but, when can we go to the park?

Moose has been having some leg troubles for the past few weeks and it was hard to know what to do because he was limping but it would seem to be getting better then would get worse so I finally took him to the vet for some x-rays. Of course to do x-rays on a giant stubborn beast requires sedation so while he was out he got the works! He got his ears cleaned, nails trimmed and dremeled, teeth cleaned and a few lumps removed! The lump in the pics below is the same one that was almost 'removed' in his brush with a pit bull back in May so we are glad to have it gone even if they shaved some whiskers off in the process!
The x-rays showed no problems with his hips which is what I assumed the problem would be since he is a giant lab, but they show the start of arthritis in his knee joint which is caused by damage to his cranial cruciate ligament (ACL in humans). The vet can only diagnose a ruptured CCL by careful manipulation of the joint under sedation and it does not appear to be fully ruptured but given his 'lameness' it must be damaged or partially ruptured. This is very sad because surgery seems to be the last resort because it still will not return full function to his knee. On top of that this injury causes arthritis to form and progress in the injured joint and the x-ray showed signs this has started and even with surgery for the ligament that will continue to progress. So for now he is on restricted activity and Deramaxx (NSAID) and needs to be re-evaluated in a few weeks and we will see where we need to go from there.
Sadly any of the possible outcomes lead to restricting high impact activity, likely for the rest of his life as that kind of activity will cause the arthritis to progress and may fully rupture the CCL. I have also been reading that when it happens in one knee there is a greater chance it will happen in the other knee. So no more dog park for Moose which is heartbreaking since he loves it so much. I am trying to focus instead on the good news that there is no serious disease like bone cancer which was a possibility and that, at the moment, his hips are in great shape so at least in the immediate future that will not likely add to his trouble.
In the mean time Moose will love his current therapy which is lots of short walks throughout the day so that means at least 3 times a day he will do his happy waggle dance! Also, check out his awesome manicure. It is impossible to get his nails cut this short when he is awake because the groomer/techs are afraid to go this short on dark nails and can't get a good look at them because he is squirmy and pulls away (he is strong!!!). Hopefully now that they are short it will be easier to keep them that way!