Community Forums

reubenray · 05-31-2020, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kdsgone2dogs

Have you thought about getting a second opinion before surgery?

You should do this. We choose surgery after our regular vet said she needed it after seeing the xrays. We then went to a surgical vet and they confirmed it after doing their own xrays.

Milford 47 · 05-31-2020, 06:03 AM

Our Westie has 3 pins and a surgical band in her left rear leg

5 years now and doing great

tacksondeck · 05-31-2020, 06:20 AM

Our English Setter tore her ACL at about age 6 and she had the surgery. We did not think very much of the experience with the vet who operated on her because she had a lot of pain for quite a while. It was several months of confining her activity and as she finally recovered adequately, her other ACL tore (both were rear legs). I believe the strain from using primarily the non-surgical leg was what caused the second tear.

We opted to not treat her second ACL tear surgically since we didn't want to put her through another difficult surgery and just treated her with a brace and medical treatment from our local vet. In the following years, you would not have been able to tell which leg had surgical treatment and which hadn't. We made sure to keep her weight down to prevent stress on her legs and she lived 5 more years without significant arthritis.

We have neighbors who just had their 10 year old Cocker Spaniel's ACL repair done and it seems to have gone very easily, so we may have just had a bad experience with the surgeon who did our English Setter.

oldmattb · 05-31-2020, 07:11 AM

We had this problem with our lab mix Jinx. We took him to our rural vet in East Texas. He explained that a "city" vet could open the joint and do a proper repair. We would take numerous four-hour round trip runs to Houston, and the cost would be WAY in the thousands.

He offered an alternative, which we thought appropriate for a 12-year old dog. Cost was under $500. The vet opened the knee, drilled four holes through the bone (literally) with a Dewalt drill. He bound the joint together with 100-pound test monofilament line twice - one for use, and one for backup.

Jinx recovered quickly, walked with a slight limp, and never had another issue with his knee.

Matt B

sawmillman · 05-31-2020, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tacksondeck

Our English Setter tore her ACL at about age 6 and she had the surgery. We did not think very much of the experience with the vet who operated on her because she had a lot of pain for quite a while. It was several months of confining her activity and as she finally recovered adequately, her other ACL tore (both were rear legs). I believe the strain from using primarily the non-surgical leg was what caused the second tear.

We opted to not treat her second ACL tear surgically since we didn't want to put her through another difficult surgery and just treated her with a brace and medical treatment from our local vet. In the following years, you would not have been able to tell which leg had surgical treatment and which hadn't. We made sure to keep her weight down to prevent stress on her legs and she lived 5 more years without significant arthritis.

We have neighbors who just had their 10 year old Cocker Spaniel's ACL repair done and it seems to have gone very easily, so we may have just had a bad experience with the surgeon who did our English Setter.

I was wondering what kind of brace you used and what type of medical treatment you received from your local vet?

sawmillman · 05-31-2020, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reubenray

You should do this. We choose surgery after our regular vet said she needed it after seeing the xrays. We then went to a surgical vet and they confirmed it after doing their own xrays.

We did pretty much the same thing. Our regular vet examined her and took the xrays. He couldn't do the surgery since it was so specialized, and sent the xrays to a orthopedic surgeon. He said based on the fluid in the knee and her symptoms he thought the acl was torn. When I asked him about waiting he said it would never get better.
This surgeon said between him and his partner they average doing 6 of these surgeries per day.

Steverino · 05-31-2020, 10:23 AM

Our Samoyed (now 10) had one rear knee repaired at about 2 and then the other at about 4. When in for the second, the surgeon found a partially torn ACL which he fixed. Because of the knee surgery the dog had a cast for a period and then wore a brace for a number of months. He is relatively okay now, but tends to use both rear legs together when running or climbing stairs. I couldn't say whether his less-than-complete recovery was due to knees or the ACL repair.

This boy has been the poster child for pet insurance... If only we had been smart enough to buy some.

sawmillman · 05-31-2020, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steverino

Our Samoyed (now 10) had one rear knee repaired at about 2 and then the other at about 4. When in for the second, the surgeon found a partially torn ACL which he fixed. Because of the knee surgery the dog had a cast for a period and then wore a brace for a number of months. He is relatively okay now, but tends to use both rear legs together when running or climbing stairs. I couldn't say whether his less-than-complete recovery was due to knees or the ACL repair.

This boy has been the poster child for pet insurance... If only we had been smart enough to buy some.

I hear you on the pet insurance. Sure would have been nice. In addition to this upcoming ACL surgery she had to see an dog ophthalmologist for an eyelash that was growing under her eyelid at about 1 year old. Which procedure did your dog have on his knees?

tacksondeck · 05-31-2020, 01:02 PM

I don't remember the exact brace, but it was something like this: https://orthodog.com/index.cfm/produ...re-knee-brace/

I am struggling to remember what all the vet gave us, but probably glucosamine, pain meds, and I can't remember what else. It was about 10 years ago.

BigSkyBob · 05-31-2020, 01:25 PM

My Beagle tore an ACL in both hind legs a year apart. I had the TPLO procedure preformed at the pet surgical center in Las Vegas where I was both times it happened. Very expensive facility but top drawer surgeons and after care. Once you have the TPLO done the dog doesn't need an ACL to walk. It's been 4 years since the last procedure and we walk many miles each day and he never limps. After each surgery I packed him up and down the 5 stairs in my rig hundreds of times but it's a labor of love i spose. Best of luck with your pet.

reubenray · 05-31-2020, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldmattb

We had this problem with our lab mix Jinx. We took him to our rural vet in East Texas. He explained that a "city" vet could open the joint and do a proper repair. We would take numerous four-hour round trip runs to Houston, and the cost would be WAY in the thousands.

He offered an alternative, which we thought appropriate for a 12-year old dog. Cost was under $500. The vet opened the knee, drilled four holes through the bone (literally) with a Dewalt drill. He bound the joint together with 100-pound test monofilament line twice - one for use, and one for backup.

Jinx recovered quickly, walked with a slight limp, and never had another issue with his knee.

Matt B

This is what was done on Sophie the second time. Her surgery on the first one $2,500 and the second one was $575. I think the first one had a plate put in. The first surgery required Sophie to stay overnight. The second one did not. Occasionally if she is to active she will limp around some. If she hurts too bad we give her a mild pain pill at night. More than anything else you have to keep the dog from jumping. I think it took a little longer for the leg that had the second surgery to get back to 100%.

creativepart · 05-31-2020, 01:55 PM

As other's have mentioned - it's an ACL on a human and a CCL on a canine.

But - there is an older, simpler, less invasive, less damaging and even cheaper fix. It's still requires some surgery but doesn't involve grinding and removing bone from the dog's leg.

I don't know the technical term for it, but it's generally called the "Fishing Line" fix. The Vet opens the leg and attaches some nylon line to both the upper and lower parts of the leg to stabilize the joint and keep it from opening.

It was used for decades before the TPOL repair was developed.

Not the cost matters that much when it comes to our pets but it's 1/4 the cost and again 1/4 the recovery time.

We did this for our old Dalmatian about 5 years before he died. It worked pretty well and in talking to a couple of vet specialist about what we should do the Fishing Line fix works about 90% as well as the TPOL repair process.

sawmillman · 05-31-2020, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigSkyBob

My Beagle tore an ACL in both hind legs a year apart. I had the TPLO procedure preformed at the pet surgical center in Las Vegas where I was both times it happened. Very expensive facility but top drawer surgeons and after care. Once you have the TPLO done the dog doesn't need an ACL to walk. It's been 4 years since the last procedure and we walk many miles each day and he never limps. After each surgery I packed him up and down the 5 stairs in my rig hundreds of times but it's a labor of love i spose. Best of luck with your pet.

Glad to hear that your dog did well both times. We 're actually currently planning a trip out thru South Dakota and southern Montana after the surgery and stitches are out. I believe she will be easier to keep calm in the contained space of the MH and being on a leash. Shes used to that when camping. At home we live on a farm and she is used to going in and out anytime.

Steverino · 06-01-2020, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sawmillman

I hear you on the pet insurance. Sure would have been nice. In addition to this upcoming ACL surgery she had to see an dog ophthalmologist for an eyelash that was growing under her eyelid at about 1 year old. Which procedure did your dog have on his knees?

He had a luxating patella - the patella (kneecap) wouldn't stay in place. The fix involves grooving the femur to give an improved "track" to locate the cap.