My Story

In the summer of 2007 my, then 2 year old, American Bulldog began showing some signs of intermittent discomfort and lameness in his rear leg. We did not worry about it too much at first, as he is a crazy jumping bean of a dog that likes to play rough and run wild in the backyard, we chalked it up to a pulled or strained muscle and figured he would be good as new again in a week or so. We kept a very close eye on him during the next week and started to notice that the nails on his rear leg were wearing differently than his other nails, and the two middle nails were almost completely filed down.

The filing of the nails and lameness after exercise prompted us to make an appointment with our vet. Tucker had x-rays, drawer sign testing, blood work and some simple neurological tests to determine the cause of his symptoms. After ruling out hip dysplasia and neurological causes, we were referred to an orthopedic specialist within the same veterinary clinic. We were told by this doctor that Tucker most likely had a cranial cruciate ligament tear, and surgical repair was immediately suggested.

My husband and I were not comfortable with the idea of surgery at first, especially since all of this was being sprung on us within a 10 minute meeting with a veterinary surgeon we had never met before. We spent a few months doing conservative management, using different anti inflammatory medications along with reduced movement and the use of a brace. We did monthly rechecks with the surgical specialist to check what progress Tucker was making in his recovery. Ultimately he started to develop arthritic tissue in the knee and his condition deteriorated despite our best efforts to make CM work.

About 6 months after the original onset of his symptoms, we opted to have Tucker’s stifle (knee) repaired using the traditional method, also known as the extracapsular repair technique, against the advice of our veterinarian. We came to this decision after months of research, and we personally felt that the risks and rewards for this procedure greatly outweighed those associated with our other choices (TPLO and TTA), or no surgical intervention at all. We are still going through the recovery process, and while we have had some complications and set backs, but we feel satisfied and confident that we made the right decision.

I have created Dog Knee Injury to serve as a resource for dog owners faced with cranial cruciate ligament injuries, offering my personal accounts and presenting relevant medical information relating to diagnosis, treatment, repair and recovery from CCL tears and ruptures. I welcome other owners to share their stories by commenting on the articles featured on the site. If there is any content you would like to see added to the site please email me at Mandie@DogKneeInjury.Com, your feedback is greatly appreciated.