Overweight Dog - Torn Cruciale Ligament

[jackkson99]

My dog is a 7 year old husky/lab cross and she's 35 pounds overweight. We noticed a few months ago she started to limp after a long walk. Took her to the vet and they basically told us she's overweight. She's lost approximately 40 pounds but is still limping. I took her to a different vet today and found out she has a torn cruciale ligament. We're not in the position right now to afford an operation for her. The vet said that even if she had the operation the other leg would probably go because of her weight. The problem I am facing is, it's very hard to exercise her when she is overweight. I'm trying to find a place where I can take her swimming. Does anyone have any other options? Is there any vitamin out there that increases the metabolism?

[levenshugh]

Thanks for the support. Cooper( the lab) Is only 1/2 years himself so being inactive is not easy. he did sleep well last night thank goodness. I know this is for his own good and I don’t want to undo the 1000 dollar surgery. This has been a nightmare!
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[Jaybay]

Much depends on whether the ACL is completely ruptured or not.  If it is, meaning there is no tissue left joined together, surgery is the only answer.  The better surgical option is a TPLO procedure.  Since the ligament is basically gone, the knee joint is fused in a position that serves for walking, running, sitting and laying down.  My dog had the procedure when she was almost 8 and was back on all 4 paws in a week.  We had to take it easy and swimming was perfect therapy.

If there is still enough ligament tissue joined, it will get better but very slowly.  As seeana mentioned, activity will have to be severely restricted for many weeks.  Don't be surprised if your dog is lame for the rest of his life.

Since surgery is not an option right now, your dog will need an anti-inflammatory like rimadyl or deramaxx to help prevent severe arthritis setting in the joint.  Ask your vet about the correct dose for over-the-counter chondroitin, glucosamine and MSM which are great products to maintain joint and cartilage health.

Swimming is the gold standard for non-impact exercise for animals or humans with orthopedic injuries.  If you can even find a shallow pond that your dog can swim in, it's better than nothing!  Even 3 feet deep is enough for swimming purposes.  Just be ready to give a lot of baths or you'll have a really smelly dog.  :-)

[seeana]

Do not worry to much .....my Golden retriever  was quite bad !my vet  told me to keep him indoors no off lead walks or swimming .Just a slow walk every day but on a lead.and do that for her to do her business if she is very active.
Just cut down the protein and replace with veggies that should keep her weight down.
If she gets hungry enough she will eat it I used to mix a cube of oxo into the food.

You will have to do that for about 10 to 12 weeks.You might get a bit of arthritis in that leg as she is older but don't we all lol.

Hope this helps.

ps
Oh just google  torn cruciale ligament  lots of different treatments on there ,but my boy  became good as new.