Cairn with torn CCL

[Tertia]

I have an 8 year old Cairn. She is very active, walks to work with me several times a week, swims whenever she can, always been very healthy. Unfortunately she does jump up on beds and furniture which probably isn’t great on her joints.

She was just diagnosed with a torn CCL. Surgery has been suggested but I am also reading that the injury can heal by itself without invasive surgery. I am looking for some guidance in this area, any thoughts you have would be helpful.

Thank you,

Tertia

[sanford]

I had a similar issue with one of my dogs. Retraining can be difficult, time-consuming and not always successful. I tried a set of doggie stairs but he wouldn't use them. (I guess it was more fun for him to jump on and off).

Online, there are a number of different types of couch blockers and deterrents for keeping dogs off couches/furniture. Not all things might work for all dogs, so it might be trial and error to find what works for you, but a lot less $$$ than surgery. Also online are leg braces.

I hope you find a solution!

[BucksMum]

My cairn is 9 and had 2x tplo surgeries one year after the other, the recovery is tough - no jumping/ running for 6 weeks with a mental cairn used to 2-3 hours of walks per day but he was pain free again and able to run etc after. He is definitely stiffer than when he was a pup, but aren’t we all and better than pain. The vet said that cairns have an incredibly high tolerance for pain so it was really bad despite only intermittently limping - poor wee guy!

Edited January 25 by BucksMum