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Hello Friend,
A cheery Tuesday to you and your family this morning.
Today's article involves a question I am OFTEN asked..Can my dog heal from a torn Cruciate Ligament without surgery?
Short answer is YES.
You should also be supplementing with specific nutrients to help with the joint instability, cartilage loss, and potential arthritis. Ensure that you are feeding adequate levels of glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM, along with EFA's.
Many supplements have these, but only a few have the high enough levels of the nutrients to actually be helpful
They are in the right levels in my supplements, which you can get here:
http://www.drjonesnaturalpet.com/supplements.html
This guy is at high risk for an ACL injury..
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| | Is Surgery Really Necessary for Dogs with Cruciate Ligament Ruptures?
Wucherer, KL. Conzemius, MG. Evans, R. Wilke, VL. Short-term and long-term outcomes for overweight dogs with cranial cruciate ligament rupture treated surgically or nonsurgically. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 2013;242(10):1364-72.
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2/3 of dogs NOT having surgery healed
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Surgical and nonsurgical treatment can be successful, even in overweight large-breed or giant-breed dogs, but that surgery appears to provide a better outcome.
Overweight dogs with CCLR treated via surgical and nonsurgical methods had better outcomes than dogs treated via nonsurgical methods alone. However, almost two-thirds of the dogs in the nonsurgical treatment group had a successful outcome.
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Scientific Study
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Forty overweight large-breed or giant-breed dogs with unilateral rupture of a CCL were recruited and randomized to either medical therapy alone (a weight loss program, individualized physical therapy, and daily use of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication) or medical therapy plus surgical therapy (TPLO). Outcomes were assessed at 6 weeks, 12 weeks, 24 weeks, and 52 weeks after the beginning of the study.
There was a high rate of drop out (5 digs by 6 weeks, 11 dogs by 24 weeks, and 17 dogs by 52 weeks). The majority of these dogs (11/17) dropped out due to CCL rupture in the opposite leg, and there was no overall difference in dropouts between the two groups (9 in surgical group and 8 in non-surgical group).
Both subjective outcome measures (surveys of owner perception of their dogs’ pain and lameness and pain scores generated by the investigators) and objective outcome measures (body weight, body fat, body condition scores, and several measures generated by force-plate analysis) were evaluated at the beginning of the study and in the dogs still participating at each follow-up point.
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Results
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No adverse effects were reported for the weight loss diet, the NSAID therapy, or the physical therapy. A few minor complications associated with TPLO surgery were reported at rates consistent with those reported in other studies.
The weight loss program did result in decreases in body condition score and percent body fat for both groups, and there were no significant differences between the two groups. Interestingly, while total body weight did decline slightly for both groups, the decrease was not statistically significant for either, and there was no difference between the groups.
Subjective measures, both owner and investigator assessed, improved significantly for both groups. There were no differences between the groups in the subjective outcomes assessed by the investigators. The surgery group had significantly lower scores for pain severity and interference than the non-surgical group only at the 52-week evaluation. Some differences between the groups in visual analog pain scale assessment by owners were reported, but how many measures were assessed and which ones differed were not reported, and no statistical analysis of these differences was reported, so it is difficult to assess this outcome measure.
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Veterinary Secrets Pet of the Week!
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This is my last cat Trent who didn't come home one night..he LOVED going for rides in the stroller...
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| Dog and Cat Words of Wisdom...
It's good to ask questions..as in perhaps there is another option...
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| Heal Your Pet At Home!
Best Wishes,
Dr Andrew Jones, DVM |
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P.S. So you DON'T always need surgery, and in fact most dogs will recover WITHOUT surgery.
Bet you didn't hear about that study at your veterinarian's office..
P.P.S. My dog supplement has helped thousands of dogs with arthritis..
My cat supplement has been shown to be equally as impressive.
There are here:
http://www.drjonesnaturalpet.com/supplements.html
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| DISCLAIMER: This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your own veterinarian. Dr Andrew Jones resigned from the College of Veterinarians of B.C. effective December 1 2010, meaning he cannot answer specific questions about your pet's medical issues or make specific medical recommendations for your pet.
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