CCL Tightrope Procedure: A New Option for Dogs with Cranial Cruciate Ligament Injuries

K9 Rehab & Fitness Center's Dr. Garren Kelly is one of the few veterinarians in the Upper Midwest trained to perform the Tightrope Procedure for treatment of CCL rupture. Dr. Kelly performed this procedure on Abby, a six year old Yellow Labrador in early September after Abby tore her right cranial cruciate ligament. Abby has always enjoyed an annual trip to South Dakota for pheasant hunting in October, and her owner hoped that Abby's injury would not cause them to miss this year's trip.

Abby attended weekly rehabilitation sessions at K9 Rehab and Fitness and her owner was very diligent in controlling Abby's activity level and in performing her prescribed home exercises. The home exercise program is a critical part of every dog's rehabilitation, and each program is designed for the individual dog to increase strength, endurance, range of motion and proprioception, all while allowing the tissues involved in the injury and surgery to heal.

Abby was able to go with her owner to South Dakota in late October and had a successful hunting trip. Here she is with her owner and the results of a day's hunt:

What our Clients are saying about K-9 Rehab & Fitness

' Our chocolate Labrador tore one of her cruciate ligaments, and underwent TPLO surgery at the U of MN. After her surgery, we did as much of the recommended procedures to help rebuild her leg as we could. We felt this was not doing enough, or quickly enough, for our dog. We live in Winona and the five hour round trip drive to the Twin Cities was not practical for us to do every week to bring her up there for therapy.

While talking with the therapist at the U of MN, we were told about the K-9 Rehab & Fitness Center of SE MN in Byron. They are a 2.5 hour round trip from us and it is a very easy drive with little traffic.

We spoke with Katie Bruesewitz, the therapist at this facility and booked several sessions for our dog. It was recommended that we do at least 5 underwater treadmill sessions to help strengthen our dog's leg. We saw improvement immediately. But being the type of dog owners we are, we decided to continue with these sessions after the initial five were completed. Katie is a very knowledgeable therapist and shows great care for our dog. We have seen her exhibit this quality with other dogs while we waited for our appointments.

At this time, our dog, Keiko, is running on the underwater treadmill for 30 minutes. These sessions continue to strengthen her injured leg, build strength in the un-injured leg, and improve her cardiovascular health.

Keiko is our third Chocolate Lab. Our first one, Coco, tore both cruciate ligaments about a year apart from each other. This is not uncommon. So we feel we are helping to prevent another traumatic injury to Keiko by continuing her sessions at K-9 Rehab & Fitness with Katie overseeing her progress."

~ Frank & Diane

Winona, MN