Chronic inflammation further frays ligament fibers, which can tear when your pet exerts itself or twists the knee slightly. Some tears occur spontaneously while walking. Over time, changes in joint fluid viscosity, due to loss of chondrocytes (the cells which replenish healthy, viscous joint fluid), allow for injury to the ligament with minor joint stress.
The knees, and specifically the cranial, or anterior, cruciate ligaments and cartilage plates, called menisci, often develop degenerative disease as a result of improper hip or pelvic alignment. It allows for gliding motion of the knee, or stifle joint, while preventing hyperextension of the joint. The CCL is the dog’s main supporting ligament that provides stability to the hind leg by preventing the tibia from sliding forward under the femur. What is a cranial cruciate ligament tear in dogs? If your pet sustains an injury or if you know someone else whose pet has an ACL tear, be sure to explore these nonsurgical and noninvasive options for care. It is, in fact, the most commonly performed orthopedic surgery for pets.īut as time passed and more owners with aging pets sought alternative options for their high-risk senior pets, I not only found nonsurgical repairs effective for those patients but also began offering those options for pets of all ages.Ĭurrently, 98 percent of all ACL or CCL injuries I treat have excellent healing with combinations of the treatments listed in this article. In my early days of veterinary practice, I performed many ACL surgeries on dogs.
If your dog is overweight, it's important to reduce his weight during his recovery so he doesn't suffer from the same injury again.Pet owners often think that surgical repair is the only option to treat their pet’s orthopedic injury.īut in the common case of a torn cranial cruciate ligament in dogs, a variety of other modalities may be excellent options for pets to not only heal their ACL tear but help prevent the very common occurrence of injuring the opposite limb, while shifting weight from the first injury. Afterward, your dog will be on bed rest for several months, allowing the ligament to properly heal. Just as with humans, treatment usually involves surgery. If not, an additional X-ray may be required. This will usually alert him of an injury. To diagnose the injury, your veterinarian will likely simply examine the knee joints by placing his hands on them and feeling the movement. You also may notice that your dog sticks his leg out to the side when sitting rather than tucking it underneath his rear for a standard sit. In larger dogs, particularly if they are overweight, you may notice an increase in limping through time or the limping may be pronounced sometimes and non-existence at other times. Consult your veterinarian when this happens. This is often short-lived as your dog will pop the knee back in place and often appear fine after a few hours. These symptoms include sudden pain in your dog as his knee becomes popped out of joint.
In small dogs, a luxating patella may lead to a torn ACL. The other easily recognized symptom is a swollen knee, which will appear large but will cause your dog pain to the touch. Your dog will not want to put pressure on the leg at all, causing obvious limping and reluctance to participate in activities that your dog used to enjoy. The most common symptom of a torn ACL is sudden lameness in the injured leg. If your dog is overweight, this increases the likelihood of a torn ACL. It's harder to detect a torn ACL if it has degenerated through time since the symptoms may increase gradually, making them more difficult to notice or appear similar to arthritis. Thus, you may suspect an ACL tear if you recently noticed your dog suffer an accident or begin limping after play. This could also happen if your dog suffered severe trauma, like falling off a building or being hit by a car. This is usually caused by your dog's leg twisting suddenly in a way that the ACL can't withstand. If your dog tore his ACL suddenly, it most likely happened during play or excited activity. It is most commonly torn on the back leg but can be torn on any leg. The ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) is the ligament that holds the femur and the tibia together from the front of the knee. These bones are held together by ligaments, which prevent the bones from rubbing against each other, quite a painful experience. Your dog's knee has three bones: the femur extending from the hip, the tibia extending from the ankle and the patella (knee cap). This can happen suddenly or through time, but either option can be quite excruciating. A torn ACL is the most common knee injury experienced by dogs.