When brother Dan’s knee snapped — the second time — he described it as “hearing a pop, then feeling like my knee was jelly and dropping to the floor of the racquetball court.”

He could easily relay that information to the doctor. He could tell the doc where it hurt, the sound he heard, the knowledge of what happened because it was the same as the first time it happened.

Imagine your child hearing that same pop and the jelly feeling, but this child does not have critical thinking skills. This child cannot speak or point to what is making her limp or the circumstances involved in the injury.

Parental instincts, hopefully, would kick in.

As it did when Cali the Dog — all dog lovers refer to their pets as children, so I will as well — tore her anterior cruciate ligament, or at least the canine version of such ligament. I like to say she was dunking a basketball, or chasing rabbits, but frankly I have no idea how it happened. One day she showed up limp.

I took her to the vet, and I certainly regret it.

Holes were drilled in her lower and upper leg and two pieces of plastic binding that resembled heavy-test fishing line were strung through the holes and tightened to act as an ACL.

Months passed with little recovery. The dog held that leg up, and as the left hind leg got stronger, the worked-on leg got smaller and weaker. The ties had reached the surface of the knee and with each step, a small jagged piece of line would irritate the skin.

Eleven days ago, the ties were removed and she returned to the condition of limping pre-surgery.

Monday, on a walk through the neighborhood, her foot started to touch the ground. With each step, the leg muscles flexed and the foot that was limp for months flattened out on the ground. She started walking, albeit with a waddle much like her dad’s.

Dogs are members of the family. They ride in the car and sit on the couch. It is so easy to forget that they are not of us, they are of the animal world. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks reminds people almost daily if they see an injured animal to leave it be, let nature take its course.

It seems nature is taking its course with Cali. Maybe the surgery actually made it worse and caused her more pain over the last year. I’d love to know if being an over-concerned parent actually caused the “child” more harm.

I ask her repeatedly, but I get the same answer as to the question of what happened to her knee in the first place — a wagging tail and toothy grin.

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Sean P. Murphy is web editor. He can be reached at smurphy@vicksburgpost.com