What is a CCL injury?

Inside of a dogs knee is a ligament known as the cranial cruciate ligament (CCL). This ligament is one of the most important stabilizers of the knee. Many refer to it as an ACL which is the most similar human structure. The CCL is located in the rear leg.

Dogs can suffer from a variety of injuries to their CCL, which can be partial ruptures (tears) or complete ruptures. This ligament sits between the thigh bone and the shin bone and not only helps with your dog getting around, but also works as a shock absorber and holds a large percentage of your dogs body weight. Due to this CCL injuries are sadly very common in dogs.

Our Story

Riley was jumping off of the couch, and when she hit the ground she immediately started holding her rear leg up and would not use it. I had my suspicion of what her injury was, Riley didn’t act very painful, and continued to eat and drink as normal.

My vet was luckily able to see her the next morning. Our initial plan was to get her pain under control and reduce inflammation. Riley would not let me vet manipulate her knee much, so it was unknown if she had a full or partial tear. Riley is 10 years old, and suffers from kidney disease, which makes what medications she can take, and take long term trickier than the normal dog. We discussed next steps, and what future plans for her could be. We went home with medications for her for roughly 5 days, and the looming thought of surgery was in my mind.

My vet recommended surgery if Riley did have a full tear, which is the standard of care for most dogs with CCL injuries. There are a few surgical options depending on what your overall goal is for your dog, and a few other factors. Riley was a candidate for surgery, but I just couldn’t schedule her surgery that day. I needed to go home and research, especially since a CCL injury is something that I had never dealt with before.

Conservative Treatment

As soon as a started looking into CCL treatments, I found a great wealth of information on conservative treatments. Conservative treatment is basically treating the injury without surgical intervention. Depending on the resources available in your community, it might make a difference in what treatment options you pursue. For instance, not all communities have vets that offer laser treatments or have underwater treadmills available. Some of these treatments require many sessions or frequent sessions, so it is also important to weigh out long term financial costs to each route you take.

My vet was supportive of conservative treatment, mainly due to Riley starting to put weight and use her knee/leg to get around.

Our Conservative Treatment Plan

After much research, this was the plan I started.

Suzie’s CBD Pets – Tincture/Treats – Suzie’s has high quality, organic and human grade CBD products. I used their products for inflammation and pain control for Riley. CBD is part of my normal routine with my pups, but I monitored and administered this to Riley on more of a schedule.

Imperial Pet Co – Deer Velvet – Deer Velvet is a natural and renewable supplement that is high in glucosamine, chondroitin and other ingredients that are good for joint health. She takes 2 tablets a day, and loves the taste. She thinks they are treats! Thank you to Dr. Julia Roach at Our Five Dogs for this recommendation!

Photizo Vetcare – Healing Light Treatment – The Vetcare light therapy device helps with pain control and inflammation also. This device also helped me save money by not having to go to weekly light therapy treatments. I started using the Photizo after about a month of her other treatments and supplements. The Photizo Vetcare really was a game changer for her. It provided the additional layer of support she needed, and greatly improved her limp and gait.

Animal Ortho Care – Ready to Fit Stifle Brace – Riley was able to fit into one of their Ready Fit braces, but they also have custom options available. There were some adjustments that had to be made to properly fit her, AOC was extremely helpful in helping me check the fit and make adjustments. I will be honest, I have not used her brace much due to how well she has improved. It is a great thing to have on hand for her.

Dr. Harvey’s Food and Supplements – Dr. Harvey’s has been part of our daily routine since before Riley’s injury. I do believe that having her on a real, fresh diet where she is obtaining the proper nutrients she needs enhanced the healing process for her. I started using Dr. H when she was diagnosed with Kidney Disease, so knowing I was using foods that were total body support was a win win. I rotate through all of their base mix foods, during the initial injury phase I used Paradigm (keto and low inflammation) and Raw Vibrance (green lipped mussel) the most. I also started to use Ortho-Flex and all of their Healthy Oils more frequently for more support.

CocoTherapy Coconut Oil and MCT Oil – CocoTherapy is something that I use frequently for my pups already, but I started using higher amounts for Riley in her initial injury phase. Coconut oil is great for joint health!

Where are we Today?

Riley is doing great! I have been very lucky that conservative management has worked so well for her. Conservative management requires a lot of patience and you have to take it day by day. There were some days in the beginning that were tough for me, it is hard to see your furry kid limping around. I think it is important to really weigh out what is best for your dog and all of their unique characteristics. Riley is extremely resilient and not much phases her – I think this was a major positive factor for her while rehabbing her injury.

We are roughly 4 months out from her injury today and I am still using/doing a majority of the things above. She gets her Deer Velvet everyday, and eats Dr. Harvey’s everyday. Initially I was using the Photizo Vetcare 2x a day (morning and evening), but have been able to start using it 1x a day. If she has a very active day I will still use it 2x. I don’t use her brace much now, but it is great to have it if needed.

When dealing with CCL injuries, talk to your vet and talk through all options. Bring your supplements in for your vet to look at, and don’t be scared to ask questions. For some reason, I was so scared to talk to my vet about conversative treatment initially, but I am so glad I did. She was able to give me her opinion on the products I was using, and offer other recommendations if we weren’t seeing results.

Disclaimer: This blog post/social media content in no way is meant to diagnose or treat your animals health. Please consult your veterinarian for all medical conditions and health ailments of your pet.