Question for dog-owners - cruciate ligament sugery?

[bikerz]

Hi all - I know many of you out there have dogs, and I'm hoping at least a few of you have some experience that can help me and my pup Simon.

I found out last week that Simon (some of the NorCal people have met him) has a totally ruptured cruciate ligament which requires surgery. There are apparently two types of procedures: one that sort of re-creates the ligament out of other structures, and another, called TPLO, that actually changes the angle of the tibia and femur, and attaches a metal implant. The latter procedure is generally twice the cost of the first (about $4,000 compared to under $2000) and is recommended for larger, more active dogs. Simon is medium-sized, medium activity pit-mix. Since it is probable that the ligament in the other leg will fail at some point too, I'm really hoping that the less expensive (and extensive) treatment will suffice.

I've called around to the local vet surgery places here in the SF Bay Area, and I can get some general info, but for a more detailed consultation, I need to have a regular visit for $100+, and if I go to each one, that's really going to add up.

Have any of you out there had to have either of these procedures done for your dog? If so, do you have any helpful advice?

Thanks!

And so you can put a face with a name, here he is, in all his sweetness:

[LBTC]

Simon's a cutie! I'm sorry I can't help you with your decision, luckily our babies have not had this problem yet.

Have you done some google searching online? We found lots of information about other health conditions our "kids" have been through that way.

Good luck! And give Simon a big scratch behind the ears and a cuddle from all of the critters, me and DH.

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[KnottedYet]

My mom's dog had the $2,000 version, and it failed. The doc had to go back in and do it again. It failed, too.

She's an older dog, and my mom didn't want to put her through surgery again. Now the dog limps, but seems comfortable.

[snapdragen]

What a face!!!

I'm no help either, only serious thing Chloe's had were the corneal ulcers.

This is where she went: http://sbvs.com/

They have ortho vet's there too. Maybe give them a call?

[yellow]

Oh, Z! I'm so sorry for Simon!

We have some friends whose lab had BOTH rear legs done, the re-creation route (and he was a big boy, probably 90 lbs). He had his first one done and the vet predicted that the other leg would need to be done within a year...sho' nuf. Seems that all the favoring of the first-injured leg can often lead to the other leg getting the same type of injury.

He gets around fine now and both surgeries were very successful. If you do more consultation, make sure you ask about how it will affect the rest of the dog.

Sammy & Pika send doggie luv Simon's way.

[trickytiger]

My 100-lb (NOT fat, just big!) golden retriever had the less-expensive procedure done on one hind leg when he was six- the surgery was a success, and he had another good 6 years of life. It was crucial that we caught the problem early, though, and he didn't have any other complications.

Good luck!

[Xrayted]

My dog Cheyenne, a petite Siberian Husky at 50lbs, ended up having both hind legs done. The first one I think she was around 4 y.o. I noticed she was favoring it and took her to the vet right away. He yanked and pulled on her and told me that she was out of shape and to take her for more walks. (I walked her twice everyday except when I noticed she had a limp) So, I took her out for one that night and she tore it completely out. I carried her the whole way home. It happened right before x-mas and the surgery was around $500. I did the first choice you mentioned. Yes, she ended up loosening up the second leg one year later (also as a x-mas gift) because she favored the one leg for a long time. She lived to be 11y.o. and toward the very end, had some arthritis in the knees and hips. But, who doesn't at 77y.o.?

In the end, it's your dog and you will know what is best for him. Good luck.

[divingbiker]

My cocker, Remy, had the first type of surgery on one of his rear legs about 6 years ago now. He's fine now, and the leg is as strong as the uninjured one. He's 13 and has terrible arthritis in his hips, for which he has regular acupuncture treatments, but the knee is good.

One thing about the recovery--for several weeks, the dog can not walk up/down steps or walk much at all, and must be crated most of the time. That's fine when your dog is like Remy, about 35 pounds, but I know people with larger dogs who had a very difficult time carrying the dog down the steps to go outside. I built a ramp on my front steps but it was too steep and Remy wouldn't use it. Also, Remy would sneak around and jump up on the couch when I wasn't watching and his recovery went slowly, so we went to a dog swimming pool (one of the advantages of living in a city--we've got access to EVERYTHING) a couple times a week for a month or so and that strengthened his leg.

Good luck!

[Bad JuJu]

Poor Simon! He's such a good-lookin' guy!

My black lab/chow mix, Solita, had the less expensive surgery for her ACL injury. She was smallish for a lab--a little over 50 pounds, but extremely active. We live on a bayshore, and she spent most days running and swimming. We had the surgery done by a vet from the Auburn University vet school, and it was successful. She continued to limp just a bit for the remaining 5 years of her life, but she remained active and never had to have another surgery.

The hardest part was the recovery, as divingbiker mentioned, which involved lots of carrying and keeping her restrained. That was miserable, mostly for poor Solita, but totally worth it.

[Xrayted]

Simon really is a great looking dog. Such a kissable little face there.
Yeah, like divingbiker said, the recovery is long and hard on both of you. I carried my dog around for quite a while and would stand out there with her and hold the leg up so she could do her thing. The pityful looks I used to get from her would break my heart. (don't let the other dogs see me like this kinda looks ) I also built a ramp for her off the deck next to the steps and she actually liked to use it. I left it there so that she didn't rip those knees out again. I put grip strips on it too so she had better traction when it was wet out.
It was much harder on her than it was on me but she recovered very well and could run and jump almost as well as before the surgeries.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

[anakiwa]

I have a 65 lb 5 year old lab who had both knees fixed in October.

Her trouble started last spring. I really wanted to try conservative measures first- we tried aspirin, glucosamine, rimadyl (a great pain med by the way, but it still wasn't enough). It started with just her left, then the other one was bothering her as well. She's normally a really active dog (runs, cross-country skis, hikes with me). By the end of the summer she was clearly really uncomfortable most of the time. By the time I wound up seeing the the orthopedic surgeon I knew it was the right thing to do to have it operated on.

My operative report says 'fibular head transposition secured with a screw and spiked washer'. I suspect that it's the first surgery that you're talking about. Total cost to do both knees was $2200 (this was the low end of the estimate they gave me, everything went smoothly and she only needed one night at the vet).

We're now at the 3-4 month point and I'm really happy with the results. She's not normal yet (not sure if she'll get there or not), but she continues to get better all the time. She was really uncomfortable the first night I brought her home, but after that she did fine. I had her doing short runs 2 months later, and she's able to cross-country ski with me now. The biggest difference is that she's clearly not in the pain that she was in before having surgery. She's a pretty active dog (and not overweight) and that probably helped with the recovery. There's no doubt that it was the right thing for my dog (and again it took me a while to admit to myself that she needed surgery).

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

[maillotpois]

Nothing helpful to say except - I LOVE SIMON!! What a great face!!

[bikerz]

Thank you everyone for all your stories and advice. Yes, my little buddy is a great dog, and such a trooper!

Simon weighs about 55 pounds, and I can pick him up and carry him moderate distances (I've done that a few times over the last week when he seems like he's having trouble with stairs). I am a little concerned about the recovery, but my roommate's dog (who has since passed away) had very poor mobility, and we had ramps for her off the deck into the "elimination area", so luckily those are still around and can be pressed into service for Simon.

I'm going to call a few other places tomorrow for estimates on the non-TPLO, since so many of you have had (or know of) good results with it, and then get the procedure scheduled as soon as possible. I don't want to leave it too long, but I have to be back east for a week in 2 weeks, so I may have to schedule it for after that if I can't line up some good puppycare for him when I'm gone. Luckily, Simon has a huge fan club!

And because I can't resist, if you thought that other photo of him was kissable, how about this one? (For those of you who can't read pitbull lips, he's saying "wooo wooo")

[chickwhorips]

good luck with everything. i have no advice to offer, but that face just gets me!

peanut says she would like to be his friend.

[KnottedYet]

Oh, he is so GORGEOUS!!!