# Achilles tear in Lab



## ChukarBob (Sep 4, 2006)

Disclaimer: I don't know dog anatomy as well as I wish I did.

Almost 4 weeks ago, my 3 year old female Lab, Remy, came up limping after my wife had been playing fetch with her in the yard. Symptoms were similar to an injury last October -- weight-bearing on her left hind leg is painful. You can see in her gait that she's not putting full weight on the leg and sometimes, when going downhill or down steps, she'll lift it up and go 3-legged. Also, there's swelling in the ankle (hock) joint.

I put her on "light duty" -- no walks or exercise; on a leash when we take her outside to take care of business. She is free in the house and sometimes is put in our outside 5x10 kennel with our other Lab, who is 13 and not very active.

When this happened last October, the vet diagnosed that she had torn the dog equivalent of the Achilles tendon partially away from the bone at the joint. He recommended restricting her activity and anti-inflammatories. After about 4-5 weeks she had recovered and seemed fine. No problems until this recent incident. Although since the October incident, her left hock joint has been a bit larger than the right one.

So now it's happened again. Same diagnosis by the vet and same treatment plan. However, he wants to X-ray the joint in about a week and then, depending upon what the X-ray shows, consult with a surgeon.

I'm anxious about Remy. Has anyone out there experienced this problem? Are there effective non-surgical interventions that can minimize the likelihood of a reoccurrence. I'm also interested in whether there's a commonly used surgical intervention that can minimize the likelihood of a reoccurrence of this problem.

Any helpful comments or advice will be appreciated. Also, I would gladly give you a call if you had a great deal to say on the subject.

Thanks.


----------



## bluebird (Feb 28, 2008)

I will tell you one thing is have the surgery!!!!!!!!!!

My lab had the samething happen and Vet 2yrs ago put him on the same plan as your vet has. This past hunting season he was worthless because of the injury , he now has a bunch of arthritist in his leg and the specialist I went to 3 weeks ago said if I ever want him to be normal again he will need surgery. He said the only thing that can fix this tear in his leg is surgery so he will have surgery on the 9th of July and is costing me 2900--3500 bucks. If I would of had the vet tell me this 2yrs ago he would of had it then but because the vet just said rest him (Dumb A$$ FUKin VET) he now will be a little lame in that leg forever but after rehabe he wont be in pain and will be able to hunt again. Good luck if you would like to keep in touch just send me PM'S and i will let you know how my experience is going.


----------



## ChukarBob (Sep 4, 2006)

Took Remy in for a 2nd opinion by another vet. After a physical and exam, this vet concluded that the injury is not a sprain in the hock, but more likely a partial tear of a knee ligament. He recommends x-rays of all 3 joints -- hock, knee, hip -- to further evaluate Remy's condition.


----------

