QUESTION
Three years ago our Westie had surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament and it was very successful. Two days ago, he woke up and would not put his rear left leg down and started walking three legged. As you can imagine, this is quite an effort with his age and lamness. The vet checked the leg and said the ACL is in tact and is fine. We are putting ice on it three times a day for three days and then heat for three days. It's only been two and a half days, and no improvement. Any ideas?
Linda
ANSWER
Dear Linda,
I would be still very suspicious that the injury is related to the anterior cruciate ligament as once they have been damaged they are vulnerable but are often not detectable fully concious. Try to localise where the pain is the worst and then if it is the stifle joint again I would be looking at radiography or a joint tap. A joint tap will identify if the is any infection in the joint whilst the radiograph will identify any fractures, tumours or arthritis present. I would not be leaving it much longer if the dog is not weight bearing.
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