Commitment to Care: Brie
Meet Brie, an 11-year old pup who came into our clinic with difficulty standing. On a Monday morning, Brie jumped off of the bed and could not walk properly. Her mom took her outside, and with her only having three legs (she is missing her front right leg), she couldn’t stand at all as the affected leg was also on the right side. With her mom being a veterinary professional, she had a feeling that it was probably a cruciate tear and brought her into work that day.
Following an examination by Dr. Elmer and x-rays, he confirmed an ACL tear to her right rear leg. Brie had surgery the following day to correct the tear. Her surgery went well, and needed confinement for 6 to 8 weeks, which is even more important in her case to allow the leg to heal completely before resuming regular activity.
A few weeks into recovery, just as she could start weight bearing on her rear right leg, her mom noticed that Brie couldn’t stand at all. After another examination and x-rays, it was confirmed that her left back leg also had acquired a full ACL tear and would need surgery. At this point, Brie is unable to walk as she only has one good leg. She needs to gain full strength in her right leg before moving forward with surgery for her back left leg. Brie is improving day by day and is just starting to become independently mobile. While she cannot bear much weight, if any on her left injured leg, the right one is healing well, and she can walk with a gait like a compromised bunny hop. We are confident she will make a full recovery after her second surgery and her mom is looking forward to seeing her back to her old energetic self, doing zoomies around the yard with her three good legs!