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Kept meaning to come on here to talk about our experience with this in case anyone else runs into the same issue.
Last year our beagle had a case of the zoomies and suddenly went lame on his rear right leg. He's only 5 and at the time was a bit overweight. We confirmed he had tore his ACL and it was decided we should try laser therapy. Things were going well, but 4 weeks later he was walking across the kitchen floor, seemed to slip a little and the other leg went lame, sure enough tore the other one. It's believed he was putting too much weight on the other leg which is what cause the second issue. For 3 weeks I slept on an air mattress in the living room with him to make sure he wouldn't try to get up and walk around, he'd have to be walked with a sling to go to the bathroom, eat, and just basic stimulation (it was as awful as it sounds, for him and us).
We didn't want to do surgery because he's so young, so instead we did another round of laser therapy and signed him up for water therapy. Twice a week he'd go do one of those treadmills that half way fill up with water, this seemed to do wonders for him. The sessions were 30 mins, it kept the weight off the legs but help heal the ligament and build muscle for added support.
For 6 months we wouldn't let him go upstairs, jump on furniture and tried to avoid running, just took nice easy walks.
We also switched his food to prescription Hills brand weight management and joint care to help him drop 10 lbs. He also gets a daily omega3 and some CBD oil added to his food.
It's a year later, he is no longer on the prescription food, still on Hills brand but half the price and keeping the weight off. He's doing great, he's acting like a 5 year old beagle. He runs around outside, goes up the steps no problem, no surgery was ever needed.
We still hold our breath when he starts running around, but it's been a year and we want him to be a healthy AND happy pup.
Hope this helps someone!
(Laser was $400 for 6 sessions, water therapy was about the same, luckily his pet insurance picked up 90% of it. Money very well spent)
Happy to hear your Beagle is doing so well. I just love those Beagles! Had them all my life till the last one passed away and my husband wanted a Belgian Malinois. She’s o.k., but it’s just not the same in the house without a Beagle!
Cold laser therapy is a lot more expensive since where you live
Cold laser therapy was tremendously successful on my Rottweiler’ ACL issues.
Something else that helps equally as much and is a great home product, is a red light therapy pad. I bought one for my horses years ago and have also used it on my dogs and myself for various issues. Mine was going strong for sixteen years, until it fell in a bucket of water in the horse’s stall and I had to buy a new one. The good news is the company shipped me a new light therapy pad that same day and I had it the next day.
I use it every morning, in this cold weather, to jump start my shoulder
They aren’t all created equal, however. I have the “According to Gospel” 6” x 9” therapy pad because that’s the only size I can afford, lol. Gospel BTW was the name of the founder’s horse that she devised the pad for. It is U.S.A. made and they are great to do business with.
It’s a great piece of equipment that can be used on anyone or anything
Happy to hear your Beagle is doing so well. I just love those Beagles! Had them all my life till the last one passed away and my husband wanted a Belgian Malinois. She’s o.k., but it’s just not the same in the house without a Beagle!
It's amazing how a beagle can be the best dog in the world and also the worst dog in the world at the same time.
Cold laser therapy is a lot more expensive since where you live
Cold laser therapy was tremendously successful on my Rottweiler’ ACL issues.
Something else that helps equally as much and is a great home product, is a red light therapy pad. I bought one for my horses years ago and have also used it on my dogs and myself for various issues. Mine was going strong for sixteen years, until it fell in a bucket of water in the horse’s stall and I had to buy a new one. The good news is the company shipped me a new light therapy pad that same day and I had it the next day.
I use it every morning, in this cold weather, to jump start my shoulder
They aren’t all created equal, however. I have the “According to Gospel” 6” x 9” therapy pad because that’s the only size I can afford, lol. Gospel BTW was the name of the founder’s horse that she devised the pad for. It is U.S.A. made and they are great to do business with.
It’s a great piece of equipment that can be used on anyone or anything
Yea we live in NJ, everything is more expensive. We could have tried shopping around a bit, but our pup has some anxiety issues and loves the girls at his vet. We actually talked about it and worried he might not be willing to sit there for the 15 mins or whatever if he wasn't familiar with the surroundings.
My.. 10 year old collie mix was just diagnosed with a torn ACL.
I'm still debating what direction to go.. Spending $3-$5k on a 2011 model dog for surgery.. Not so sure about. Especially since they seem, at least my vet, seems not ENTIRELY convinced she's torn the ACL. Had her sedated and he manipulated it last Friday and he said it was definitely loose compared with the left rear, but he didn't think it was horribly bad.
The recovery time for surgery is quite long.. She's a 50 pound dog (Not overweight).. And the ACLs seem to 'resolve' on their own, but lead to arthritis.. So, 6-8 weeks after injury, dogs are generally walking 'normally' on the legs again, from what I have read, but, you're speeding up development of arthritis.
There's a hospital in Richmond that does the ligament replacement for $1350. That's about 5 hours away from me, but.. Something I'm considering. Lower recovery time.
I'm also just considering a brace.
She started out limping a bit for a week, off and on.. Then just went to three legging it last Wednesday evening. She's back to where she is putting some weight on it now. taking anti-inflammatories and joint supplements.. I wonder if it happened on the tile floor as well, because she just won't walk on tile. I've had to move her bowl out of the kitchen because she just won't walk on tile now.
@Labonte18, Try the cold laser therapy at the vet clinic.
it’s obvious prices really vary as I paid $120 for (6) thirty minute sessions; that was 15 minutes on each leg. The difference just one session made was mind-boggling.
If it doesn’t help, you’re out whatever six sessions cost in your area. If it does help you saved a lot money and a lot of rehab time.
The vet who lasered my Rottweiler advised against surgery because A) I couldn’t afford 5K and B) The rehab time would have driven both the dog and me insane as we live on a farm. She would not have taken kindly to the other dog helping with chores and checking fences, while she would be confined to the house for weeks.
Cold laser therapy was one of my better judgement calls
I hope that both of you feel better.
I had the same situation with my 5 years old german shepherd, who unfortunately also tore his ACL. He had surgery, and he suffered so much from the pain that I took him to the local vet, which gave him only painkillers that helped him only for a short time. I could not see my boy suffer again and decided to look for another solution. I found a home-use medical device called B-Cure Laser Vet that uses Low-Level Laser Therapy, and it gave my boy a complete treatment now he is more comfortable and relaxed.
sending my prayers for you both
Kept meaning to come on here to talk about our experience with this in case anyone else runs into the same issue.
Last year our beagle had a case of the zoomies and suddenly went lame on his rear right leg. He's only 5 and at the time was a bit overweight. We confirmed he had tore his ACL and it was decided we should try laser therapy. Things were going well, but 4 weeks later he was walking across the kitchen floor, seemed to slip a little and the other leg went lame, sure enough tore the other one. It's believed he was putting too much weight on the other leg which is what cause the second issue. For 3 weeks I slept on an air mattress in the living room with him to make sure he wouldn't try to get up and walk around, he'd have to be walked with a sling to go to the bathroom, eat, and just basic stimulation (it was as awful as it sounds, for him and us).
We didn't want to do surgery because he's so young, so instead we did another round of laser therapy and signed him up for water therapy. Twice a week he'd go do one of those treadmills that half way fill up with water, this seemed to do wonders for him. The sessions were 30 mins, it kept the weight off the legs but help heal the ligament and build muscle for added support.
For 6 months we wouldn't let him go upstairs, jump on furniture and tried to avoid running, just took nice easy walks.
We also switched his food to prescription Hills brand weight management and joint care to help him drop 10 lbs. He also gets a daily omega3 and some CBD oil added to his food.
It's a year later, he is no longer on the prescription food, still on Hills brand but half the price and keeping the weight off. He's doing great, he's acting like a 5 year old beagle. He runs around outside, goes up the steps no problem, no surgery was ever needed.
We still hold our breath when he starts running around, but it's been a year and we want him to be a healthy AND happy pup.
Hope this helps someone!
(Laser was $400 for 6 sessions, water therapy was about the same, luckily his pet insurance picked up 90% of it. Money very well spent)
Thank you for posting this. We have done the surgery three times in all (twice on a chocolate Lab, once on a beloved mutt-mix). It worked well for all three, but was arduous. So although I do have good experiences with the surgery, I'm always on the lookout for alternatives (THAT WORK).
@Labonte18, Try the cold laser therapy at the vet clinic.
it’s obvious prices really vary as I paid $120 for (6) thirty minute sessions; that was 15 minutes on each leg. The difference just one session made was mind-boggling.
If it doesn’t help, you’re out whatever six sessions cost in your area. If it does help you saved a lot money and a lot of rehab time.
The vet who lasered my Rottweiler advised against surgery because A) I couldn’t afford 5K and B) The rehab time would have driven both the dog and me insane as we live on a farm. She would not have taken kindly to the other dog helping with chores and checking fences, while she would be confined to the house for weeks.
Cold laser therapy was one of my better judgement calls
I'm going to look into it. We do have an animal rehab facility that offers it near me, so.. I'll certainly talk to them.
Right now, i've just got to get her comfortable with things again.. She's avoiding steps at the moment and won't walk on tile. I can help with the tile, as I have by moving her food, and placing a carpet on the small section leading to the bedroom.. But the steps.. I can't do much about that. There's only 2 steps into my house, but she doesn't want to go up them.
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