Diary of Ebonys Cruciate Injury, her treatment and recovery.

End of June 2003
Ebony injured her left hind leg doing 360’s and charging along our fence line at a stray dog on the other side of the fence.  She had a minor limp for 2 days but seemed to recover with some rest.

Her movement was fine and no lameness was visible after these 2 days

Mid August 2003
Ebony went lame in left hind leg, visited a Vet and was diagnosed as a mild cruciate ligament strain.

She had a positive draw sign in the left stifle.  Treatment was Laser, Cartrophen injection, crating with a review in 1 week.

Review after 1 week: 2^nd Cartrophen injection, and advised to have 2 short walks a day to stop muscle wastage.  A 3^rd & 4^th Cartrophen injection was given at weekly intervals, after the last injection we added swimming to her program

Mid September 2003
Review by Vet: stifle movement had stabilised, muscle in hindquarters rebuilding well, Glucosamine Chondriton given daily.
 

Beginning October 2003
Some soreness developing and first few steps on awaking showing lameness, review at vet, some clicking in stifle joint evident. Vet said Operation still not required.  Second opinion by Dog Chiropractor said that the draw sign was approx 3/16 th’s of a inch and some laser was given, advice was to keep 2 walks a day and that Operation wasn’t required and in his opinion dogs of her size really struggle with recovery from cruciate surgery.  Vitamin C added daily to Glucosamine Chondriton.
 

Beginning of December 2003
New Vet for another opinion due to slow progress of healing. The Vet said that her knee was still not stable but the muscle mass was good, if the injury went slightly backwards he wouldn’t hesitate
to opt for surgery.
 

Beginning of January 2004
Ebony pulls up very lame in left hind leg, I book surgery for her and she has a consult with new Vet who said her cruciate had fully ruptured.

12^th January 2004
Surgery using Modified De Angelis procedure (Heavy nonabsorbable suture material (nylon, braided polyester) is used to stabilise the joint.  Meniscuses were in good condition but joint did have Osteophytic changes (early arthritis), which required debridement.

13^th January 2004
Ebony came home in a bandage, on Metacalm and antibiotics, she was only just weight bearing with her toe on affected leg when walking and stood on 3 legs when standing still.  Crating her was required and the only walks she could have were on the lead to go out to the toilet.

19^th January 2004
Review with Vet, All is well so far, Cartrophen injection, remain crated and only walks to go to the toilet.

27^th January 2004
Stitches removed and another Cartrophen injection

3^rd February 2004
Rehab starts Passive Range of Motion Exercises and a 5 min daily walk, increase walk to am & pm 5 minutes each, in 1 weeks time

11^th February 2004
Attacked by next door neighbours dog when out on her on lead rehab walk, pull’s up a bit sore and reviewed by vet who said there was no damage to repair, Ebony’s rehab walks were stopped for 1 week and she was put on Metacam.

24^th February 2004
Review with Vet, rehab to recommence, 10 min walks twice daily, ROM exercises, and swimming

9^th March 2004
Review with Vet, stifle is very stable, weight bearing is excellent and walks to increase up to 25 minutes twice daily over next 2 weeks.

30^th March 2004
Review with Vet, she is very happy with progress, stability is excellent and joint is gliding smoothing, upgrade rehab to allow slow straight line trotting, slow hill climbs and figure of eight exercises all still on the lead. Note Ebony is still crated to allow injury to fully heal without any moments of madness to bring things undone.

28^th April 2004
Review with Vet, Very stable, good muscle mass, continue walking but increase to 30 minutes twice per day, figure of eights and hill work.

August 2004
Things have gone well in Ebony’s rehab; she has started back in the show ring and obtains her Australian Championship Title winning a Best in Group along the way.  She spends her days in the backyard with our other dogs without any problems and her twice-daily exercise routine continues.

It is now December 2004 and Ebony is going so well, from all my reading and speaking to various vets and dog owners who have experienced such an injury, I wished Ebony had the surgery first up. The cruciate ligament never re-heals and it is only scar tissue that ends up providing stabilisation of the stifle.

If the knee is left unstable for too long, arthritis will develop and will get worse over a period of time.

I actually spent less money with the Vet who did the surgery and her post op rehab, than the other 2 Vets and Chiropractor.

Eb still has Glucosamine Chondriton daily, and is kept in lean condition, she loves her twice-daily walks and her hindquarters are very well muscled to provide extra stability. Over time it is more than likely she will require the odd course of Cartrophen injections.