Case Story: Daisy, the brave Jack Russell Terrier Cross
This is the story of a Jack Russell Terrier Cross who had a very troublesome knee and had major surgery. Daisy went on to make a full recovery with lots of rest and physiotherapy.
Daisy is a lovely senior Jack Russell Terrier cross. She presented to us with a sudden onset of lameness on her back leg. She was very brave for her examination and didn’t show any signs of pain, however she had ruptured her cruciate ligaments and had a very unstable knee.
This is normally a condition that will cause a great amount of pain; it goes to show how well our beloved pets can deal with pain!
We confirmed her cruciate rupture after taking x-rays of her leg and proceeded with her repair surgery.
Cruciate ligament injury is one of the most common injuries in dogs, and in football players!
The cruciate ligaments are fibrous bands that run inside the knee joint from the bottom of the thigh bone (femur) to the top of the shin bone (tibia). When they tear it creates an abnormal increase of movement in the joint which in turn creates pain and inflammation.
The main goal for the surgery is to keep the leg stable and help with pain and mobility.
There are different types of surgeries that can be used to stabilize the knee and at W + T we have two different surgical options that our vets use and can discuss with you. We decided that an Extracapsular Lateral Suture Stabilisation was appropriate for Daisy.
The first step of this surgery is to examine the knee joint and check the area for any other problems. Sometimes there are also tears on the meniscus (a C-shaped piece of cartilage in the knee joint that acts as a shock absorber and improves the fit of the joint), so we remove any damaged parts at the same time. Then we can proceed to place the suture that prevents the top and bottom part of the leg from moving too far apart, thus stabilising the knee.
This is a major surgery, and the tissues need rest and time to heal properly, so post-operative care is almost as important as the surgery itself!
Daisy went on a period of rest and physiotherapy to help with her recovery.
Above is Daisy smiling in one of her post op checks!
