Search Results for: cruciate

Dock is a three year old Lab. Just had his birthday on April Fool’s Day. On September 12, 2013 he had TPLO surgery on his right hind leg. He had struggled with lameness issues for a nine month period prior to surgery. We tried several treatment options to try to determine the cause of his lameness. If wasn’t until we had the knee scoped that a cruciate ligament partial rupture became apparent. He never did exhibit the defining ”drawer movement” symptom.

We were home for two weeks post op when I accidentally found the Top Dog Health site and the wonderful TPLO Home Rehab Guide. This was such an amazing resource. It reduced personal anxiety, gave forward direction, things to avoid and how to do exercises the correct way. The support videos were incredible. Best of all was the interaction with Dr. J when a setback occurred.  At this point we ordered the GlycanAid HA supplement. Dock has been on it ever since.

We have had our challenges trying to get in enough walking outdoor this winter. The snow in Dock’s yard was over three feet deep at its lowest depth for most of the winter. We have done a lot of the exercises outlined in the guide in our rec room. The bone in Dock’s leg was healed by our twelve week visit. Since that time we have seen a certified rehab therapist to further assist in Dock’s recovery. Walking incorrectly to avoid pain for those pre-surgery months led to some compensation injuries.

We had our final planned program visit on March 31, 2014. The veterinary therapist measured his legs, watched him walk, and trot out. He had met the goals on the Recovery Check List.  “He strides evenly, no sign of a limp. If you took him in obedience classes now he would win.”Yahoo!

Thank you Dr. J for all your help and for developing this great supplement.  It has made a big difference in Dock’s recovery and he is so happy he has now been cleared to have supervised play with other dogs.

Thank you so much!
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This website was the best thing that could have been found for information on the surgery Shelby (Aussie Cattle Dog/Sieberian Husky plus) was about to have. The weekly instructions help so much. While expectations were addressed at the Vet’s they were no where as helpful as having your instruction manual ( downloaded free) right at my finger tips to re-in force my memory as to what to do. I am 75 years old and love my dog to death. We are hoping that with the massages, ice, heat etc. and the addition of the GlycanAid she will keep on going as wonderful as she is at the starting of the fifth week. Your e-mails are helpful.

Thank you.

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I have been wanting to write and thank you so much for your 12 week rehab program as I had written you earlier re: Lacey have two torn ACL’s and not having surgery on either due to what people were telling us, her age was 8. We did not have the surgery but I followed your 12 week Rehab program to the letter doing every step of yours, plus ordering the Glycanaid and the Flexerna too, both helped immediately. I have also had a vet come and do some cold laser on her legs along with spinal manipulation.

This summer I have had her in the water, she does not like it, but I bath her and have her swim as well.

The swimming has really strengthened her legs as well. Yes last New Years eve she had already torn her right ACL and that day she tore her left. She could not walk we had to take her to the vet carrying her with towels and they put her on a stretcher.

I had to start my/your Rehab out by helping her stand with towels. It has all worked and she runs and plays just like a normal dog, barking and having the time of her life.

We go swimming at the bay and walk down the pier together no one would believe that 8 months ago she could not move and I attribute it to your incredible 12 week program. Feel free to use this anyway you need or want as far as for your worth, advertising or whatever.

Thank you so much,

Oh by the way we used the shorted leash in the rehab and we always used to use an extension, due to your rehab i still only use the short leash and Lacey does not mind at all.

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Dear Dr. St. Clair,

The vet who did the ACL surgery on my dog, Zorro (a very active 11-year old Siberian husky), recommended your website as part of his rehabilitation instructions. It was amazingly helpful and here’s why:

1) Written instructions regarding exercises are fine, but actually seeing them — as in your helpful videos — is extremely helpful. They were very clear and I was confident in implementing them with my dog.

2) You anticipated all the questions I had, right down to things that might seem self-evident. For example, when you suggest warm pack therapy, you actually say “Here’s what you can use…” I appreciate that you offered alternatives — a gel pack, a towel/facecloth rinsed in warm water, or, for a cold pack a gel pack or a bag of frozen vegetables! These are the kinds of instructions that people who have not been involved in rehab therapy before need to know. It sounds obvious, but it isn’t always. I always felt very comfortable following your instructions.

3) I liked the weekly prompts and expectations. They told me what I should be looking for so that I was able to measure my dog’s progress. I also really liked your frequent cautions and reminders that this is a slow process. It helped me to keep in mind that this was an ongoing process rather than an immediate cure.

4) The exercises were all useful for Zorro and also well within my capacity to do with her. I knew exactly what I should be doing, for how long, and what to look for.

5) Registering for your program was very easy and your website is very accessible and “user-friendly.”

This is the best informational website I have ever seen, and I’m not kidding. I have looked at websites for different purposes, not just medical/rehab, and I was impressed from the beginning with the thoroughness, the clarity, and the usefulness of the information supplied.

Zorro had ACL surgery 2 years ago on one leg and I did not follow up immediately with rehab. When we started a rehab program, it did produce startling results in terms of her return to normal. But our delay in opting for surgery in the first place and then in taking proper rehab action led, unsurprisingly, to her tearing the other cruciate about a year and a half later. The second time, we had her at the vet’s immediately after the injury, had the surgery promptly, and then started rehab right away. In addition to that, we also had your website supplementing our own fantastic rehab vet/team and through it had answers to any question that came up.

I am confident that if I’d had this kind of support the first time around, Zorro might have avoided a second operation.

We had the first ACL surgery done at Cornell University’s Animal Hospital (we live in Canada, but Cornell is the best veterinary care closes to us), and we were very happy with the treatment there. But we didn’t follow up with the rehab. We had the second surgery done in Ottawa (ON, where we live) and embarked immediately on rehab, supplemented by your program because the surgeon in Ottawa directed us to your website. I urge you to suggest to Cornell that they consider adding a referral to your website as part of their post-operative instructions. It would help anyone who is in this situation.

I had no problems or issues with any of the information you provided, any of the instructions, or any of the presentation. It was all extremely well done. As I said above, this is the best informational website I have ever seen for ANYTHING. Apart from helping people recover their dogs from the ACL surgery, your team could be helping other people design effective websites.

Thank you very much for all the information and for the assistance you have given me in helping my dog Zorro to recover from her ACL surgery. We will continue to do various exercises as part of her maintenance. And Zorro, at 12 weeks, is now pretty much back to normal. I am still careful with her and will continue to be, but she thinks she can do anything.

With much appreciation,

 
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Your rehab email series was a great help in understanding how to help our dog recover. We decided not to submit him to ACL surgery. One of the big reasons we opted out of surgery is our dog (70 pounds) is almost 12 years old and his physical stamina has been waning for the last couple of years. So we had no expectation that he could be restored to boundless energy and running around like he was one year old, like he had been until he was 10 to 10 1/2 years old. We wanted him to be able to resume walking but did not expect a return to top speed sprints all over the place, like when he was younger. We were concerned about the stress of surgery on him as an older dog.

Our vet predicted dire consequences, essentially permanent disability, if he did not have the surgery. I noticed, however, that between the recommended courses of action for rehab following surgery and without surgery, the rehab was essentially identical. And although your rehab was stated to be for post surgery rehab, it worked just as well, I think, for our dog. We got a second opinion from another vet who recommended that we give the rehab 8 – 12 weeks, then reevaluate whether surgery was needed. I think the results so far support foregoing, or at least delaying, the surgery when the dog can be constantly restricted in his activities and led through a carefully planned rehab process, like you provide.

He is back to walking normally with no apparent instability in his injured left rear leg. He also is able to do some jumping and goes up and down stairs now with no difficulty, although he has learned to go up stairs more deliberately than he used to. He is still limited in endurance more than he used to be — he will now begin to limp a little and slow down his walking after 50 – 60 minutes of walking, although I am not sure whether the ACL injury or his age is the main contributor to that.

So all in all, we are very pleased with his recovery so far and we are grateful that you provided your rehab series — I think it helped a lot.

Thanks.

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Dear Dr. James,

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I am totally satisfied with the GlycanAid HA and how Blue, who is my seven year old English Lab, is doing on it.  We are six weeks out from herACL surgery of her right hind leg and as you said in your week 5 newsletter, these next weeks will be a challenge to keep her from doing too much.  We are vigilant in keeping her safe and under control. We will have a lot of time when Spring gets here and we are well past the 24 weeks of PT and getting her legs equally strong so as not to go through this again.  I only wish I had come across your website back in the early 2000’s when our first chocolate lab had leg surgery because of – for lack of better words- poor breeding.  Even now, with the orthopedic surgeon and our vet, the only instructions that were given was – no running, jumping or stairs for 84 days. I am grateful and thankful this year that you have dedicated your practice to helping us dog lovers with our children who unfortunately have to go through a surgical procedure.  With your information, products, continued encouragement to us and the availability to ask you questions has made going through this rough time easier.
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This is Morgan a Border Collie I rescued about 4 years ago and who is now 8 years old. He did dock diving competitions and did very well…working toward his National Championship. He tore his cruciate ligament on the left side and had 3 surgeries before we got it healed. I used the TopDog Health Rehab Program and found it to be very thorough and useful on a day to day basis.  This summer he tore the right cruciate, had surgery and was not healing well with the supplements he was on. I went looking for another option…I had a knee problems and they had tried using Hyaluronic Acid on me…I know how much better it felt. I thought I would give this GlycanAid HA a try and it has worked. Morgan has been improving consistently and after his last x-rays his bones are great. Maybe back to swimming and diving soon.

I usually do NOT take the time to give review, but in this case I felt it was justified.

PS: He loves the taste of the pills and waits for them to be served before his dinner….that is very unusual for a Border collie…they are NOT food motivated.

Dog Lover/Rescuer
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I am really happy with the GlycanAid HA.  I used it after right after my dog recovered from her cruciate ligament surgery thanks to a promotional coupon you sent me.  After we were done with the bottle I put her on her regular glucosamine supplement pills and my husband and I noticed right away that she was waking up stiff and was stiff after sitting down for a while.  We’ve got her back on the GlycanAid HA for a couple of weeks now and the difference is really noticeable.  Thanks for checking in.

 
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