Today I want to discuss signs that your dog has a CCL tear, and if he or she needs a brace. First, obviously your poor dog is exhibiting signs of hind limb lameness. Now this can happen two ways. First, you hear a yelp, or see the injury, and have sudden onset lameness. This is about 50% of dogs, and is called an acute injury. Your pup will not use his or her leg, and is toe touching.
Second, you notice your dog limping on the hind leg after exercise, and after rest seems better. This goes on for a few weeks until you have a veterinarian diagnose the injury as a CCL full or partial tear. Some of these patients go a year or longer before getting to full limping. This is a chronic case, and usually degenerative.
We can help with either situation, as even a partial tear will keep re-injuring over and over until externally supported with a brace.
After a while you may notice a medial buttress, or a hard bump on the inside of the knee. This is a sign of cruciate injury as well.
No matter how long you wait, it is never going to be too late to brace your dog, as bracing will help stop the offloading that is happening, and we can start working on that thigh muscle to reverse the atrophy. Let us know if you have any further questions about this topic, and always feel free to send me a contact request, I am happy to chat with you and answer some of your questions you can reach out to me on our contact form or visit our Facebook Page.
Nikki, Posh Lead Veterinary Technician
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First off, I want to do a bit of anatomy explaining. Dog’s, unlike people, walk on their toes. Cool, right? So coming up from the ground, you can follow their toes to their ankle, which includes the hock bone in the back of the bend. This is their “heel” bone. The next bone, in front of the ankle, and up to the knee, is the Tibia and fibula. The tibia thrust, just like in people, is what makes up the front of our knee. There is a prominent bump in dogs, directly underneath the kneecap, that is called the Tibial Tuberosity.
In the videos attached, you will see the kneecap is a small round bone, making up the top of the dog’s knee, then the bottom bone is the tibia. The cruciate ligaments, or CCL in dogs/ACL in humans, are located between the tibia and femur bones, directly in the back of the knee. When a CCL is in tact, there should be no movement, or positive drawer sign, in the dog’s knee. See video one, where there is no movement when palpated/moved.
In the next video, you can see what happens when there is no longer a ligament holding the bones together in the back of the knee. Now, the tibia bone is able to shift forward, or tibial thrust. This is a positive drawer sign, as there is a forward movement now where the tibia is shifting forward. This is obviously bad.
If you choose to do nothing, over time this movement of the bones will potentially cause the meniscus to tear/rupture, and start to form arthritis. It is important to immobilize this joint, to prevent these issues from occurring. Not to mention, that movement is very painful.
After 9-12 months of using a Posh Brace, this movement should be back to the first image, as fibrous tissue has formed and will re-stabilize the joint. Again, check out our website, poshdogkneebrace.com, or feel free to email me any questions to: our contact form or visit us on Facebook.
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We get asked this question a lot, and wanted to see if we can answer some questions on diagnosing a CCL tear. Is it necessary to have a diagnosis before purchasing a brace? Answer: Yes! There are many other things, like sprains, hip joint pain, spinal issues, tumors, and nerve issues like DM that can cause hind lime lameness other than a ruptured CCL.
At your appointment with the veterinarian, they will most likely want to do what is called a drawer test. Please note: this could worsen the injury if not done properly, or with sedation, and is very painful. Some patients will let out a yelp, or limp much worse after the examination.
Your veterinarian may also want to do some radiographs during the initial examination. These can show gaps, space, swelling, and rule out tumors in older patients. I do recommend radiographs for any patient over 8 years old.
MRI is the absolute best way to diagnose a CCL tear, however, this can cost upwards of $1,000, and may be hard to find someone to do this.
Find a veterinarian that is gentle, and will do a thorough exam ruling out the other injuries. This is the best method, and least painful for your pup. Also, try taking the last appointment of the afternoon when possible, or the first in the morning, as this is when most veterinarians are less likely to be in a “rush.” Right before lunch break, or in the late morning/afternoon can be rushed due to their surgical load that day, or if they have other patients that have been dropped off to be seen.
We leave the diagnosis up to our clients, it is not required, however, I do recommend at least finding a holistic minded veterinarian to help you! If you need more information on CCL tears you can reach us through our contact form or visit our Facebook Page.
Nikki, Posh Lead Veterinary Technician
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Hi! Today I would like to talk about muscle atrophy in dogs, especially with CCL injuries. One of the biggest muscles in the body is the thigh muscle, which is needed in order to have full range of motion with the hind legs.
Without this muscle, we would be unable to completely lift our leg up and take a normal step. Dog’s that have an injury atrophy quickly. This is why it is really important to keep our patients active, while still letting the knee injury stabilize. With bracing, we are still able to place full weight on the thigh muscle, which may become sore initially, however, then we can start building this muscle back up, keeping it healthy.
This is another reason bracing can be better for patients than surgery, as with surgery there is a long period where you will need to confine your dog to keep them from hurting the surgical site. In the 8 weeks it takes to recover with surgery, there can be significant atrophy that sets in.
This is another reason that we include physical therapy with our patients, and walking schedules, to keep our dogs active, and using those muscles.
You may also need the help of a sling or a harness that includes handles as well, so that you can help your dog walk initially, until we start getting strength back in the thigh muscle. Our technicians are happy to help you with this, and with time we can get the muscles back. If you need more information you can reach out to us through our contact form or visit us on our Facebook Page.
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Today I would like to go over what a CCL in a dog is, as well as it’s function. First off, a CCL in a dog is the same as saying ACL in a person.
The CCL is a connective tissue in the knee that stabilizes the lower leg to the upper leg. It connects the tibia to the femur. Without this ligament, there can be partial or complete joint instability, pain, and lameness present.
The CCL holds the tibia in place, andprevents internal rotation and hyperextension (which is over stretching the leg). The meniscus (located between the femur and tibia) absorb impact and provide a gliding surface between the femur and tibial plateau/tuberosity. Sometimes the medial meniscus can become torn when the knee is unstable from a CCL tear.
Symptoms of a rupture include crepitus (crackling or popping sound), decreased range of motion, hind leg extended when sitting (when the injured leg is off to one side), pain to the touch, not wanting to move as much, sore after a walk, swelling, and turning the leg out to the side when standing.
Leaving a ruptured ligament alone, without the aid of bracing, can leave misaligned joint causing further damage, inflammation, and pain. This can lead to early joint disease and further meniscus tears.
Bracing helps to hold the tibia in place, while acting as a buffer or shock absorber, preventing further movement and issues from occurring. If you need more information you can contact us through our contact form or visit our Facebook Page.
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