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Tigger looks something like a mix between Black Lab & GSD, but his ancestry is unknown. He's a tall, long-legged dog. He weighs a little over 100 pounds without being overweight. We got him at an animal shelter as a 3 year old in 1998. This was a no-kill shelter. He was there 18 months at the shelter before we walked in. He was without a doubt the least likely to be adopted dog in residence. He slunk at the back of his cage uninterested in visiting people and had no charming traits visible. The card on the cage door listed his faults. It was a long list. This dog had no hope of getting a home, and that made him absolutely irresistible to my wife and myself. We took him. He turned out to be a great dog. My favorite dog ever. Full of fun; loving; smart; loyal; brave. All he needed was a chance.
He was seven years old when his injury occurred. Tigger had shown signs his rear legs were giving him some minor trouble for a few months in early 2002. He hesitated to sit. He had some difficulty on steep hills. Then on May12th 2002 he disabled himself by completely tearing ligaments in both rear legs while chasing a fox. After hobbling home & resting for a few hours, Tigger was unable to stand or walk at all. After a few days he could walk a little but his mobility was very limited. A highly respected ortho-specialist vet diagnosed Tigger as having torn ligaments in both legs. He recommended TPLO and mentioned no other options. He said the 'drawer sign' in Tigger's knees showed clearly that the ligaments were severely damaged. We didn't do an MRI, but this vet had no doubt surgery was required based on his examination of Tigger, especially the extreme 'drawer sign' slippage, which he demonstrated to me. We made an appointment for TPLO. But after research and consideration I decided against TPLO or any surgery & cancelled the TPLO appointment.
It is always easiest to accept the experts' advice, and the cost was not an issue for us. But I wasn't comfortable with the idea of the surgery for several reasons. I decided that before resorting to surgery I would first try 'Conservative Management' consisting of restricted activity and avoidance of stress on the joints combined with nutritional supplements. I wasn't at all certain I was right, but felt less uncomfortable with Conservative Management than with the surgery.
Progress in recovery was slow for the first few months, and there were several setbacks brought on by my allowing Tigger to do too much. I worried every day that I might have made the wrong decision in rejecting surgery. But slowly Tigger improved & could do more & more. Progress went faster after the first few months.
After about six months Tigger was recovered to the point that I no longer restricted him at all. Although he couldn't jump quite as high as he used to, & went up steps a little more slowly, he was not at all what you'd call disabled. He continued to improve after restriction ended. He now walks & runs without any problem, has no limp, leaps off the ground like a pup when excited. We live out in the woods & the dogs are very active, going for long hikes nearly every day which include lots of critter chasing, swimming, climbing steep hillsides, leaping obstacles, etc. Tigger is doing great. Deciding against surgery was the best decision I've ever made.
Tigger's recovery shows the possibilities of non-surgical recovery using Conservative Management. He was much worse off when first injured than most dogs with ligament injuries. In the first days just after his injury, Tigger was so incapacitated that I had to carry him outside so he could empty bladder / bowel. Within a few weeks he was walking a dozen yards on his own & wanting to do more. He wanted to try to run with the other dogs, chase squirrels, etc, although any more than minimal activity resulted in pain later. In the early months I let him overdo several times. This resulted in setbacks in his recovery. I learned from this that he needed to be sufficiently restricted so that new tissue could form to support the joint without being torn by excessive stress. The new support became stronger & stronger over the weeks & months. Very slowly increasing the amount of exercise while avoiding excessive stress from running, jumping, etc were key to recovery, in my opinion.
The most important exercise was swimming. From early on it was clear that swimming was very helpful. Tigger went swimming most days. I think this was a major positive factor in his recovery. Even in the early weeks when Tigger could walk only a very short distance before sitting down, he could swim for 15-20 minutes without a problem.
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