One day you're playing with your dog, he jumps, lands, and starts howling in pain. You panic, you're not sure what just happened, and your dog is in pain. One possibility is that he has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament. This injury will usually require surgery and a good amount of recovery time.
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Dogs jumping around
Facts
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ACL Surgery is indicated when a dog has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) located in the stifle joint (the canine equivalent to the human knee). The injury can be caused by trauma, obesity, degenerative joint disease or poor foot balance.
Types of Surgery
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There are three types of surgery available to repair a ruptured ligament. Intracapsular ligament replacement transplants tissue or synthetic ligament replacements into the stifle joint to position the ligament correctly, extracapsular stabilization stabilizes the joint, and Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO) eliminates the need for the ACL by changing the stifle's configuration.
Recovery Period
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Recovery will take between 7-8 weeks. Your dog will spend about two days in the animal clinic for post-operative recovery and then will be released. His activity must be limited throughout the 7-8 weeks to allow complete healing.
Schedule
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In the first week of recuperation, your dog will be allowed very limited activity and in the next 6-7 weeks he will progressively return to his normal level of activity. Check ups are usually done at one, two, four and eight weeks.
Recovery Rate
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Recovery rates at the check ups are usually 24 percent for the week one check up, 50 percent for the week two check up, 75 percent for the week four check up, and 100 percent by the eighth week. The overall recovery rate exceeds 90 percent.
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