Dog advice - torn cruciate ligament - TPLO Sugery Update

[Albertadiver]

Well my best bud has hurt his one knee. What we thought was maybe stiffness or early stages of arthritis, has now been 90% diagnosed with him blowing out his cruciate ligament.

The vet said it's like blowing your ACL, and is no longer stable. Duke heavily favors his other leg and we want the best for him of course.

We didn't get pet insurance and looks like surgery will be about 4K with a heavy recovery period of at least 6 weeks where he'll be grounded from running around and being a dog. (we consciously chose not to get pet insurance because so many companies find a way to get out of covering things)

He's about to turn 8 and very active for a lab.

The surgeon being recommended does most of her work out of Okotoks.

We do trust our vet out in Cochrane and he's a pretty level headed guy.

Anyone been through anything similar?

I've done a little bit of googling and here's a decent article.

http://www.topdoghealth.com/library/...steotomy-tplo/

Basically, he's at 50% usage of his leg now, and the vet expects if recovery and surgery go well he would be back up to 90%(ish).

It's going to be tough seeing him recover but think this is our best bet. We don't want him to blow out his other knee because he favours his one leg so much.

I know there's lots of Lab / Dog guys on this forum so comments are always appreciated.

[arg]

I had this happen to my hunter partner 3 years ago and thought she was finished. Vet wanted to do the same surgery. I talked to 2 different people that I knew had it done and both said they wished they'd never gone that route so I went to the interweb. Come across a technique called Conservative Management and decided to give it a try. It wasn't much fun for either of us but it worked. It happened about this time of year and although she was walking pretty good by fall I didn't take her hunting that fall. She isn't a 100% but very close. She is back running and swimming like a had man. Takes come discipline but worth it in my mind.

[Jjolg123]

I have a black lab X and she has gone through this on both knees. The first was operated on in okotoks and the worst part of that was all the meds which seem to have done a number on her system which we dealt with for some time. During that operation we were told so much weight will be pushed on her other leg that an injury to the other leg in the future has an increased chance. Low and behold a year later it did.

Not wanting to go thru the same issue with meds we went the natural path and just tried to immobilize and use the stomach assist to help her get around. THis method took longer for sure but looking at her now both legs seem just as strong.

SHe was 10 when the first surgery happened.

[dodger]

Edgewater Companion Animal Clinic in Fort Macleod does a new state of the art operation for this at half the price. Dogs are walking in a day or two. PM me for info.

Dodger.

[baticus]

Originally Posted by dodger

Edgewater Companion Animal Clinic in Fort Macleod does a new state of the art operation for this at half the price. Dogs are walking in a day or two. PM me for info.

Dodger.

I have no problem seconding this. Chris is an amazing vet. She has looked after 2 of our dogs, as well as two of the families dogs. I would not hesitate to take an animal there.

[Albertadiver]

Originally Posted by baticus

I have no problem seconding this. Chris is an amazing vet. She has looked after 2 of our dogs, as well as two of the families dogs. I would not hesitate to take an animal there.

I've heard good things as well. A friend of mine recently had his pup cared for there.

My lab Duke is doing well on his repaired leg, and now the other one has gone. We've been to a few vets and we're going to leave him as-is, with some daily medication to help with swelling. The way they've explained it is the joint becomes loose, and not necessarily in pain.

Now he's developed arthritis in his front left wrist, and getting the fatty tumors up and down his sternum. Only 9, but he's aging.

Still happy though! Photo taken last week

[Albertadiver]

Originally Posted by arg

I had this happen to my hunter partner 3 years ago and thought she was finished. Vet wanted to do the same surgery. I talked to 2 different people that I knew had it done and both said they wished they'd never gone that route so I went to the interweb. Come across a technique called Conservative Management and decided to give it a try. It wasn't much fun for either of us but it worked. It happened about this time of year and although she was walking pretty good by fall I didn't take her hunting that fall. She isn't a 100% but very close. She is back running and swimming like a had man. Takes come discipline but worth it in my mind.

Originally Posted by Jjolg123

I have a black lab X and she has gone through this on both knees. The first was operated on in okotoks and the worst part of that was all the meds which seem to have done a number on her system which we dealt with for some time. During that operation we were told so much weight will be pushed on her other leg that an injury to the other leg in the future has an increased chance. Low and behold a year later it did.

Not wanting to go thru the same issue with meds we went the natural path and just tried to immobilize and use the stomach assist to help her get around. THis method took longer for sure but looking at her now both legs seem just as strong.

SHe was 10 when the first surgery happened.

Appreciate the replies. We did talk to the vet about alternative therapies but he didn't recommend too strongly and felt surgery would be a better long term solution. I think if Duke were much older, we would probably look at that route a lot more strongly. If you have some more info on the specific methods you used I'd love to take a look at it. Trying to be open minded while getting the best long-term care for my bud.

The vet isn't doing the surgery himself, so he has no benefit one way or another, and I think he's pretty balanced. Explained our options, long term effects etc. We noticed Duke was stiff for the past few months, but really didn't realize it was his knee. Because it's been a few months he's already lost some muscle at the knee in his bad leg.

There was one other surgery type mentioned, but for a dog of Duke's size he isn't eligible. Basically they drill the bone and wrap something like a fishing line to help keep the joint together. But because of his size, it wouldn't be viable. (90lbs)

[artie]

Did you have him xrayed to determine if that is the problem or the only problem. My lab was diagnosed with jump down syndrome which working dogs tend to get. Basically arthritis in the front elbow and the x ray shows degeneration. Same thing they can go in and smooth the bone out but others have pointed out that if they do that they will destroy good cartilage. He suffers a lot from this jump down syndrome and at times i have thought I would have to carry him. Other times he takes off and chases a coyote like there is nothing wrong. I found he is better in the morning but stiffens up in the afternoon. Let us know how you make out.

[Albertadiver]

Originally Posted by artie

Did you have him xrayed to determine if that is the problem or the only problem. My lab was diagnosed with jump down syndrome which working dogs tend to get. Basically arthritis in the front elbow and the x ray shows degeneration. Same thing they can go in and smooth the bone out but others have pointed out that if they do that they will destroy good cartilage. He suffers a lot from this jump down syndrome and at times i have thought I would have to carry him. Other times he takes off and chases a coyote like there is nothing wrong. I found he is better in the morning but stiffens up in the afternoon. Let us know how you make out.

Should have mentioned it's his rear leg.

Vet said he's 90% confident in his diagnosis, and would sedate and do an xray prior to proceeding with any surgeries. My wife was at the vet and wanted to speak with me before we put him under for the X-ray.

Duke loves everybody, but he has an innate sense of Vet offices . He's only been in for getting fixed, and annual checkups except for some stomach issues a little over a year ago. He must still remember the big snip I guess. When he's in the vet room he puts his nose to the door and whines.

Currently he still runs like the wind and has full energy to chase sticks and wants to play etc. He just favors the back leg, and has figured out how to run around without putting much weight on it.

Looks like our backpacking trips this summer are off the table because we always take duke. He'll be sitting comfy in the RV trailer instead I guess for this summer.

Appreciate the comments and PM's!

[dogs and feathers]

[QUOTE=Albertadiver;3515816]Appreciate the replies. We did talk to the vet about alternative therapies but he didn't recommend too strongly and felt surgery would be a better long term solution. I think if Duke were much older, we would probably look at that route a lot more strongly. If you have some more info on the specific methods you used I'd love to take a look at it. Trying to be open minded while getting the best long-term care for my bud.

The vet isn't doing the surgery himself, so he has no benefit one way or another, and I think he's pretty balanced. Explained our options, long term effects etc. We noticed Duke was stiff for the past few months, but really didn't realize it was his knee. Because it's been a few months he's already lost some muscle at the knee in his bad leg.

There was one other surgery type mentioned, but for a dog of Duke's size he isn't eligible. Basically they drill the bone and wrap something like a fishing line to help keep the joint together. But because of his size, it wouldn't be viable. (90lbs)[/QUOTE

i did the surgery on my Chocolate Lab when he was around 5-maybe 6. Pretty extensive-big cost, but worked well when he healed and had another 5 years on it hunting no issues-glad I did it at that age. Blew other knee out when he was 8 or 9 and did the drill and fishing line surgery (in Cochrane) on that one-held up till he was done but only a couple of hard hunting seasons on it and he was a lot slower. He was a big boy too-90 lbs and big and athletic linebacker.

[Rdamours]

We had the acls done on our chessie a number of years ago. One leg a year apart but had insurance and it was about 3500 each time with 60 % covered.

I've heard its a fraction of that in Montana. Do a search on this forum and I thought it was 1200 or so for the same surgery.