Ligament and Bone Issues in Dogs Explained by Dr. Ayeley Okine

What is a Torn Ligament and What Causes It?

Basically, a ligament connects a muscle to a bone. So anywhere in a body that the muscle is connected to a bone, we're going to have a ligament there. Most of the ligaments that we're worried about are around the long bones. So the bones of the legs are going to be most susceptible to injury.

A dog running around that suddenly pivots may tear their ACL. That's pretty common, especially in athletic dogs. That same ligament can be torn if they get hit by a car, unfortunately, or if they fall from a distance. The ligament can be damaged by a number of things.

Is There a Difference Between a Torn Versus a Ruptured Cruciate Ligament?

Torn and ruptured are the same thing. Some people may call a partial tear a rupture, but generally speaking, a rupture means it's completely torn.

Can You Explain the Treatment Recovery Process?

We want to stabilize the joint by either adding support on the outside of the joint or potentially changing how the joint actually sits in the body. This may involve actually cutting bone and moving things around to get that stability back.

And then the recovery is also going to involve recovering stability. They're going to have to wear the cone. They're going to have to be crate rested, ideally, or placed in confinement, in order to be able to rest and allow the plate and the bone to heal and everything to become solid again before they really start using it.

What is a Luxating Patella in a Dog?

Luxating patella is very common in toy breeds and small breed dogs. It's essentially when the kneecap slides out of place. There's a groove that the kneecap normally sits in, and if that groove is really shallow, it doesn't give that kneecap any place to go. So it can slide either to the inside or to the outside, and it really destabilizes that entire joint.

What are the Signs of Luxating Patella?

A lot of dogs that have it, if you watch them walk, they'll skip because essentially their kneecap will move out of place and they can't bend their knee for a second. So instead of putting that leg down, they'll keep it up and do a little skip, and then the kneecap slides back into place for a period of time. They'll be able to walk normally, and it kind of goes back and forth.

How Do You Treat a Luxating Patella?

If it's not affecting their quality of life and it's pretty mild, sometimes we don't do anything about it. It might not cause them any major issues, especially if they stay nice and lean, if the kneecap is moving in and out and they're otherwise able to get around.

But if they tear their cruciate, if they develop arthritis, or if it's really causing a problem where they can't utilize that joint very well, then we can do surgery. In a lot of cases that involves deepening that groove to give the kneecap a place to really sit and then tightening the joint capsule around it to keep it in place.

What is Hip Dysplasia?

Hip dysplasia is very common. That's something we see more in large breed dogs. Basically, the hip joint is kind of a ball and socket joint. If the socket isn't covering the entire ball of the hip, then that's technically hip dysplasia. The ball part of the joint will rub on the rim of the cup, and that will cause wear and tear on that cartilage, and they can develop arthritis.

Are Certain Breeds More Prone to Hip Dysplasia?

Labs tend to be a breed that we see get it. Rottweilers are another breed, but again, any dog can have it. And there seems to be a genetic predisposition to who gets it.

Are There Dog Breeds That Are More Prone to Ligament and Joint and Bone Issues in General?

There are, and we can see even cartilage in other locations, for instance, the trachea. Some toy breed dogs are more susceptible to getting degeneration of the cartilage there. Labs tend to be much more susceptible to developing issues with their cruciate ligament. So there are some breed predispositions to that.

Some of the bone issues, we tend to see more with types of cancer. Different breeds will get those bone cancers. So it depends a little on exactly what ligament, what joint, what cartilage we're talking about. But we do find that certain breeds will be overrepresented in who gets that disease.

Can Dogs Break or Sprain Their Tails?

They can do both. We see tail breaks commonly. If they get it stuck in a door, they can break it that way, or with falls or being hit by cars. Just like the rest of the spine, there are little bones in the tail itself so they can break any of those.

How Would You Diagnose and Treat a Broken or Sprained Tail?

A physical exam can identify the majority of what's going on. If there is an obvious break in the tail or if there's kind of a kink in the tail, or if the pet is very sensitive around palpation of the tail, a lot can be identified with the vet exam. X-rays may need to be done to get a better look at what's actually going on inside and what the bones are doing.

If it looks like more of a sprain, we'll prescribe pain medications and rest. Obviously, it's hard to tell your dog to not wag their tail or to minimize how often they're using it. But anti-inflammatories and pain medications can be considered in that situation.

For some breaks, depending on exactly what it is and where it is, it's not wrong to try medical management. But in most cases, if something is broken, it's going to be really uncomfortable and painful. And so amputation is something that really should be considered.

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Author Bio

Jean Marie Bauhaus is a novelist and freelance writer who has been writing in the pet health and wellness space since 2014. She is a regular contributor to Hill's Pet and American Kennel Club, among others.

Meet the Expert

Dr. Ayeley Okine is a board-certified veterinarian who has been practicing in San Ramon, California for more than six years and used to work at a large specialty hospital as part of the Internal medicine department. She received her undergraduate degree in Animal Science from the University of Delaware and is a graduate of Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine. She completed a general internship, Internal Medicine Internship, and Internal Medicine Residency before becoming board-certified. Her interests are in gastrointestinal and immune-mediated blood diseases.

In 2021, she started her own mobile veterinary ultrasound business to help provide imaging services to more pets in need. Dr. Okine uses her ultrasound skill set to provide diagnoses and treatment plans for her colleagues. She is a proponent of the human-animal bond and believes in strong communication with clients and collaborative care with other veterinarians.