# Anyone else ever have this problem



## Denny Campbell (Jan 16, 2008)

I came out of roll call saturday night and went to let me 4 year old Germ Shep out before starting my tour of duty. I immediatly noticed when I opened the door that he wasnt putting any weight on his rear left leg. I took him to the emergency room vet and they said some type of tissue damage. 

Well today I took him back and found out that he has a partial cranial cruciate ligament tear. The vet said rest should fix the problem. He put him out of work for 7 days. He said at the end of the 7 days, they are gonna re evaluate him then. If in 7 days, it isnt any better, they are going to give him some shot called adequin. He said he will get a series of the adequin and hopefully that will help. 

I was curious to see if anyone has ever had this issue with their dog and what the outcome was. My dog is only 4 and still has lots of work left in him and im praying that this dont turn out to be something that causes him to be retired. I appreciate any input you guys may have.


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## Kayla Barth (Apr 18, 2009)

At the barn where I work we gave an anatolian shepherd adequan with awesome results. Adequan is a IM shot with you give a loading dose and then maintence shots, I know that it works awesome for horses. I have seen horses with pretty serious arthritis in ther fetlocks and hocks go back to jumping after adequan, though I don't know what it does for ligament damage it does help with keeping synovial fuild in the joints. I dont know if they have this for dogs but there is a thing called Legend, it is a shot as well but it is injected directly into the joint in question, it might be something worth looking in to. I hope your boy gets better soon.


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## Tilly Smith (May 6, 2009)

I have heard the treatment for tears to the crucial ligament requires surgery .... do a google and see what you can find out or get a second opinion.

I found this:

http://www.melbvet.com.au/pdf/cruciate-disease.pdf


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

CONNIE, oh COOONNNNNIE!!!!! you're needed here!!

and where's our resident vet student? finals have got to be about over by NOW....


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## Jim Nash (Mar 30, 2006)

Denny , 

My PSD came up limping about 3 weeks ago . Rear leg . I took him to our vet at the University of Minnesota . Vet thought it was a partial ACL tear in the knee or strain . My understanding is they can't find out for sure without surgery . I was told 2 weeks rest and told to come back if he's still limping after that time . If not I could go back to work with him . 

I was also told that if it was a partial tear it may fully tear if the dog exerts himself , since a partial tear doesn't really heal . What PSD isn't going to do that eventually . I've been back about a week and he's doing great . No limping at all and he's been jumping fences during searches , pulling hard during tracks and bitework training (certifying in 2 weeks) no pain at all . I'm hoping it was just a strain .

My experiance with other PSD's in my K9 unit and others I helped train for other units is if it's a partial tear it will eventually tear fully then surgery is needed that is fairly successful , but takes the dog out of commision for about 3 months . BUT , I have also seen it where a dog with a torn ACL has the other ACL tear later because they are compensating with the good leg .

Often Rymidil (sp) an anti steriodal/anti inflamatory is perscribed along with rest . I'm not a fan of it . It has been known to cause liver damage in dogs . 

Wish I could give you better news . Hopefully it's just a strain . Good Luck .


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## Denny Campbell (Jan 16, 2008)

Well after 2 weeks, We found out that it is not a torn ccl, my dog has a slipped disk in his back. I have to go to Vienna VA to have a MRI at the IAMS corporation. After that, surgery to repair the injury. I will keep you all updated.


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

ouch!!

do NOT allowi rimydal (sp?). it kills dogs. metacam is just as good and non-lethal. i'm going to get you more info via connie--she's "THE BOMB" on this stuff.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Denny Campbell said:


> Well after 2 weeks, We found out that it is not a torn ccl, my dog has a slipped disk in his back. I have to go to Vienna VA to have a MRI at the IAMS corporation. After that, surgery to repair the injury. I will keep you all updated.



Two weeks to diagnose a disk herniation is pretty surprising. Surgery to repair a disk injury is usually done very quickly.

Which disk? Do you know?

As Jim and Ann point out, all NSAIDs (including aspirin) can cause organ damage; dogs don't tolerate them as well as humans do. Rimadyl would be my last choice among them, with Metacam or Deramaxx being much higher on my personal preference list. 

Is the dog already on an NSAID? One of the first things you might want to make sure of is that a blood test is done (liver and kidney values) pre-NSAID and again three months in if an extended protocol is necessary.

I hope you will keep us posted. If you can give more info (which disk is it, and, after the MRI, what the surgery recommendation is), I can give you some info/material about it.

All JMO.

Good luck.


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## Tilly Smith (May 6, 2009)

I shouldn't have read this thread earlier ... 3 days ago my GSD boy did a partial tear of his cruciate lignment (back leg) bouncing around like a brat ... he is on Metacam and 6 weeks rest. 

He is sulking and having sooking tantrums because he doesn't have free run of the backyard - he is sleeping on his bed with his back to me and is refusuing to acknowledge me when I talk to him.


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