Client Education:

Your dog Bonnie has a torn ligament in her left hind leg joint that is similar to your knee.  The ligament holds the femur (upper leg bone) and tibia (lower leg bone) in the correct place.  Without the ligament, the leg moves around abnormally and that causes pain and irritation for Bonnie.  This makes it difficult for her to bend her knee a lot.  

There are several possible reasons why this ligament was torn.  It could have been a very quick wrong turn when Bonnie was chasing the cat or some other traumatic event.  Because she is slightly older, her ligament may be slightly weaker than when she was younger.  Also her weight may have put added stress on her knee, making it easier for the ligament to tear.   

We highly recommend surgery to fix Bonnie's ligament, because without surgery her left joint will get progressively worse and she will be in more pain, making it harder for her to walk and exercise.  If she has to use her right leg more because of this, she may be more likely to get the same problem in the right knee.  During surgery, we will take part of another ligament in her knee and move it to where the torn ligament should normally be.  This will help keep the knee in the correct alignment.  Because we found this early, with surgery Bonnie is more likely to return to close to normal function.  Before the surgery, we will give Bonnie an injection of morphine (a pain medication) into a space in her spinal cord that will keep her from feeling pain during and after the surgery.  We will send her home with pain medication that you can give her by mouth twice a day for the first four days and then once a day for ten days after that.  We can give you ideas on how to best give her the medication. 

After the surgery, Bonnie will have to be confined to a cage, playpen or crate for about 10 days.  Then for two weeks, she should start a controlled exercise program, easing into leash walks.  If you have a place for her to swim, that would also be good exercise.  Twelve weeks after the surgery, she should be back to normal.  Then you can gradually get her back into a consistent exercise program.  A regular moderate exercise level will be important in preventing this from happening again.  Even with this surgery, it is possible that the ligament in the other knee might tear later.

If, financially, you cannot manage surgery, we recommend long term confined rest (4-8 weeks).  Confined rest means that she should not be allowed to walk around on her own, and you will have to walk her with a towel under her belly to help support her at first.  Then she can be slowly introduced to leash walks.  She'll be given pain medication similar to what she would be sent home with after surgery. Without surgery, Bonnie will never completely return to normal. 

Regardless of which option you choose, it is very important that Bonnie loses weight.  We have calculated that Bonnie should be eating 2 and a half cups of her Hill's Science Diet adult maintenance a day.  Gradually decrease the amount you are currently giving her until you reach 2 and a half cups.  This should take you a week or two.