The following story and questions came from reader Nina through our Contact Page. I haven’t had any experience with these problems, so I’m hoping that some of our readers can help answer some of Nina’s questions.
My Boxer mix had tight rope surgery on his knee April 2010. I did all the slow rehabilitation like the vet requested. His knee still gave him problems and after several more vet visits has been placed on anti-inflammatory and antibiotic medications which do not seem to help. Recently a …

Cruciate  ligament injuries in dogs are very common among active breeds. As a dog owner who has gone through a cranial cruciate ligament injury with my pet, I know for certain that it is not an easy process to go through because we hate to see our pets in pain and it’s also difficult financially because the cost of cranial cruciate ligament repair is not inexpensive. The cranial cruciate ligament in dogs is similar to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in humans and though it is possible to live and …

As with ACL tears in humans, CCL tears in dogs can be sudden and very noticeable, or they can develop slowly over time. When a person injures their knee and suffers a torn ACL, it is normally going to be very painful and the joint will feel very unstable and in most cases, will not be able to be used. The same will hold true for dogs when they injure their CCL. When our dog tore her CCL, she immediately stopped bearing weight on the leg.
Our dogs CCL was torn …

When your dog tears its cranial cruciate ligament, that is bad news in itself, but what do you do when your dog ruptures both CCLs at the same time? How do you care for the dog? How do you decide what type of surgery to treat it? How do you afford it? Do you have the surgical procedure on both legs at the same time, or do you do one knee, let it recover, then do the other knee? These are all tough questions, and I’ll be the first to …

We live in Southern California, so the beach is a fun and easy way for us to take our dogs out for exercise. We’re able to just walk along the shore and let our dogs run off the leash and do what they want, it’s far more relaxing than having to worry about taking them anywhere on a leash.
So we were out at the beach and our two dogs were our running around doing their own thing. Roxy (our 5 1/2 year old American Pit Bull Terrier) and our pitbull …

In reading this blog, you’ve probably come familiar with the 3 main types of surgeries used to treat a torn or ruptured cranial cruciate ligament in a dogs stifle joint. The problem with these 3 main types of surgeries is that they are fairly invasive, large incisions, bone cutting, etc. This may soon be a thing of the past with some of the advancements in medicine as vets and doctors are now using techniques from human surgeries. This new surgical method, called Tightrope CCL Surgery is far less invasive in …

The stifle (knee) joint in dogs, is very similar to the knee joint in humans, in that there are ligaments that run through the joint providing stability, and just like in humans, there can be many varying degrees of injuries in the stifle joint which makes it very important to have it properly diagnosed prior to rushing into surgery or treatment.
The injury could be something that happened suddenly as the result of a stressful event, or the injury could develop over time through normal “wear and tear”. Injuries that develop …

The cranial cruciate ligament in dogs provides stability to the knee (stifle) joint. Any strain, tearing or rupture of the cranial cruciate ligament can, and will, result in knee (stifle) instability. A strained cranial cruciate ligament can, in many cases, be repaired or heal itself without surgery. Strains should be treated with conservative management. Tears and ruptures of the cranial cruciate ligament require more drastic treatments such as orthopedic surgery. When it comes to surgical repair of the CCL, there are multiple CCL surgery options available and it is always …

Though this wasn’t our first choice when dealing with our dogs ruptured cranial cruciate ligament, Conservative Management (or Conservative Treatment) is a non-surgical option of CCL treatment that should be considered by all dog owners prior to surgery.
Consider the human knee for example, you’ve all probably heard of torn or ruptured ACL’s (meaning the ligament is entirely severed), and you’ve also heard of partially torn ACL’s (meaning the ligament is still intact, but has definiate damage. Now, let’s consider a pro athlete, surgery will be necessary for either case – …

The Lateral Fabellar Technique, or Extracapsular Technique, is a common surgery performed on dogs to stabilize the stifle (knee) joint after a tear or rupture in the cranial cruciate ligament (CCL; misspelling cranial crucial ligament). Normally, the cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) prevents backward-forward movement (drawer movement) of the stifle joint. Untreated instability in the knee/stifle joint due to a turn/ruptured CCL can result in a tearing of the meniscus as well. When it tears/ruptures, the stifle joint becomes unstable and the dog suffers lack of mobility, lameness or loss of …