Comments on Cranial Cruciate Ligament Rupture

I just read about and ordered the protocol recommended in Dogs Naturally Magazine for ligament tears. I already have her on natural joint supplements and have discontinued her Rimadyl. I am working on gettting her weight down, but that's not easy with her not being able to exercise. I don't want to subject her to surgery.
I am so glad I found your site.

My dog is 9 years old and we thought he had hip dysplasia as he is Black lab/German Shepard/Mastiff mix so he is tall and over 100 lbs. This winter though it became clear that something was really wrong and so I was massaging down his back like before and decided to check the leg he is favoring, like before, only this time I found a rather large bulge on the inside of his joint. I worked with "Helping Hands for Pets" as I did not have the dollars to take him to a vet for something as expensive as this. Not only did they authorize enough to handle x-rays, they referred me to a vet that was different then my usual vet as they thought this vet would be better equipped to handle this particular injury. It turned out to be a veterinary that was also a homeopath. She was the first vet I had ever met that didn't try to sell me on the "worst case scenario" and tell me surgery was the only way or I was a horrible dog owner. In fact, she suggested that surgery would NOT be the best route for him. She said he had torn ALL ligaments and tendons around his knee joint and that is we could keep him from jumping or running, the scar tissue would form and hold it all together. She prescribed a pain medication for him which we ended up going down to half the initial dose and found that to be effective. She had told us to do that, also telling us what to watch for. She also gave me the name of a Chinese Herbal remedy along with a homeopathic remedy to give him for 6 weeks and of course the glucosimine and msm and chondroitin. She didn't take x-rays as it was obvious to her by the exam which I also found refreshing. This is they type of vet I have been looking for but hadn't found in our area and she respected my decision on titer checking instead of another rabies vaccine. I have had vets get downright hostile when I do that so I was thrilled. Needless to say, I have kept her business card and will probably be going there again at some point. My dog is doing much better. We could not keep him down for 6 weeks and she did say walking short walks was okay but no jumping or running until after 6 weeks. Finally the snow has melted and we can close him in the back yard at night and take him on walks and he seems to be doing just fine!

Hello, My 9 year old golden retriever recently had a complete tear of her CCL (right hind leg) and has been recommended TPLO surgery. Being a complete tear, what are the chances of it healing using homeopathy and without surgery? Thanks, Ava

I have some experience with a dog with CCL injuries and I read this article with great interest. With out going into all my thoughts just a few. One of my dogs a soon to be 10 male Aussie frisbee competition dog. i don't consider my self holistic but 8 years raw food virtually no vaccines past the initial ones. No heart worm meds, very few tick meds. no flea meds. At about 4 his first CCL went I did a lot of research into the matter with the goal that he would play frisbee again (he lives for it). I had correspondence with Dr. James Cook ( university of Missouri ) in regard to surgery he gave me vets in my area that used his tight rope procedure. I spoke to numerous vets and I can tell you they all said this is most likely not injury related. In the end I found an excellent vet who performed an extra-capsular suture stabilization. at a cost of under $2000. He was never in a crate he wore a soft cast for 3 weeks started leash walks after gradually getting longer then periods off leash at 4 months he started playing with a ball then frisbee. 5 months he was playing again as he had. I realize this was a best case scenario i felt lucky. Not quite 2 years later the other one went if I had read your article after the first one maybe I could have prevented the second. I didn't hesitate he went for the surgery in slightly less time he was back to playing again. I don't believe this would have been possible with out surgery. Some times after a good work out when he gets up later you can see he's a little sore but at his age I feel that's to be expected. I have two questions. With out surgery what mechanism would have made his stifle stable enough to play frisbee again and mainly what can I do for him now to help with this he does get cosaquin every day since the first one went.

Hi, I used to do everything my vet told me to do, good kibble, cooked bones because of bacteria, vaccinations, heart worm preventative, flea and tick poison. My Golden Winnie blew her ccl and had the tplo, next year other knee, a few years later she died of cancer at 9 and a half years old! Heartbroken and I decided I was doing something wrong and started researching. My dogs are rescues so they have had shots but now are on raw, get titers etc thru Dr Dodds. I clean my home with organic cleaner. I have just purchased a Papillon boy intact and un vaccinated. He will be my new agility dog when my older one wants to quit. He is the first dog I have purchased in 36 years! I hope he will benefit from my education and passion to do what is right for him and ignore the mainstream.

Wow, this is a side of cranial cruciate ligament ruptures that is not often talked about. Sadly, the "man-made preventions" are things that are given very little consideration because they are so commonplace. After reading this, I am alarmed I never considered it myself! I went the brace-route via woundwear when my dog had this injury. I still feel good about my decision, knowing that he didn't have to be sedated and given heavy pain killers after the surgery. I got a lot of heat for not putting my dog through surgery and this article has given me even more food-for-thought.

My Siberian Husky tore his cruciate ligament on the left knee, going on three years ago now. This was before I seriously started looking into homeopathic meds and treatments and so I went to my trusted vet, who has been treating my dogs for 10 years. I had read up about the possible operations to "fix" a cruciate before I went in, but my vet uses a completely different method. I forget what it's called, but he basically 'made' a new ligament using sinew that he took from my dog's thigh. No fake anything in that knee. What he reattached in surgery was live tissue. It was an incredibly painful operation, and costly and not something I would ever want to put my boy through again. I immediately retired him from the working dog exercises we participate in (he was never that keen anyway). Getting back on four legs completely still took about 5 months but three years down the line the knee has made a full recovery and is still holding. I've not had any problems with the other knee and he zooms about the yard and jumps around for food with no problems. So that's my cruciate story in a nutshell. I am however now using alternative homeopathic treatments for my dogs, for everything, as much as possible.
Conversely, I have a friend whose dog also snapped a cruciate, had the very expensive and painful TPLO surgery and a year down the line, THAT had to be redone and at the same time they discovered that, the other knee also went. Poor dog was lame in both back legs and she had to fork out another lot of money to repair the second knee.
Thank you Dr Falconer for sharing your knowledge with us and helping us to better the lives of our furry friends. I have learned so much already!

Have you dealt with much Auto-immune diseases? I have a female pomeranian 2 years old , cared for by a holistic vet . ... only 1st puppy shots .. no rabies or anything else ... feed raw and have worked my hardest on trying to be healthy (still have a lot to learn)... and last fall there was a progression of events that happened .. ie bladder infection that got worse and worse .. didnt respond to homeopathic remedies nore antibiotic prescribed etc. .. but ended up in white coat emergency because she started doing a neurological twitch (homeopath wasnt available) .. scared me to death .. they sent me to neurospecialist -- who did mri and spinal tap (she had brain swelling and some swelling in neck) .. tested her for approx 4 common possible diseases to cause these type of symptoms all came back as negative .. so they just clumped her into the "autoimmune disease" category.. holist vet not experienced in this .... white coat neuro is convinced this is what it is ... ME in my gut I think she caught some bacteria from Dog shows I took her too (I show dogs for a hobby).... Been on prednisone by the white coat neuro since thanksgiving .. down to .25ml every other day.. but it makes me sick to my stomach ... I wish I could find someone that has experienced this and would know what to look at and do to "cure" her ... all they did was cover it up/ surpress and I am afraid it might flare back up again and then we will repeat white coat treatment ... ;0(

A year ago my black lab and I came home from the park where we played our tennis ball game (of which a lab never tires) . Only after entering the house did I notice she was limping. Her limping progressed throughout the evening. We took her to the next morning. The vet recommended TPLO surgery and referred us to a specialist. The specialist would x-ray and then consult . The surgery would be immediate . We were so sad and upset as this surgery is vile and expensive with a long re-hab. She would have been kenneled post surgery for a very long time and allowed out ONLY to go the bathroom. This ,followed by physical therapy and or water treatments. I shudder to think of the cost but I shudder to think of the awful and grueling procedure that she would have undergone. It just didn't seem right to us. So we began extensive research and found a man on line who does NOTHING but help people , such as us, who are in this same situation. His name is Max Tiggerpaw. He advised us and coached us and we indeed opted out of the surgery. Our lab is healthy and beautiful. She shows no weaknesses at all. We put her on a raw diet and we do give her joint supplements daily. We rested her for many months which is not easy with an active lab who is only 2. That is all we did. She is wonderful and such a joy. Thank you for your articles as well. PEOPLE need to know the truth . Thank you.

My 14-15 year old Rottie mix female tore her knee ligament two years ago this coming June. She has been amazingly healthy raw feed canine but early on in her life , she was a rescue, probably not a stellar diet. And of course there's the vaccines that she has NOT had over the last two years. Never again will she ever receive further vaccines nor heartworm or flea and tick chemicals. All that being said, I took the conservative maintenance route concerning her knee rather than opting for the surgery. I was nervous about her recovery, but chose to go with my gut telling me to seek out homeopathy, cool laser and continuing her raw diet utilizing supplements (she had already been on transfer factor, probiotics, and liquid glucosamine but I added green lipped muscle powder, Herbsmith herbal Sooth Joint and Standard Process Ligaplex II. Also to keep her comfortable, I went with Herbsmith Comfort Aches. Furthermore I did not crate her because she is not an over active pup and since she has never been crated would have added to her stress level. Waiting and watching for bits of improvement during the first 6 months of conservative treatment was tough because I wanted it to happen more quickly. In conclusion, today this senior girl walks and runs without a limp. She quite often gets the zoomies, where she runs in circles tucking her back end under making tight little turns in play. I am sooooo glad I stuck it out against traditional surgery mindset as she has recovered so amazingly well to being a vital animal. The amazing body truly has the ability within to recover from many injuries if supported in natural ways. Yea! Thanks Dr. Falconer for your wonderful website and "drawing outside the lines of Dr. Whitecoat" holistic veterinary work. You have opened my mind to understanding that has allowed my sweet girl to live a health happy life which has prompted me to tell this story for what it is worth.

my mastiff had surgery for this it was very expensive and despite all her care after the op it didn't work she still limps badly and the only way I can keep any muscle on that leg is by taking her swimming :-(

Thank you Dr.Will