Articles with CCL injuries

Large Dog Extracapsular Repair: ACL/CCL Injuries In Dogs—Xena’s Story

Extracapsular Lateral Suture Stabilization (ELSS), or simply extracapsular repair is a surgical procedure that provides stability to a canine stifle after a cruciate ligament tear. A leg with an unstable knee is dysfunctional, painful, and arthritis follows fast. The available treatment options include surgical, regenerative and conservative solutions. The goal of any treatment for ruptured cruciate ligaments is restoring stability…

by Jana Rade

TPLO Surgery Complications: Dog Knee Injuries— Roxie Broke Her Bone at TPLO Plate

TPLO surgery is well-established and considered a gold standard for treatment of dog cruciate ligament tears. It is, however, invasive and does carry a risk of complications. The thing about Pitties is that they are loving, big, and energetic. The younger, the more energy they have. Though with Cookie, who is a Rottie and coming up on 7, there hasn’t…

by Jana Rade

TPLO Complications: Dog Knee Injuries—Nigel’s TPLO Broken Drill Bit

Modern veterinary medicine is incredibly advanced and offers treatments nobody even dreamt of not so long ago. Veterinary surgery is an ever-growing field offering exciting treatments. Most of the surgeries are mostly safe with amazing results. That, unfortunately, doesn’t mean that things cannot go wrong. Nigel is an active dog, full of life and a drive for adventure. When he tore…

by Jana Rade

Canine Cranial Cruciate Ligaments: Hanging by a Thread? Stabilizing Forces in the Canine Stifle

A [cranial] cruciate ligament (CCL/ACL) tear is the most common knee injury in dogs. Is the knee anatomy to blame? Is the fate of the knee literally hanging by a thread of the cruciate ligament? If you look at the anatomy of the bones, the knee joint does look like the most unstable conformation imaginable with the tip of the…

by Jana Rade

Cora-based Leveling Osteotomy: My Two Cents on CBLO Repair

If your dog injures their cruciate ligament, you have some serious homework to do. There are many treatment options out there, and the number continues to grow. You can explore everything from conservative management, holistic therapies, regenerative therapies, to surgical repairs. Surgical solutions themselves include eight different techniques I know of at the time I’m writing this. That tells you something–there…

by Jana Rade edited by Dr. Joanna Paul BSc BVSc

Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer by day, dog health advocate, dog writer, member of the Dog Writers Association of America, and an award-winning author in my spare time. Jasmine, the Rottweiler of my life, was the largest female from her litter. We thought we were getting a healthy dog. Getting a puppy from a backyard breeder was our first mistake. Endless veterinary visits without a diagnosis or useful treatment later, I realized that I had to take Jasmine's health care into my own hands. I learned the hard way that simply seeing a vet is not always enough. There is more to finding a good vet than finding the closest clinic down the street. And, sadly, there is more to advocating for your dog's health than visiting a veterinarian. It should be enough, but it often is not. With Jasmine, it took five years to finally get a diagnosis for her initial issue. Unfortunately, other problems had snowballed for that in the meantime. Jasmine's health challenges became a crash course in understanding dog health issues and how to go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment. I had to learn, and I had to learn fast. Helping others through my challenges and experience has become my mission and Jasmine's legacy. I now try to help people recognize and understand signs of illness in their dogs, how to work with their veterinarian, and when to seek a second opinion. My goal is to use 20 years of hard-earned experience to save others from the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way, as I did.

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