Injuried Cat, is Prolotherapy effective or snake oil?

[firebirdgold]

So my beloved kitty, Oliver, blew out the interior ligament in his left rear knee (ACL) and the vet sent me to a veterinary pain management place. The vet there said that his Medial collateral ligament was badly damaged (the biggest ligament) and the lack of support and excess rotation is what caused him to blow the other, smaller ligament(s?).
This guy says that Oliver needs to be sedated for an ultrasound to gauge the exact state of the ligaments and that Oliver needs something called Prolotherapy, which in this case is a shot of Glucose that will irritate the big ligament and cause it to start healing properly.

Does anyone know anything about Prolotherapy?? Is it just another outbreak of the local obsession with alternative healing like aura cleansing? (I live in the biggest concentration of nut cases in the whole country. My last straw was when a chiropractor told me I needed to where more blue!) I just don''t want my beloved cat to be subjected to voodoo medicine!
Otoh, I think at 14 1/2 Oliver''s a little old to be sedated long enough for a orthoscopic knee surgery!

 

[rainbowtrout]

No idea, but that sounds excruciatingly painful, and cats can''t really do PT...

I''ve never heard of glucose being injected for that...I mean, it''s just sugar water...if he''s saying he''ll inject sugar water into your cats neck, and he hurt his knee, I would be highly suspcicious.

Sorry for your kitty!

 

[firebirdgold]

Date: 6/21/2007 11:59:04 AM
Author: rainbowtrout
No idea, but that sounds excruciatingly painful, and cats can''t really do PT...


I''ve never heard of glucose being injected for that...I mean, it''s just sugar water...if he''s saying he''ll inject sugar water into your cats neck, and he hurt his knee, I would be highly suspcicious.

Sorry for your kitty!

Well at least he''s planning on injecting it into his knee! I think the idea is to actually cause inflammation and to provoke it into healing properly. I''m going and getting the doggy crate from storage this morning and setting it up as a kitty kennel for recuperation. Oliver is not going to be happy about this!

 

[sumbride]

I''ve never heard of it, but in theory in sounds plausible. Do they do this in humans? Have you googled it?

and how did this happen? My cats aren''t that lazy, but I doubt they could blow out a ligament. What was he doing?

 

[AmberWaves]

I have heard of this, my dachshund has a knee problem as well (a floating patella or something?) that he blew out while trying to hop a curb

. They recommend surgery, but I'd MUCH rather the sugar therapy. I know humans who have had this done, it's relatively new, but I respect your vet for suggesting it!!!

In fact, I was told to look into something a little less invasive, like this glucose. Trust me, the shot of glucose will be less painful than the surgery to correct it.

ETA: From what I've heard from a bunch of people, this isn't some "natural healing" spiel, it's actually easier than the orthoscopic surgery. I envy you for having this as a choice, since we don't (yet).

 

[firebirdgold]

I''ve heard of it before but I can''t tell if it''s a legitimate therapy or voodoo medicine. Googling medical things is never very useful, imo. Maybe I''m just biased from the number of whacky ''medical'' things my mother has come up with from googling. (vitamins that replace bipolar medication invented by pig farmers to name just one of them).

Apparently since cat''s aren''t likely to go up to their owners and say ''mommy, my leg hurts'' but instead keep running about, it''s very easy for us not to realize that our cat has sprained something. What happened to Oliver (the vet thinks) is that he sprained or injured the big ligament (medial collateral ligament) sometime in the past, either a few months or even a few years ago. Since it was never treated or rested, it never healed right and he just kept re-injuring it. The joint is apparently enlarged from scar tissue. The MCL is the main stabilizer for the knee joint and prevents excess rotation. Without it even a small thing like landing wrong or jumping from an odd position could have been enough to rupture the smaller anterior cruciate ligament which is under the kneecap.

I guess the idea of the prolotherapy is that it will provoke the big MCL, which is weak and damaged, to heal and strengthen and tighten up. Even without repairing the torn ACL Oliver will be able to lead a normal life if that happens. Theoretically at least.

 

[AmberWaves]

Indie, from our vet I was told that often the animals can be hurt for a VERY long time before showing pain, limping, or any other symptoms. It''s a throwback to the wild where any visible weakness almost guaranteed instant hunting and death. It makes sense. So if your animal is actually showing some pain, I''d be worried.

Our dog still has a limp, but we''ve given him extra doses of glucosamine and a new kibble for dachsies (for their backs and joints), and we''re looking into the only choice we have for him, the surgery. Granted he''s only 3, so he''s young.

 

[firebirdgold]

Doggy monster had orthoscopic elbow surgery when he was less than a year old. But he had bone chips (genetic flaw) the size of peas and was going to have crippling arthritis in only a couple of years. So for me that surgery had no downside. It drastically improved his quality of life and lifespan, and had a very very good success rate.
However not only is ligament surgery more complicated than pulling out some chips and polishing the joints a bit, but it has a lower success rate in cats than in dogs. And even the successes are just not as complete as it is with dogs.

DH teased me for having an anti-cat bias, but since Oliver is old enough to have a chance of just the surgery killing him, and a rather high chance of still being fairly impaired even if all goes well... I just don''t see much upside to surgery. So I''m glad there''s some alternative. I''m just suspicious of alternative medicine, if you see what I mean.

I''ve had my pets limp before, but this is the first time I''ve ever had a pet act like it''s only got three legs! He''s on some heavy duty pain meds right now and seems pretty happy. Other than the three-legged thing, and occasionally mouthing me if I jar his leg by accident, he seems totally normal.

 

[AmberWaves]

Indie, I totally know why you''d be hesitant. Maybe you could ask for some information on it? My dad''s friend just had this done to his shoulder, and he feels very well. Of course, he''s a man who can verbalize pain and all that.

Good luck, though! Hugs to your Mr. Kitty. I hate having pets who are in pain.

 

[firebirdgold]

Update: So it''s been a bit over two weeks since Oliver had prolotherapy. He spent the first week in a large dog crate, and most of the second confined to one bedroom at my parents.
He''s still on pain medication which is either working really well or he''s not in much pain to begin with. Other than limping badly (which breaks my heart), he''s not acting like he''s injured or bothered by his limp. In fact when he doesn''t want to be caught he can put on a pretty good turn of speed there!

(He''s not happy at either being left at my parents or at being brought back home to two other cats)

I know it''ll take awhile for it to heal up but I was hoping to see him put a bit more weight on it than he does. I think I''m going to stop giving him the pain medicine to make sure he doesn''t overdo things just because it doesn''t hurt. I think he''ll also have to be confined to my home office again. I just don''t want him running up and down the stairs to the kitty litters! Although I suppose the fact that he will run up them is a very good sign!

Summary: I don''t know if the prolotherapy helped Oliver or not. But it made me feel like a better cat mommy and it''s encouraged me to stick with the prolotherapy recovery plan (which might be what does the most good), so I suppose it was worth the $500!