Why is my ACL mix limping?

[lc0582]

We rescued an Australian Cattle Dog mix (See Bottom of post for her breed breakdown from Embark) and she has been wonderful. We found her on the side of the road at ~12 weeks and she was covered in ticks, like welts everywhere, and several ticks still on her. She had no chip, no collar and nobody called the local PD or Animal Control looking for her, so we adopted her.

Fast forward about 7 months and she has developed a slight limp on her front right leg. She lets us touch the leg all up and down without pulling back or any reaction. The limp does not seem to show up when she walks or sprints. It only seems to appear when she is at trotting speeds. We took her to the vet and she tested positive for Lyme disease, which I know can cause joint inflammation and limp. So we got her on medication and she has been taking it and the limp is seemingly getting better. It's tough to tell as we are trying to keep her calm for the days, but keeping an ACL mix calm for days on end is like trying to herd cats. We are doing our best with it, but if she plays hard with my other dog, which is practically impossible to prevent since she instigates it, her limp will return for the day.

We are about 2.5 weeks into the Lyme medication and we are unsure about how long to expect her limp to stay or if we should take her in and have X-rays done to see if it's something else.

Has anyone else had a similar experience and possibly has some advice?



https://preview.redd.it/ivdikpd8mix...bp&s=dddb564096bd5bae878a38c48c12901ce0bad6bd

45% Australian Cattle Dog

19.6% Border Collie

13.7% Australian Shepherd

13% Great Pyrenees

8.7% German Shepherd Dog

 

[iwannaknow]

@lc0582 What a sweet pup! Training and playing games that don't require a lot of physical exercise are great ways to work her brain and help keep her calm. We hide treats and toys to play find it, do obedience and trick training and work on leash manners when ours is on light duty.

Does your vet think xrays are necessary? I would go with whatever advice they have. Carprofin is a good anti inflammatory that could help as long as it doesn't interfere with the Lyme treatment.

So glad you reacued this cutie. Good luck!

 

[moppy]

@lc0582 My cattle dog just partially tore her ACL last week. Day of long play and she wouldn’t put any pressure on the leg. Seemed fine the next few days but noticed it again and went in for an X-ray. She also didn’t seem like she was in any pain or discomfort at all until the vet really tested her leg strength. Long 8 weeks ahead.

I would talk to your vet though, hopefully the Lyme medication helps! Best of luck!

 

[lc0582]

@moppy Whats the treatment for a torn CCL like?

Thankfully I don’t think it’s a torn CCL, since it appears to be her front right leg.

 

[moppy]

@lc0582 Surgery, 4 weeks of only leaving kennel/confined space for bathroom breaks. Then we will walk for 5 minutes every day starting in week 5 and add 5 minutes a day every following week. They say 8-10 weeks, and she’ll be rechecked the 10th week. She’s been doing fine, but can tell she is very bored.

 

[lc0582]

@moppy That sounds awful. Sorry your pup has to go through that.

 

[mosfet]

@lc0582 Unfortunately I don’t have any experience with Lyme disease but this sounds so stressful, I’m sorry the only tiny bit of advice I can shed is perhaps getting a supplement to help support her through all this? We use one for our girls arthritis and it’s made such a difference to her play and walks! This is the one we use if you want to check it out https://antinol.com.au/pages/new-to-antinol?mv=2