bulldog knee

Question
Thank you for your reply...I have learned she has a partially torn acl in her left rear...they are not sure if it is completely torn from the xrays.  I failed to mention that she has hip dysplasia in her right rear hip.  Is it possible that with anti inflammatories her tear may get better or it may tear completely?  She is virtually solid muscle from her exercising....thank you so muchn6
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Followup To

Question -
Hi..we have a very active 5 1/2 year old female english bulldog.  She weighs only 37 lbs. partly because she chases her ball and she was the runt of the litter. She has torn legaments on her left rear knee and the we have given meticam and we were told to watch her for 7-10 days but that she will require surgery, with no guarantee surgery will help.  This seems drastic to us because she shows no pain but simply raises up her left rear leg sometimes when standing.  We don't know if the knee is completely blown.  Can you advise what we should be looking for during this period and is there anything else that we may be able to do with her.....thank you very much ...she is our life

Answer -
If you have one knee repaired, surely the other one will follow. If she's not showing any pain, I would suggest that you rest her as much as possible for 2 weeks. Crate rest and leash walks only. No running and rough housing.  I'm betting you'll see a marked improvement if not complete absence of lameness.

If you can keep her from reinjuring herself for a few months, you might get lucky. At any rate, I would not consider surgery for two reasons 1) her age and recooperation time, and 2) the fact that it will put undo stress on the other knee no doubt causing that one to blow. Often knees will pops out and reset if you can keep the dog reasonably inactive long enough.

Answer
If you're very careful with her chances are it may heal on it's own if not completely torn.

There's not a Bulldog on the planet with good hips. Don't let your vet talk you into hip replacements either. I would start the dog on glucosomine supplements and keep her on them forever. If she's in good shape, her hips will probably never bother her.