your problem but to tell you what is working for Sullivan. We have known she had arthitis for a few years, but never did xrays. When she started limping a couple weeks ago they did the xrays and found all of the above. We've had her on a glucosamine/chondritin supplement for a year which helps, but the vet also gave her the pain medicine Deramaxx (she take 50 milligrams a day.) She is doing things she hasn't done in years! I don't know anything about the long term effects of Deramaxx (but unfortunately, we don't have to worry about long term), but I would recommend this drug as an alternative to surgery. Though her return to normal behavior (and no limping) is deceptive, we're thrilled she appears to not be in pain. The vet and a friend who is a radiologist for humans said she has probably had the dysplasia from birth -- she's tough -- would have never known without an xray.
Good luck with the acl's! Keep us posted.
However, I'm not trying to sound like my problem is worse than your problem but to tell you what is working for Sullivan. We have known she had arthitis for a few years, but never did xrays. When she started limping a couple weeks ago they did the xrays and found all of the above. We've had her on a glucosamine/chondritin supplement for a year which helps, but the vet also gave her the pain medicine Deramaxx (she take 50 milligrams a day.) She is doing things she hasn't done in years! I don't know anything about the long term effects of Deramaxx (but unfortunately, we don't have to worry about long term), but I would recommend this drug as an alternative to surgery. Though her return to normal behavior (and no limping) is deceptive, we're thrilled she appears to not be in pain. The vet and a friend who is a radiologist for humans said she has probably had the dysplasia from birth -- she's tough -- would have never known without an xray.
Good luck with the acl's! Keep us posted.