ACL Tear on dog that needs Expressing

[Tinker's Mom]

We just found ourselves in a tough situation!

Tinker, who had successful IVDD/disk surgery 3-1/2 years ago, may have an ACL tear. He woke up in the middle of the night with a rear leg in spasm (retracted to his body) and stumbling around. He was able to settle down to sleep, and by this morning the leg was extended again.... but it isn't weight bearing. I have him on crate rest, and he has an appt. to see his neuro vet this afternoon. It would appear to be an ACL injury, but we'll know the extent of what's going on after the vet visit.

Meantime, his normal routine is that since his disk injury and surgery he can't empty his bladder completely on his own, so we always check and end up emptying a bit after walking him. However, he also seems to empty himself more thoroughly than we can by just expressing him- if that makes sense (the combination works best). So, if he will need crate rest for an ACL injury, but he won't be allowed to walk while he heals and can't balance well to express, how do you approach expressing? Using a sling?

Anybody else been down this road?

Thanks in advance for any ideas on this...

[Bobbie]

I prefer to use the cart, but I can hold Candy up and express him at the same time if I have to. I just hold him by his abdomen at his bladder and use my fingers to express while still supporting him in a standing position. But if you can get a cart or make a sort of stand for him in a sling, that would be easier.

[critters]

I agree with Bobbie. It may be that making him a cart will take care of walking while he's healing AND the expressing problem too. The wonkiness of the spinal cord injury would have to be hard on the ACL, and vice versa.

[Bobbie]

Sorry, I wasn't thinking when I read this. Since he can walk you will leash walk him to pee just as you would any dog...crate rest doesn't mean no movement at all. You just can't let him run or jump or wander around, but taking him out and expressing him is fine.

[CarolC]

I don't know if this will work for you. If you can place your dog in a standing position, you can keep him up by standing over him and squeezing his hips between your knees. I learned that from Tiffany and Eros.

[Tinker's Mom]

Thanks for the responses. Looks like I need to give more background (Sorry, I forget that I don't post often enough that you guys would remember his situation.)

History/recap: Tinker ruptured a disk and had surgery in Feb. '05. After surgery, he was unable to stand or walk. After 6 wks. of crate rest, he began rehab, and continued for 18 mos. He could stand after about a month, and for 6 months after crate rest, he was either in a cart or we walked him using a rear harness. Then there was about a 2 month period of just using the rear harness on walks. And he was walking completely on his own approx. 9 months after surgery.

Then, in the summer of '06, he had a partial tear of his ACL on the rear right leg. After approx. 4-5 weeks of crate rest (no meds necessary), it was healed.

This past Monday, he showed signs of an ACL injury again (same leg as 2 years ago). We saw his neuro vet and she took Xrays. Sure enough, it's the ACL again. This time, it's a partial tear but the vet felt he needs to be on an anti-inflammatory for pain and healing, so in addition to 4 wks. of crate rest, he is on Deramaxx.

I don't think he needs to go back to using a cart, but we need to restrict him from putting weight on that leg while it heals and yet still get him some exercise to allow him to pee on his own. So, we've half answered the dilemma by getting the rear harness out of the back of the closet.

To express him, we've been sort of letting him put a little weight on the leg. It really is literally a delicate balance.... to get him to relax enough, position his legs correctly, and support him while expressing (He's about 21-1/2 lbs.). I haven't got that much strength in my fingers, but I do the best I can (the fist approach doesn't seem to work as well w/him).

Unfortunately, it's taken a challenging situation and raised the bar a bit. Still, I know the outcome could have been so much worse had the ligament ruptured completely- this is just a minor inconvenience that we will figure out. It is a bit of unique situation, but like everyone else here, you improvise and figure it out as you go.

[CarolC]

They make ACL braces.

http://www.k9braces.com/

http://www.woundwear.com/home.cfm

I see what you mean about getting him to relax to express. Will be thinking about that today. I wonder if you put a boot that he doesn't like on the acl foot, if he would willingly not put as much weight on it if you know what I mean? I have heard of the opposite approach, where you want a dog to bear weight on an injured limb so you put a boot on the good foot to get him to shift more weight to the foot with no boot. No clue, just thinking out loud.