Pearl's Brace 1

My princess, Pearl, has to wear a brace to repair her torn ACL and hopefully avoid surgery. The brace is the A-TraC Dynamic Brace made by Wound Wear proscribed by our physical therapy vet, Dr. Bianca Shaw from Back on Track.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Dogs
• ACL injury
• Leg Brace

[jacobfaris]

I should point out that , IMHO, the advice and care that we received from Pearl's physical therapist had more to do with her successful recovery than the brace itself. It was the PT's hesitant recommendation that led us to the brace and she was the one that handled the measurements (which required an X-ray) and who consulted with the brace manufacturing company.

[hilarykw]

Hi, I am just wondering how Pearl is doing? My dog had been doing really well the past few months without a second surgery. Last week she statrted limping again. Do you feel Pearl recoverd with the brace?

[jacobfaris]

Yes. Pearl is recovering - slowly - but the goal is to limit the amount of inflammation that leads to eventual arthritis (since the tendon can't actually be fixed). There have been some scares, but that's the cool thing about having a PT vet on the case. Pearl is up to hours of house-time and some limited walking w/ out her brace.

[jacobfaris]

Also, I added another vid (didn't edit it, so there's a lot of street noise) of Pearl walking with no brace. I took it about a month ago.

[hilarykw]

Thank you for your reply. My dog has had the surgery on 1 leg already, now her good leg is showing signs of the same injury. I went to one vet that suggeted that I go back to her surgeon, she said if the tendeon was torn her best advice would be surgery. I just dont want to put her through that again. I will check back in a few weeks to see if you have ant further updates. Thank You.

[jacobfaris]

No prob! One of the reasons we were hesitant about surgery to begin with is the potential for re-injury and opposite-leg injury.  If the ACL is only partially torn, the chances that PT will help are significant (so we've heard). I'd highly recommend talking to a PT doc. They see ACL injuries all the time, and they can help while you consider your options. Take care!

[LittleWaterDog]

Don't expect any customer service. "the customer is always wrong" is their motto. All the links that warn you about them are true- unless you get lucky and it just fits w/o needing any help from them.

[LittleWaterDog]

Note that although there is a mysterious 21 day warranty, if you get the wrong size - even though measurements were correct and you followed their sizing chart, there is a 10% restocking fee and up to 75% damage fee which they will determine when it comes back. The time you take to try and get a brace to fit that is too big or small WILL end up damaging the brace to some extent so expect extra fees if you get the wrong size.

[LittleWaterDog]

Getting the right size is a crap shoot, despite the fact that their professional chart makes it look easy. If you can find a vet who has worked with them enough to have seen the different sizes and can determine what size is right, this brace has potential. Don't expect any good customer service - they don't listen to you and can ignore your important calls/emails. Maybe you'll get lucky. Would have gone smooth if I'd had the right size. Only too a few minutes to put on, that was easy.

[LittleWaterDog]

The text covers the brace so you can't see how it fits.