Joint help

 Sisko is 7 and will soon be 8. Boxers, like other large breeds are prone to tears to their CCL – Canine Cruciate Ligaments. It’s the equivalent of our ACL (knee). Sisko injured his about a year ago. I noticed him holding up his back leg and limping pretty badly one day after running and playing on the beach.

It was pretty clear that it wasn’t actually torn, it wasn’t painful enough for that and he could put some weight on it, but it obviously was partially torn or significantly injured.

For many people, this would have meant a trip to the vet and scheduling surgery. But for me, both with myself as well as my pets, I prefer surgery to be a last resort if there are alternatives. 

I have done a lot of research on CCL injuries, and this is what I know – statistically, when a dog ruptures his CCL and has surgery there is a large percentage chance that they will rupture the other one within a year. They put so much weight on the leg that did not have surgery that it wears it out and eventually it gives out.

I also weighed the benefits of him having an invasive surgery and what the recovery time would involve. I knew that he might have to have surgery but I was hoping to avoid it if I could help get him healed without it.  

He was already taking Fish Oil and a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement once per day. I increased both of those to twice per day. I also added a Turmeric supplement 2X per day. All of these supplements support joint health and decrease inflammation.

The other thing I did was make sure that he was continuing to get up and move. I know that some people might think this is cruel, but laying down and avoiding feeling any discomfort – both for humans and dogs – is a sure recipe for NOT healing.

I, of course, stopping running with him while he healed, but still took him for walks.

Fortunately, the limp went away pretty quickly, confirming that it was not a full tear. Partial tears can heal whereas full ruptures absolutely do not without surgery. For the next few months, I noticed that he would be completely limp free and then if he had a particularly active day – like running and playing on the beach, after he would lay down for a while, when it came time to get up he would sometimes have trouble and once he was up he would definitely limp on that leg. Once he got warmed up he would be fine, but we would then need to decrease his activity for the next couple of days.  It has been a tricky balance.

By early this summer – knock on wood – he was running and playing freely and afterwards there wouldn’t be a limp at all.  

Wednesday night I took him and Booker for a 10K run and I am so happy to report that he did great and has not had any issues with limping or favoring that leg!! While this does not guarantee that he won’t eventually rupture his CCL and need surgery, I am cautiously optimistic. 

I also know that he is not getting any younger and while most days he can easily jump into my SUV, some days, especially after long walks or hikes, he is reluctant to jump in and will just stand there and stare at us when we tell him to get in. Because he is a big boy, I can’t just easily lift him up. I also have worried about him injuring that leg, or another body part, if he were to fall while trying to jump in or out – as he tend to launch himself out of the vehicle out of excitement when we arrive some place or get home.

 So this week I got him this ramp. He learned to use it almost immediately.

Now he can run up and down the ramp to get in the vehicle without me worrying. The ramp itself folds down to a small square so I can just keep it in the back of the SUV and unfold to use whenever I need it.  

If you have an older dog or a dog in general who has any joint problems, I definitely recommend supplements. Archer was on these as well as he got older and I have no doubt that it improved his quality of life certainly and may have actually even extended his life.  

I also recommend getting a ramp if your dog has trouble getting in and out of the car or even jumping up into bed with you!