I did some searching here, but everything that is about cruciate tears is people who had their dogs when the tears occurred and were able to be on top of treatment.

Does anyone have any experience with a dog that tore the cruciate ligament years ago, and was never treated?

I have done some research and found one reference to surgery for these dogs, but there didn't seem to be a good prognosis to the surgery in my view (it wouldn't stop/reverse the joint degeneration). The vast majority of what I've read indicates it's simply a matter of managing the dog and the resulting arthritis.

Would be interested in anyone's experiences/thoughts.

Teagan has a medial buttress/es; both knees are thickened. This is a sign that her arthritis is advanced in addition to the likelihood that her cruciate ligament was torn (my vet felt that doing x-ray or other diagnostics to confirm if/the extent of the tear would not be helpful at this point as she feels it is definitely quite old) She also has audible clicking so I am concerned in addition to the old tear/arthritis she has a torn/damaged meniscus. (Note: this is her back knees. She also has hip dysplasia and a bone chip in her left hip. On the bright side, since October 2007 when I adopted her she has lost 17lbs; from 70lbs to 53lbs)

Thanks!

"(my vet felt that doing x-ray or other diagnostics to confirm if/the extent of the tear would not be helpful at this point as she feels it is definitely quite old)"

I don't know. I would probably go for the x-rays.

The clicking at least could probably be identified. For example, the noise could be popping from bubbles in the fluid-filled cushion that is the bursa.

Do you feel warmth when you put your hand on the area?

Also, what kind of supplements/meds is the dog getting for the OA?

Could that be treated by surgery with a good prognosis? I would like her to be as comfy as possible obviously.

The area is warm, but I'm not sure it's particularly warm....I couldn't decide. I know that is horrificly unhelpful.

Teagan gets glucosamine, chront I can't spell it, MSM, and Ester C for her hips already, plus coated aspirin for pain and inflammation though we may change that; when her CBC comes back Monday I will discuss that w/my vet.

Chondroitin?

How old is the dog?

Yes! Chrondroitin!

She was 5.5 years old when I adopted her, so she's just under 7 years.

Has she seen an ortho vet?

No, we just found out about her knees yesterday.

Since I will be talking to my vet tomorrow, I wanted to figure out some things to ask her about next steps etc. That said, to be honest, I really don't think financially right now with how things are that I can afford surgery for her, though I would start saving for it.

I am also extending/increasing our massage, and doing warm compresses for her.

I have been upping her running lately, so that she's doing distances over 10k, but she just LOVES running and gets so excited every time I put on my running gear. My vet said I could still run with her but I am going to shorten her distances, and even though I let Teagan set the pace, she said to slow her down. We'll take away some of the running and sub in more walks. I'm also going to start taking her swimming again.

I would run ONLY on grass or track, with a stretchy warmup first, and I would make an ortho vet appointment. Here's why: No matter what the current pain/inflammation trigger is, there are conservative measures to take even if surgery does appear to be indicated. For example, if the dog had bursitis, a memory-foam bed and certain tendon-lengthening muscle exercises could help.

Many of the triggers would do well with a short cold pack first in order to lessen inflammation (before the application of warmth). But this is what the ortho vet could tell you. OA has no need for cold application, but some soft-tissue ailments could benefit.

MSM is what I would do, too, with the glucosamine. But I would really really want x-rays so I could know what I was dealing with.

All JMO, of course.

Fair enough, and those would be great to figure out if there are other non-surgical steps to take - thanks! I will ask about a referral tomorrow then, and I would assume x-rays would be useful to take to the appointment. I should be able to get x-rays down for $120-180 depending on how many views they take - I'm assuming a couple at least....?

I'm not even sure if this is painful for her, which is terrible, but maybe the times I think her hips are bothering her are her hips, or they're her knees, or both.

Thank you so much!

I have started some stretching/range of motion with her too, which I forgot to mention - very basic, but at least it's something.

To be honest even though I've been told I can run with her I'm scared to. I stopped running with her after she got diagnosed w/HD, but after she lost weight I started building her up slowly again and she loved it, but I don't want to make anything worse at all.