Dog Cruciate Ligament Disease Recovery- The Vet Verdict

6 weeks. We had 6 weeks to fix Clover. Or, at least, make huge improvements so that an operation wouldn’t be necessary. We were told to take Clover back to the vets after the 6 weeks of our trial rest period, of short lead walks and of hydrotherapy. The vet would decide at that point if Clover needed the cruciate ligament operation or not. Due to available vet appointments, we ended up going around 7 weeks later, but I was ok with this. It would have been different if Clover was visibly still in pain, or even limping slightly. If would have been different if she was still being quiet and sleeping a lot and not being her usual pain in the butt self. But Clover was doing great. She was back on her usual energetic form, she was visibly happy and our walks were now up to 25 minutes at a time, twice or three times a day. Clover was also making more attempts at zooming round the house and trying to jump on and off furniture (trying to stop her from doing this 24 hours a day was the most fun I’ve ever had…). She was also finding sticks and throwing them in the air and then chasing after them… whilst on the lead (see above picture).

So, I was glad of the extra week. Because Clover was ok. An extra week would mean extra time to recover and more chance of us being able to fix this on our own. I still felt sick as we walked through the door to the appointment a few days before Christmas though.

I opened the door to the vets and gave Clover’s details to reception. I was asked to weigh Clover (as usual when we arrive)…she was 17kg! She had put on a whole extra kg in 6 weeks! I panicked slightly. She was firmly in the ‘large dog needing operation’ category now. (Missed this, read the previous blog post about Clovers weight and our options HERE.)

What happened next was a laugh. Having spent the last 6 weeks blocking off stairs, furniture and anything remotely scary or dangerous to stop Clover hurting herself further. Also having spent 6 weeks being on high alert to stop her from sneakily jumping up onto the sofa or bed whilst she thought I wasn’t watching, Clover proceeded to JUMP UP ONTO THE CHAIR IN THE WAITING ROOM whilst I was giving her weight details to reception. As she did so, the vet room door opened and the vet stepped out and called Clover’s name. Set on embarrassing me further, Clover then leapt down off the chair as though she’d just landed a job as a stunt double, and went speeding towards the door (not the vet room door, the entrance to the actual veterinary surgery… she was trying to escape). I told her off under my breath and picked her up and marched her into the vets room. “I see she’s healed enough to jump on and off furniture” was the first thing the vet said to me.

I wanted the ground to swallow me up to be honest. 6 effing weeks I’d spent literally watching Clover’s every move, making sure she was being careful and not jumping or running, and within 3 minutes of being at the vet’s she’s ruined it all and made the vet think that I’ve been being a bad parent. Just letting her do what she wants and jump around without a second thought. I did try to explain to that vet that I’d been super careful with her and that I’d been watching her closely and making sure she didn’t hurt herself and the vet just sort of looked at me as if to say “I’ve literally just seen you let her jump up and down off a chair mate.”

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Anyway, the vet checked Clover over properly, stretched out her leg and her paw and felt around her hips, thigh and the cruciate area. She agreed with the hydrotherapy lady that Clover had put muscle on around the thigh and that the leg was definitely feeling more normal. She also said that Clover wasn’t resisting anywhere near as much as she was previously when the vet was checking it. She asked if Clover had been limping, and I truthfully told her no. I waited with baited breath as the vet continued to feel her leg. Finally, she concluded that there was a significant improvement and, at this stage, no operation would be necessary.

I could have cried and hugged the vet (which probably wouldn’t have been a good idea, the vet is clearly more of an animal person than a people person… hence the career choice I suppose). The vet continued to say that basically we just needed to keep doing what we were doing. Get her walking for half an hour at a time on the lead and keep going with the anti-inflammatory medicine. Once this batch of medicine had run out, we didn’t need any more unless there was significant deterioration in her use of the leg. She also said that, once she had been walking on the lead for half an hour at a time with no limping for a period of 2 weeks, that I could begin letting Clover off the lead again after that point, when I felt the time was right. The was literally the best Christmas present I could ever have asked for.

After the two weeks of half hour lead walks were up, Clover could also begin interacting with other dogs again. It was to be introduced slowly and for very short periods of time but she would be allowed to play with them again. I literally couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I couldn’t believe that Clover and I had done it.

Of course, we weren’t entirely out of the woods and, at the time of writing (February 2024) we still aren’t. I will forever be conscious of Clover’s bad leg and, to an extent, she probably will be too. I could keep her on a lead for every walk for the rest of her life and restrict her social interactions and play time, but that isn’t fair on her. The hydrotherapy lady’s advice was to ‘just let her be a dog’ and it’s stuck with me.

So, we will continue our lovely long countryside walks, we’ll continue our ball games (although perhaps not for as long as before), and Clover can continue to play with her friends. I’ll maintain my watchful eye over her and if I feel as though she’s exerting herself too much or running too fast or for too long, then I’ll put her back on the lead until she’s calmed down. We’ll find a balance between letting her have the most fun that she possibly can, whilst being sensible. There will always be a weakness in her leg and there is a very high chance that the cruciate ligament will tear again, and next time our only option will be to get an operation done. But, we’ll cross that bridge as and when it happens, and, as always, we’ll cross it together.

If you missed any of my previous diary updates, you can find them at ‘the diary of my ruff reality.’

The previous few posts regarding Clover’s cruciate ligament diagnosis are ‘cruciate ligament disease’ and ‘cruciate ligament recovery- month one’ and ‘cruciate ligament recovery- month two.’

Alternatively, head to ‘nobody warned me about…’ to read about the dog ownership topics that I wish someone had told me about before I got Clover.

Thinking of getting a dog? Visit my ‘top tips page’ for important things that I probably should have considered further before buying my floppy eared hound!

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