dog with torn ACL

[cleozowner]

[QUOTE=aliceo;8750781]
isn’t that what you just did? say clients are more likely to follow through with the rehab if they spend big bucks for the surgery? you said the same thing my vet said, you just said it a different way.

in fact it is even more judgy because you denigrate your clients by saying they do CM only to avoid spending the money.[/QUOTE]

I said I have had only a small percentage do something besides a) surgery or b) nothing. It is an observation that they almost all fall into those two categories. Occasionally one will pursue stifle bracing, as I said.

[aliceo]

maybe more people would try CM if their vets would encourage it and guide them through the process. though it sounds like there may now be some new procedure that is better than the TPLO.

[katyb]

My choice to avoid surgery wasn’t financially motivated at all. I’m managing several old horses and dogs, and I spend what needs to be spent. I have thousands of vet costs on this dog. I chose what seemed most likely to work for my individual dog. If “conservative management” didn’t work, I could still try surgery later. It is true that you have to actually do it - if you just leave them alone, they likely won’t heal. Anyway, it worked well for my Siddaroo. Again, I might have made a different decision with a dog who wasn’t already in the double digits, but she’s a better mover than pretty much any other 14-year-old dog you’ll see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzTZ9pVE0y4

[saultgirl]

[QUOTE=katyb;8751351]
My choice to avoid surgery wasn’t financially motivated at all. I’m managing several old horses and dogs, and I spend what needs to be spent. I have thousands of vet costs on this dog. I chose what seemed most likely to work for my individual dog. If “conservative management” didn’t work, I could still try surgery later. It is true that you have to actually do it - if you just leave them alone, they likely won’t heal. Anyway, it worked well for my Siddaroo. Again, I might have made a different decision with a dog who wasn’t already in the double digits, but she’s a better mover than pretty much any other 14-year-old dog you’ll see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzTZ9pVE0y4[/QUOTE]

She looks great! I have to say, though, that I don’t think there is anything wrong with choosing CM rehab over surgery for financial reasons.

Around here I know people have paid $10,000 to $12,000 to have both sides done. As much as I love my dogs, I feel that’s not a responsible way to spend money for someone in my income range.

[Incantation]

I have had 3 Mastiffs with crutiate tears.

The first two tore as seniors, because of bad winters where they lost muscle tone. The third is my puppy, who tore because she is very large and played too hard with her light, agile friends, on immature soft tissue (mistake on my part).

The first was 11yo. We opted to do CM, and spent a small fortune on her at a rehab clinic - massage with laser, passive ROM, water treadmill, cavaletti, and rocker board. (She was also treated for spinal stenosis and a bicept injury from pulling herself along). She was very active - hiking in the forest, and doing laps around the farm everyday, until a month before she was PTS at 13yrs 4 months.

Second was her daughter at 10yo. CM again at saem rehab clinic. She remained active until her death just short of 12 yrs.

Current puppy is now just over a year old. She was doing well with CM, but due to puppy antics, became very unstable again (likely a close to full tear now). In addition to going to rehab, we invested in a laser, and a pool. DH does massage, laser and Passive ROM every night. We just started her in her pool - set to walking height for her, and in the three days since we have been using it, have seen a great improvement in the stability of her leg. We will not do surgery on her until her growth plates close, and only if she is not stable by then.

IMO,(and the opinion of the physical therapist) whether you do CM or surgery, the best way to avoid arthritis is to do PT. Passive range of motion, massage, laser if you can get one, and water therapy (walking in water is better than swimming), and whatever exercises the dog can tolerate without going backwards.

I have never heard of a Mastiff having a leg amputated for a crutiate rupture, that seems like over kill. TPLO is the surgery of choice for a Mastiff (according to my ortho vet and PT). Actually I remember theh PT telling me that once the TPLO fails, it is very, very bad, perhaps amputation was what she meant. She also said that recovery after surgery was very important and if you vet just tosses the dog in a crate after surgery, there was a good chance of the dog injuring himself, struggling, as he woke up.

[fourfillies]

Our 30 lb Corgi tore his, diagnosed as complete by our local vet and a big name/volume referral center. Had a TTA. It was awful. Over mobilized his tibia which then fractured as did his fibula. Had three additional surgeries and a removal of a nail under sedation. Eventually did heal only to tear the other just as he was off exercise restriction from the stress of gimping around, no doubt. Both local and referral vet advocated rest and rehab, fearing the same complications of the first surgery. He did great. A year later he “tranters” but trots sound unless he is really tired. I’d try CM for a dog that size. Keep in mind there is not tremendous urgency getting a repair done. Try 6-8 weeks of CM and then decide. I regret not trying CM on my guys first tear, might not have helped, but it might have. I also did Adequan and intermitent Previcox. Tramadol made my guy whimper, it was awful to hear and didn’t seem to do much else. Good luck to you.

[RaeHughes]

Two friends have had their English Mastiffs have a hind leg amputation due to a cruciate tear. No problems with them at all. Again, different experiences, different results.

[RaeHughes]

[QUOTE=aliceo;8748342]
i don’t believe that is a TPLO. i have never heard of titanium inserts and wire. must be a newer procedure.

in a TPLO, the bone is cut in a semi-circle, then reset at a different angle using brackets and screws.[/QUOTE]

Ah - that may be it. This is the standard for all dogs >30kg at Massey Vet Hospital in New Zealand. My own vet is now doing this operation.

[dkcbr]

Got TPLO repair of a partial tear for my 10.5 year old 50+ pound dog with spinal arthritis and a heart murmur. Procedure and recovery and rehab went fine. No regrets! Expensive but fortunately turned out to be worth it. She’s 12 now and quite mobile.

[S1969]

I had a dog with a cruciate tear at 10 and we did the TTA. It really was not a “painful” surgery for him - in fact, I had to ask if we could decrease pain meds for the first 48 hours because he seemed to feel so great we were worried about him reinjuring himself. His recovery was super easy and he ran hard on that leg daily for nearly 4 more years.

I am not against conservative management - I think it depends on the breed/dog/lifestyle. For a dog that is very active, I wouldn’t hesitate to do TTA again.

[Encourage]

Just heading into week 7 of post-op from a TTA surgery on my 7 year old border collie/Australian Shepard cross (so very active dog!)

Best choice I could have made. We just did a checkup yesterday, vet said to give her 4 more weeks of “confinement” (leash walks, leashed in house, hill work, some steps in the next few weeks) to make sure the bone is solid and then she’s back to normal. The first few weeks I followed the steps in the book we got, then as she got stronger I went at her pace and did what I thought she needed.

Best of luck to you and your dog!

[zakattack]

My dog (dachshund/pit mix) tore his cruciate and also his knee cap in the spring of 2015. Due to the additional tear of the knee cap, surgery was required (TTA).

He was overweight which was essentially the cause of the full tear, with the added factor of being a “big” dog with “little dog” legs. He played a little too hard one day and it just happened.

Surgery was done about a month after the injury and the leg was immobile until then. After, we followed the PT booklet they gave us after the surgery and he has been back to his old self since. He has a slight hitch in his step but can run and play with no restrictions or pain.

Swimming, once its allowed, is great! I think it helped his recovery a lot and I would recommend it. Its important to listen to vet’s instructions for when swimming is allowed so that it doesn’t cause an infection in the incision, though.

He went on an immediate diet after diagnosis and has since been at a good weight. I didn’t notice he was gaining weight, but now I am very diligent to watch his weight and make sure he gets multiple daily opportunity to run and keep the leg strong (living in inner city in an apartment means he can’t be out in a yard unfortunately). If your dog is a barn dog or you have a yard, I think its important that post-surgery and recovery they are given opportunity to move around as much as possible.

[moonlightsonata]

what breed?

[toxicity]

My family’s dog tore her ACL when she was about 3 or 4. German Shepard mix, about 45 lbs. I was in high school at the time so I don’t know the specifics, but we opted out of surgery or any sort of PT. This is a very nervous dog who only likes me and my parents, so putting her through that would have been traumatizing and potentially unsafe for the practitioners. Since the tear, she’s been on Science Diet JD and Phycox. Initially, I think we also had her on an NSAID, I don’t remember if we had her confined for a period. But at 9 now, she’s doing well. The Phycox makes a huge difference for her. She’s a relatively low energy dog, but occasionally gets the zoomies in the back yard, chases after small animals, etc. and isn’t lame afterwards. As long as she stays slightly underweight and goes on her daily short walk, she’s in good shape.

[SquishTheBunny]

Any surgery has a chance of complications but you will have the “best” chance at a great outcome with a board certified surgeon and a TPLO (or TTA, tightrope ). Conservative management can work in some but the advancement of arthritis typically is much more rapid and advanced vs. Surgical repair. Shorter recovery time with surgery vs conservative as well.

[BShipps]

My bully JUST went through TPLO surgery this past Friday. He’s a big (90lbs), young (just turned 2), stoic guy who blew out both knees at some point and just kept on going…

He saw our regular vet who saw arthritic changes but wasn’t sure about surgery. We got a second opinion from a surgeon who thought he was a good candidate for surgery (my thought was he’s so young that to do nothing would greatly diminish his quality of life both now and as he ages).

He’s 4 days post op and is walking sounder on his “broken” (as that’s essentially what TPLO surgery is) leg than before the surgery. If the healing goes well he will go in to have the other leg done in October.

[Riley0522]

My 2 1/2 yr old, 75lb Pit/Boxer mix is 10 weeks out from a left TPLO for a full CCL tear. I was very hesitant going into the surgery and we almost went with the tightrope that our general vet was recommending, but after a lot of research and reading, meeting with a surgeon and considering our dog’s age/size/activity level, we bit the bullet and did the TPLO. He looks awesome and should be back to his old self within 2 more weeks. He is currently full weight bearing and using it 95% of the time.

Part of the reason I was hesitant was the rehab as this is a very high energy dog, all that crate rest seemed impossible (especially since he did this 2 weeks after we had our first child) – he actually did really well. We used Trazadone for the first 6 weeks and weaned him off once we were leash walking a decent amount. I hope we don’t have to, but if the other side went we would do another TPLO.

His TPLO was done at a large teaching veterinary hospital, by a younger (not board certified) surgeon.