Hi! I don't know the entire history on Zoee's injury, but it sounds suspicious for a partial tear as opposed to complete ligament rupture. Usually complete rupture is pretty evident by manipulation (not in terms of a pain response, but specific abnormal biomechanics of the knee). In contrast, a partial rupture is harder to diagnose, even with x-rays. The x-rays won't show ligaments (soft tissue all looks the same - muscle, ligaments, vessels, etc.), so you are mostly looking for a pattern of swelling/excess fluids in an acute injury, which can be supportive but not really definitive.

Kirk had a partial tear back in 2007. Given his numerous hip surgeries at that point, I decided not to pursue surgery. I did intense hydrotherapy, joint supplementation (oral and injectible) and maintained him at a very lean body weight. After a number of months, he was weight bearing on the leg again and starting to gain back muscle mass!

My non-surgical suggestions for Zoee would be:
-activity restriction (of the off leash/free play type) & anti-inflammatory medications short term (you are currently doing these)
-pursue physical therapy/hydrotherapy if possible, or just find someplace she can regularly swim -- you want her using that leg ASAP (in a controlled fashion) to keep inflammation down, maintain range of motion and muscle mass and also reduce scarring long term
-keep her lean! --as in a THIN layer of fat over her lower ribs. I mean it!
-Dasuquin (my favorite oral joint supplement: glucosamine + chondroitin + an avocado ingredient shown to work synergistically with chondroitin)-- expensive? yes, more than a generic pet or human product, but also has actually undergone research trials and comes from a very reputable company that has something to lose if they get bad press
-Adequan (or generics) --an injectible oral joint support product you can get from the vet
-Omega-3s -- I like Nordic Naturals, you want a high level of EPA and dosing such that EPA+DHA mg dose equals 30-40 mg/kg/day (I can help you figure this out if you want...)

Re: the website you asked about. I'm not a big fan, but to be fair I did not read it all. Once he goes off on veterinary surgeons just pushing surgery for money and claiming that we charge too much, I lose interest. That is not true of any of the veterinary surgeons I have met. They are highly trained personnel that deserve to be paid fairly. I recognize my bias as a soon-to-be-new veterinary school grad with a mound of debt, but it just makes me wonder about his intentions...seems a little more conspiracy and a little less holistic 'do no harm' approach.

I would recommend the following website to learn more about CCL rupture: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...S=0&C=0&A=1975 .

Let me know if I can help further in any way. Best of luck to you and Zoee! I remember meeting that pretty girl of yours.