After the trauma of Annie’s TPLO last year to repair the damage caused by the ruptured cruciate ligament in her knee and the long and achingly slow recovery process, we were nothing short of delighted the first time we saw her off lead, bounding through the woods like a normal dog.
We’re realists so we knew there might be times when she’d be a little stiff in that leg and of course there’s always the risk that the other cruciate could degenerate at some point meaning we’d have to go through the same process again on the other leg, but we were prepared for that as a possibility. What we weren’t so prepared for was for nearly 18 months later, her to have a bout of seemingly unexplained lameness on the TPLO leg.
It started after a normal and pretty uneventful walk in the forest. She came home, laid down and got up holding up her leg. That was six weeks ago and the vet has drawn a blank. The metal work is all in place, he’s manipulated and palpated and can find nothing seriously wrong. There are days when she’s absolutely fine, but then days when she’s hopping lame.
We’ve refused another XRay as even the vet is pretty sure that it won’t tell us much and with his support, have opted instead for chiropractics. Luckily, the McTimony chiropractor we see also treats horses and dogs. She had her first treatment on Friday and although it went well, she’s on house rest for three days. Have you ever tried telling a walk obsessed Labrador that she can’t go out for three whole days? I’ve been trying to sneak Little Bear out so that she won’t see but I feel so mean!
Hydrotherapy is also on the list so these dogs will be keeping us busy in the coming weeks and months. When I think about what they give us though, it’s a no-brainer – they’re worth every penny and every minute of our time. All I want is for my dogs to be happy and healthy and I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.
The Little Bear Dog Blog 