Cruciate Ligament Injury

Olaf52

I have a 12 year old jack russell who in October ruptured his cruciate ligament. He had surgery and while he uses it for general standing on and when playing he will not use his leg to walk on. Occasionally on the beach he will take 2-4 steps then hold it up again.

I have tried doing swims in the bath, exercises the vet says and he still won't use it.

Has anyone had experience with this type of injury with a pet and if so does anyone have any recommendations on how to help him walk on it?

tk123

Has the vet checked for illiopsoas strain?

Olaf52

tk123 wrote: »

Has the vet checked for illiopsoas strain?

No but he has done several X-rays and the dog doesn’t seem to be in pain. If I put toys at a height he can stand on his hind legs with no reaction but he won’t use his leg to walk with. 🀷*♀️

tk123

Somebody posted in the last few months with the same problem and the dog did start using the leg eventually. I haven’t had this problem with my guy - he’s had 2 surgeries each on both legs and walked on them immediately and thought he was fine lol!

Olaf52

tk123 wrote: »

Somebody posted in the last few months with the same problem and the dog did start using the leg eventually. I haven’t had this problem with my guy - he’s had 2 surgeries each on both legs and walked on them immediately and thought he was fine lol!

Thanks for the response. I had hoped he would be using it again by now and vet is now talking more surgery to take the plate out. I’m just not sure how much more he can take and what will happen if taking the plate out doesn’t work either 😢😢

tk123

Olaf52 wrote: »

Thanks for the response. I had hoped he would be using it again by now and vet is now talking more surgery to take the plate out. I’m just not sure how much more he can take and what will happen if taking the plate out doesn’t work either 😢😢

my guy had TTA-Rapid for his knees so no plate thank god. He did have iliopsoas strain both times where he went very lame and it takes a few months of rest and
careful exercise to heal. It can be very worrying though because we second guess if we did the right thing.

My vet recommended walking as slowly as possible to make sure they’re shifting weight properly. I’d also maybe try stepping him over stuff - you don’t need to buy cones and poles - like a brush handle, the pole off the vacuum and stuff like that works fine on the floor. Another simple thing - a treat dispenser to get him moving without realising he’s moving and over thinking it.

Ave Sodalis

Is there an animal/veterinary physiotherapist near you?