A friend of mine has a medium size dog who has been diagnosed with this. Dog is holding up leg, but not in any apparent pain. The vet would like to operate, it is a few thousand dollar surgery. She is willing to take out a loan and do the surgery if that is what is needed, but looking online she has read stories of just bracing it etc... I do not know anything about it, but thought I would ask here and see if anyone had any first hand experience with it... Thanks.
My dog Liberty did this last summer and had surgery in August. I really agonized over whether or not to have the surgery and which surgery to have. So I researched and researched and finally decided what was best for MY dog. I had the suture technique repair on her where they basically thread in between the bones to stabilize the joint. They say that under 25-30 lbs or so and you don't really need the surgery. My dog is a very lean, athletic 50 lbs. Most vets immediately recommend the TPLO surgery which is more invasive and MUCH more expensive. Of course, for large/heavy dogs that is the recommended technique but I don't think it's right for ALL dogs. It also depends on how "new" the injury is and what arthritic damage/changes are already present in the knee. If the arthritis is advanced, the TPLO is also more recommended because it will relive the pain more. So my dog was not overweight, very muscular and did not have any arthritic damage yet. I took her to the VSRA in Cary to an ortho specialist and the surgery was about $1400. My vet could have done it for around $800-$900 but I decided to go to a specialist for the best results. All in all, I'm glad with the way I went and I have her on joint supplements (probably forever) and she's doing great. She still gets a little sore if she over does it when playing but she's pretty much back to herself. She (and all dogs with this injury) will always have some level of discomfort and arthritis as the knee will never be the same again. The TPLO surgery is like $2400 I think at the VSRA. Your friend should really read up about the different choices and decide what's best for their individual pet. The TPLO is more invasive and riskier but the recovery is MUCH faster. Suture recovery is about 6 months with the first few being very crucial to keep the dog as quiet as possible. No stairs, climbing, jumping, sliding on floors, etc. That was a challenge for me with wood floors and 2 stories and a very active pit bull mix! lol There are also folks who do non-surical recovery and that is also an option for some dogs. Most people recommend the surgery but it's ok to try non-surgical also in some cases. The suture does not repair the knee, it just stabilizes it long enough for the dog to heal on its own and then the suture breaks away eventually anyway. So that is the logic behind not even doing the surgery at all. My only fear with that was that if her knee wasn't stable enough during recovery, that arthritic damage would occur and although the ligament would eventually repair itself, her knee in general would be more damages and she would be really lame eventually. Let me know if you have any other specific questions!
Thanks, I will forward this to her!! The dog is young, 3 ish... normal weight and just started limping this past Sunday, was fine before then. So I dont think there is any arthritis... I will let you know if she has any questions, thanks!! L
No prob! It sounds like she will be able to choose from many options. Just a note on the arthritis... my dogs xray did show arthritis and swelling. However, when they opened her up, there was no cartilage or bone damage (they can get these little calcified bumps on the leg bones where the joint meets and it's really painful when that happens). She still did have some pain and fluid buildup though. I ice packed her twice a day after the surgery and joint supplements are a must regardless! EFA (essential fatty acids) and/or vitamin E supplements along with the glucosamine and chondroitin were a HUGE help. She recovered really well with those.
We are having the TPLO surgery next Thursday for our Boxer at VSRP. The cost is going to be anywhere from 2,100 to 2,300 (if no complications). I've already spent $700.00 on her the last couple of weeks for imagining, rx's, etc. from Dr. Mike to prepare for the surgery. Unfortunately, my boxer weighs too much 88.8 lbs. and her injury (Meniscus tare) is too bad for the suture, so we are going to have to have the plate put in. From what the Surgeon has told us the recovery is easier with the TPLO. I've been told the first week that we will need to leash her just to go use the potty and then right back in. She'll have to wear a cone and be confined in a small space. The second week she'll get more freedom, etc. My dog didn't seem to be in pain either, but once we saw all the xrays, it's amazing the pain they can stand and not even whimper.
We ended up canceling our boxer's surgery. Long story short, if that were her only injury we'd get it today, but after more imaging, etc. she has three messed up knee's and is already showing mild hip dysplasia. So they are thinking more like 3 surgeries. We love her, but that's just a lot on her, us and our pocket books. We are putting her on long term meds though. Does anyone have experience with a good joint med?
I do. :mrgreen: Nikken I get it from Ann @ Cary Natrual Health 469.9953 carynaturalhealth.com Tell her I (my real name) sent you. I've been giving it to Shelby since I found out she had cancer, not knowing anything about the tumor and cancer, I decided to put her on joint meds (she is old as dirt). She seems to be fine, except when she lays around all day, now that is warmer out, I kick her outside for most of the day so she can do laps in the backyard and play with the Black Lab next door through the fence. Lilharley's Yellow Lab just flew down the back deck steps last week, sista said her back legs just gave out, so I've referred her to Ann as well for the Nikken for her joints.
Aww poor baby! I was using "super Joint rescue" by Ark Naturals. I also use 1000-1200 mg omega 3 fish oil pills for humans that you can get anywhere (cvs, walmart). With her weight, you'll want to give her about 2-3 of those per day. My girls are 60 lbs and they get 2 per day. It's really great for their coat, too! You can also add a vitamin E supplement, some people add that to their joint regime, some don't but research that one to see if you think it's necessary. I recently switched her joint supplement to a brand called "pet naturals" because it doesn't have the added extra vitamins that ark naturals has (I don't like to over supplement). You can also use glucosamine/chondroitin for humans you just have to figure out the dosage. You can something called "glycoflex" from the vet but I hear it's really expensive. There is also a dog food...Canidae "Platinum" that has the glucosamine and chondroitin which you can feed for added benefit in addition to the pills. HTH! Christine
We use shark cartilage from longlifepetsupplements.com. Griz has a bad knee and it seems to really help. Lots of info and testimonials on the site.
All of the Nutro Natural Choice line of dog foods (from puppy to senior) already have Glucosamine and Chondroitin in them. The Ultra line, which is their holistic food, has it too, along with ALA (alpha linolenic acid) to help reduce inflammation. http://www.ultraholistic.com/index.html I feed my dogs Nutro Natural Choice Lamb & Rice. I would feed them Ultra but I have one dog with a chicken allergy and since Ultra has 3 meat proteins... salmon, lamb & chicken, I'm afraid she would get into it... and the results would not be pretty. :neutral:
