Anyone else's dog had cruciate ligament surgery?

gettingready

D&DD wrote: »

Our vet has referred her to a specialist in Godalming

That is where zara had her THR done on both hips - it is Fitzpatricks Referrals.

D&DD

Thanks so much GR thats a brill link I've bookmarked to read thoroughly later.
Thats good to know it's the same place too Zara's been looked after well by them hasn't she
XX

gettingready

Zara has problems with one of the hips (maybe both) and we will be looking at a referral somewhere else when the new insurance kicks in, we will not be going back to FR.

It is a very well known referral practice, perhaps we were just unlucky with Zara. Still, will not be going there again with her as they completely ignored my concerns past her discharge.

Beetlemama

Mines going in on Wednesday to have hers done, can't belive she came down the garden with me, turned and ran back up then needed four and a half grands worth of surgery. You think that sort of money is for serious illnesses and car accidents!

jumpedtheshark

We used the RVC for our dog's ACL surgery. Some of the consultants have a better patient manner than others but, overall, we were very happy with them and would definitely go there again. Plus it gives vet students some additional practice (taking notes, interacting with owners and pets, presumably also in the surgery itself) and they're non-profit-making so there's less of a need to worry about pricing compared to some commercial referral centres. I'm not sure if they take simple cases, but they might well. Our dog has a heart condition and Addison's disease so needs careful monitoring and expert anaesthetists, and had already been there for treatment for her heart condition.

jumpedtheshark

In terms of recovery, we turned the living room into a large pen with nothing she could climb on or knock against. For a few weeks (maybe 6 or so?) we had no seating at all, and would all sit on the floor. We also didn't exercise her at all for the first couple of weeks, and then began by leading her (on leash) up and down the garden. We were really concerned she'd leap at something and damage it during the healing process, so even after we started taking her on slow gentle walks, maybe 4 weeks in, we went out late at night when it was least likely we'd encounter anything interesting. She's about 45 kg, so we were really worried about her putting too much stress on the joint too early. So, what we did was probably overkill, but we figured better cautious than risking her recovery.

Also, ours had the traditional surgery, which takes longer to recover from. There's also a metal plate type surgery, which has a much faster recovery time. We opted against it because it needed follow-up X-rays (extra stress in a taxi and sedation for the X-ray itself), and because, if it didn't work, we were told she'd basically be out of options (ie. amputation). Whereas if the traditional stringing approach doesn't work, you can still try the plate approach in most cases. So, if you're getting the plate surgery, you might need to worry a lot less about recovery.

The one thing we weren't happy with from her surgery was that they didn't give us any antibiotics to take home. They claimed they operated in a sterile environment, but she got infected, and dealing with the swelling, infection, etc. probably set back her recovery about a week. Plus it was really stressful - our local vet wanted to give her Rimadyl to treat the swelling alongside the antibiotics, but she's an Addison's dog and I refused; the vet told my husband I was crazy and I was risking her losing her leg. We consulted with a holistic vet in Bath over the phone and treated with fish oil and icing several times a day. All very, very stressful. That was also the last time I used that vet. Anyway, I mention all of this in case you want to proactively ask if it might be advisable for your dog to be prescribed a course of antibiotics to ward off infection whilst recovering.

Sagz_2

One of mine had the TPLO when he was about 8, and really took it hard. He needed heavy pain meds and was slow to recover, and was never 100% on that leg.
2 years later the other cruciate went and I chose to have the simple repair done. Much faster recovery and no limp in his old age.

All dogs are different, but after my experience, I'd never put my dogs through a TPLO.

Beetlemama

Dallas is home, she had her knee done yesterday, she had an mmp tta. I was surprised at how much of her they shaved, her whole back leg is naked, but her foot is still furry!

She's walking pretty well (actually, she's stonned right now, flat on the living room floor), but she was putting her foot down. My other one is heartbroken that we've had to shut her or of the room, I've tried to tell her that Dallas is being kept in rather than her being kept out, but she isn't convinced.