Knee Deep in the Blues

Yesterday, I took Jake on his morning walk. He was doing his typical route, stopping to check messages and marking everything. At one point, he fell behind and I called his name to hurry him along. He trotted over to me. In the middle of a yard, he yelped like he stepped on something and started limping. I figured there was just something stuck in his pad but when we got home, I couldn’t find it. He wouldn’t put any weight on it the rest of the day and stuck to his bed. I took him to Aspenwood Animal Hospital when they opened this morning for an exam. They’re pretty sure he tore his ACL. Technically it’s called a CCL (Cranial Cruciate Ligament) in a dog but you get the idea. (And did you know a dog’s knee is called a stifle?) It’s apparently a common injury in Labs his age. They sent us home with more Tramadol for pain and started him on another medication called Rimadyl. Surgery is usually recommended to repair the tear. They also said that when one leg goes, the other follows within a few months. What a drag it is getting old, huh? Hey, but the tumor is completely gone. If I have to choose between an aggressive cancer and a bum leg, I’ll pick #2 any day.