Our CM Experience
When Tucker was diagnosed with a cranial cruciate ligament injury via a physical examination exhibiting a positive drawer sign and x-ray showing a small degree of arthritis, we were not comfortable jumping right into a surgical repair. My husband and I felt Tucker was doing quite well, as at the time of his initial injury he was using his leg and putting weight on it a majority of the time. He never showed any of the typical dog signs of being in pain like whining, panting, licking his knee, which can be partially attributed to the high pain tolerance of American Bulldogs, but we felt that as long as he was not showing us he was uncomfortable, we would try conservative management and see where it lead.
And so our journey with CM began, against the advice of our veterinarian. We were reluctantly prescribed Rimadyl to control Tucker’s inflammation and any pain he may be having, started giving him daily glucosamine supplements, and started him on a strict regimen of rest with controlled leash walks for potty breaks. This was quite a change for our active little boy, and he was not always the most compliant patient, always wanting to sneak out in the backyard with out other dogs for a quick game of tag. We did manage to do a good job of keeping him confined, despite the other doggy distractions, fashioning his own little “nest” for resting where he could be separated from his playmates.
We did conservative management for a few months, noticing somewhat of an improvement during the first few weeks, which was followed by a sharp decline in function of the knee. At this point, his knee becoming much worse - the toe-touching was now constant and he would often hold the leg up when taken out on a lead to relieve himself - and I started to become more and more uncomfortable with the prospect of Tucker needing to remain on this medication for a prolonged period of time. I also began to notice that Tucker was in pain. He could no longer sit with his legs tucked under him, needing to hang the injured leg out to the front or off to the side. Also during the last few weeks of our attempt at healing the leg with conservative techniques he began to bite at the injury site, and we could notice a distinct change in the appearance, temperature and conformity of the joint.
As a last resort we tried using a brace for his knee. Our vet had never heard of much success using this technique, but we decided that anything was worth a shot if it meant we would not have to put our dog through a risky and unnecessary surgical procedure (at this point the vet was trying to tell us TPLO was the only option for a dog of Tucker’s size). I will expand upon this in another post - My Experience Using a Dog Knee Brace - but to sum it up, the brace was a complete waste of time, money, resources and effort. Not only was the thing almost impossible to put on, it was not exactly tailor made for a dog of Tucker’s build and the different ropes, ties, levers and velcro would often irritate and/or pinch different parts of his body.
If I had access a time machine and would I change my decision to proceed with conservative management? Absolutely not. I wanted to give Tucker every chance possible to heal his knee on his own, viewing surgical intervention as a last resort if the CrCL injury persisted despite our best efforts at a natural approach to healing. CM definitely works, not for all dogs and certainly not in all cases, but I truly think each dog should have the chance to see how they fare. Tucker is living, breathing, running and galloping proof that there is no need for dog owners facing a cranial cruciate ligament injury to need to rush into surgery.
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