Acl Tear In Dogs

Heal your dog s torn acl ligament by reducing its body weight.

Acl tear in dogs. Larger dogs are far more likely to require surgery. An acl tear in dogs is a knee injury that occurs when a dog fully or partially tears their cruciate ligament. It s a common condition but that doesn t make it less scary when it s your dog who is limping. However any dog at any age of any breed lineage or mutt can tear an acl.

Living with an acl tear. Once a licensed veterinarian diagnoses your dog with a ccl tear and it is decided that surgery is the best option for your dog there are three main orthopedic procedures to repair an acl tear. There is controversy about when a dog needs surgery and which surgical procedure is the best. Dogs under 30 pounds sometimes recover from mild acl injuries without surgery.

In fact some dogs are more prone to acl injury than others. Tibial plateau leveling osteotomy tplo and 3. Injury to the anterior cruciate ligament acl also known as the cranial cruciate ligament ccl is all too common. High body weight is a risk factor and a leading cause of acl injury because of the extra stress placed on the ligament by an overweight body.

The ccl is responsible for keeping the tibia in place beneath the femur and stabilizing the knee joint. If your dog goes lame in one of their hind legs they may have torn or ruptured their cranial cruciate ligament or ccl similar to the acl in humans. However if the acl is completely torn even tiny dogs will most likely need surgery. Football hockey and soccer players are not the only ones to get sidelined due to knee problems.

Dog acl surgical options. In this ultimate guide integrative veterinarian dr. This ligament connects the back of the femur the bone above the knee with the front of the tibia the bone below the knee. A torn anterior cruciate ligament acl is a common injury in dogs which may cause hind leg lameness.

This injury occurs when the acl in the dog s knee joint stretches or tears causing either acute or chronic pain. Surgery is not always necessary for a torn acl especially on smaller dogs when reconstructing the acl is more challenging. Although a torn acl is painful for your dog it can recover with rest and medication. Before we go any further it s important to note that dog acl tear is a term commonly used for this type of injury although your veterinarian will likely refer to it as cranial cruciate rupture.

By chronicling the story of bailey a labrador retriever with a torn acl you ll learn the facts from diagnosis. A torn acl in dogs. Julie buzby shares tips information x rays and even a video on diagnosing an acl tear. Knee injuries can be complicated to diagnose and to fix.

If i had to do it all over again i would still try the conservative approach first since on his first injury as my dog s first acl tear was partial. Just like athletes dogs can end up with a cruciate ligament injury.