3 year old Lab just had ACL surgery yesterday

[saber]

My Bailey just had ACL surgery yesterday. She cried and howled in pain all night long last night, been up all night at her side trying to comfort her. Is this normal? Vet said she will cry but this dog has never yelped in her life. I cannot believe that with all the meds and such out there she has to go thru this recovery in so much pain. It is heart breaking.

Saber

 

[choc_lab]

My lab had both ACL's done he was pretty quiet but he would just look at his leg a sigh . The best advise is keep her as relaxed as possible and then follow the rehab instructions . When she gets going swimming is the best ,to bad the lakes and ponds will have ice on them by that time . It is hard seeing you buddy in so much pain .I did sit up with my lab the first night too.

 

[saber]

She is better now. Could not give her any pain meds until this morning after the sedative wore off from the surgery. She did have a pain patch and a morphine shot last night before coming home.

This is a dog that has run into a tree chasing a tennis ball and not so much as made a sound, cannot believe she had to be in soo much pain last night that she was howling and crying constantly. I am just glad the worst is over for her.

 

[jd]

Glad to hear she is doing better. In my experience (4 knees and 2 hips), each dog reacts differently the first night home. Baileys cried both times and Burt barely made a whimper. I did not get to see how Millie did the first night as she stayed at the vet the first night.

One word of caution. Dogs seem to have a much higher tolerance for pain and she will want to use the leg much sooner than she should, so be sure to keep her on a leash and to keep her activity to the exact prescribed levels for recovery. That will allow what has been done to heal better and increase the odds that she will not blow it out again- which happens more than you would think. I find the hardest part of the surgery is keeping the dog from playing when they feel good enough to do so!

Good luck and give her a smooch on the forehead for us all!

-John

 

[lenny]

a dog howling in pain brings back bad memories for me. Good to hear your dog is doing better, sucks to hear them suffering.

 

[LoveMyDobe]

Stem cell on ACL

From the advice of my Holistic/Acupunture vet, he informed me a couple years ago they can now do stem cell on this. The dog goes in one day and they remove healthy cells and overnight them to lab in CA that does whatever it is that they do. It is shipped back to the vet and injected to the knee. No invasive surgery and very quick recovery. My past Dobe tore her ACL but wasn't that bad so we did chinese herbal pills and she was good to go! I have seen a dog being hauled out of a vet's office after surgey and it didn't look fun for the dog or owner. Just a thought. I swear modern medicine for our fur children has come along way. Sometimes I wish I could go to the vet instead of a medical doctor.
Best wishes on your Lab's recovery. Shower her with hugs and kisses from me!

 

[Cat Woman]

So glad to hear she is doing better! I've also had a sleepless night with a dog in pain and I never want to go thru that again... it just broke my heart. My story did not have a happy ending . Cheers and best of wishes to Bailey!

 

[saber]

It is amazing what a few days does, now my problem is not her being in pain but getting her to stay still!!!

Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement.

Saber

 

[Deleted member 10829]

That's so great to hear!

 

[willey]

Been there twice myself with my Golden Retriever. First at 4 yrs and the other at 8. Recovery is slow but its supposed to be to make sure it heals correctly. I know some people think I am crazy but after the second surgery we started seeing a doggy Chiro during the rehab stage and man what a difference that made in his recovery. He is now 13 and stills gets adjusted every six weeks. Its just money and he's my first.

Glad to hear things are going better! Give her an extra biscuit for me!!!

Bill