Our red nose pit that had the surgery used to do the same thing. We’d take her to the beach where she’d run and play for about an hour, then later that evening and into the next day, she’d favor one (or both) of her hind legs. I was told that it was hip/knee stiffness when this used to happen. It’d take a day or so, and it’d go away, every time and she’d be fin afterward. Our veterinarian had given us Meloxicam in the past. Meloxicam is an anti-inflammatory that seemed to help our dog dramatically. The problem with this would be that if your dog does happen to have 1 or both CCL’s torn, then Meloxicam might give your dog a false sense of stability allowing it to further injure its leg(s). Get it checked with your vet and/or get a second opinion to see if the CCL is torn for certain. If it is not, then rest and less strenuous activity would be a good way to move forward.

I’m just researching around the net to better understand the CCL repair and recovery. I have a 9 month old Blue nose Pit Bull who began to favor both of his rear legs. It’s an intermittent thing, as sometime he appears to be fine and then all of the sudden he favors one of the rear legs for a bit and then seams fine again. I took him to have x rays which do not say 100% that he has an CCL injury, but does show some signs of it. Our next step is a joint tap, but the vet says he’s 90% sure he has tears in both knees – not ruptures. Anyway, I’m thinking that we will end up in surgery. Can anyone help me out with how you went about dealing with the recovery part of it. I’m told the surgery is the easy past (aside from cost) and the recovery is the hard part. Kenneth, if you read this; since you have a Pit Bull; how was it for you? My dog wants to run and play as any 9 month old would. Even now he wants to take off and run around the house with destination unknown. I’ve had three Pits throughout my days and have found that they tolerate pain very well. Do you put him on meds to keep them calm? I understand he will have to be confined to his crate for a period of time. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and what joint supplement do you folks recomend?

I’m not a vet, so it’s hard to say. There are positive arguments for each type of surgery. I’ve typically read that the mono-filament method is not intended for dogs over 50lbs. or more due to the strain that they’ll put on the stifle joint. These are questions for your vet that will have to be answered by the activity level of the dog, current weight, goal weight, etc.

Best of luck!

So, I am keeping a close eye on her, but do not want to risk further damage. Would you suggest TPLO, or the older ‘mono-filament’ ligament method?

Thank you -
Mark J Gross

I’m just answering from personal experience and from what I’ve learned while going through this with our dog, so don’t hold me to these answers. I’d love to hear input from others too!

1. Dog with weak knees are like dogs with weak hips, if one goes, it is likely the other will too, however there are many things that can be done to prevent this. The biggest factor being the dogs weight. Weight management is the best option. As you may have read, our dog was a bit overweight when she tore hers and has since lost about 30% of her body weight and hasn’t had any problems since.
2. We were able to leave our dog all day. Per the vets recommendation, we left our dog in a crate, and if she seemed particularly antsy, we’d give her a sedative.
3. That the tough part. Our dogs leg was wrapped and supported very well for the first 4 weeks, so anytime we took her out, we just had to keep a close eye on her. We fed her in her pen and just restricted her movement and activity as much as possible.

I hope this info helps, and I wish you and Molly the Moose the best of luck!

Molly is a big girl, she weighs in at 135 pounds. She is not overweight. We do agility, frisbee and alot of hiking. I understand that this may the cause of her injury.

My questions are:
#1 what is the likley hood that she will tear the other one? (the vet told me it was likley)
#2 During the 2 week recovery time how much time can i expect to get away from the house?
#3 With a large dog how do you manage potty breaks, eating, ect…?

Thanks so much!

Kayle

From everything that I’ve heard and read, I’d assume that TTA would be a good option, however, I’m not too familiar with the pricing in that type of surgery. I’m sure there are others out there who would advocate TPLO for this injury, as I’ve heard from many Lab owners who have had TPLO surgery performed on their pet.

Whatever happens, best of luck, and I wish Harley-Earl a speedy recovery.

Our dog is not a greyhound, she is an American Pitbull Terrier. We did have the surgery done, and it was the best decision that we could have made (for our situation).

If you’d like to do a write-up on your dog, we’d be happy to post it to our blog to see if we could get any comments/responses from our readers.

Best of luck to you and your dog.