Partial Torn ACL

[jesse shelley gonzales]

Last year my 6 year old Batty began limping.  Three vets, two western, one
of eastern philosophy said she had a torn ACL.  I was told that a better
evaluation could be done with anesthesia.  As it was time for her to be
spayed, I decided to have both done at the same time.  The ACL evaluation
was inconclusive and I was told the only way to know was to have ACL
surgery.  I elected to crate rest her with heavy doses of glucosimine and
condroitin.  After two weeks she was walking without any pain.  It took a
while longer to convince her that the stairs were not evil and causing her
pain.  A year and a half later, Batty has no evidence of any knee problem.
Guess all the vets were wrong.  If you can wait and give your dog some time
for healing, try it before agreeing to surgery.

Shelley Gonzales
Bigfork, MT  where the little snow we have is
greatly appreciated by my Berner Babes

Addison's (ws: Re: partial torn ACL)

[BernerFolk]

Just an FYI for anyone dealing with Addison's...

There's an excellent support group email list, actually for all auto-immune 
diseases but many of the list members own Addisonian beardies.  Contact the 
list owner FMI: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

-Sherri V.

partial torn ACL

[Susan Berlin]

I would be interested in hearing from others that have dealt with a
partially torn ACL.how many have had to have surgery?

Cathi with Bacchus and Ari
- Original Message -
From: Cindy Buhner [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2002 11:11 PM
Subject: Help on a partially torn cruciate ligament!

When my Maggie was about 6 years old, she started limping and was diagnosed
with a partial ACL tear. My vet suggested rest -- and then went off to China
for 6 weeks. When the limping got worse, I took her to a nearby orthopedic
vet for surgery; the ligament was replaced with nylon.

She healed well, but several months later turned up holding her leg up -- no
weight bearing at all. By that time, my own vet was home, and his comment
was that on a big dog (Maggie weighted 120, and she wasn't fat!) repair with
nylon was a  poor choice because the nylon often stretched. He used what he
called an 'old fashioned' technique, which was to take a narrow strip of
skin from the incision and use it to replace the ligament. The stem cells in
the skin, when placed where a ligament was needed, 'became' ligament
material.

Maggie actually took quite a while to heal, because she reacted to the
stainless steel clip used to hold the ligament in position (apparently, most
dogs don't react to the inert material). We had to have it removed, after
which she bounced back almost immediately and was just fine.

Unfortunately, she tore the other ACL about a year later, as I'd been warned
she might, showing up at the house with a familiar no-weight-bearing stance.
The surgery was repeated, and she was once again fine.

I'd guess everyone's story will be a bit different, but certainly good ACL
repair is possible! Good luck.

Susan

Re: partial torn ACL

[Mary-Ann Bowman]

Emma went lame suddenly about 18 months ago and the diagnosis was a torn
ACL. They wanted to do surgery but I opted for crate rest for two weeks. The
chances of that working were slim, I was told, but it seemed worthwhile
since I could  do the surgery at a later date if needed. She was fine after
two weeks and has not had any problems since. Was it really a torn ACL? Who
knows -- I do know that was the diagnosis, she did not have surgery and she
is still fine -- at almost nine.

Mary-Ann Bowman
Utah