cost to repair Cruciate ligament in Bulldog

grahamm123

Hi, does any one know how much it is to operate on the Cruciate ligament in a 50llb dog including a metal plate?. My Bulldog also has Arthritis.

geminilady

Think gettingready's dog had this done hopefully she will be along later but I know it is a lot!!! don't you have insurance?

PasturesNew

2008 discussion on MSE: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1154603

Person_one

grahamm123 wrote: »

Hi, does any one know how much it is to operate on the Cruciate ligament in a 50llb dog including a metal plate?. My Bulldog also has Arthritis.

I will depend on the technique the vet uses.

My dog had a TTA in 2014 that cost just under £3000 all in. He then had another repair on the other leg in 2015 but the vet used a newer technique called an MMP which was cheaper at about £1500 and actually much more effective and simpler for a smaller dog (mine only weighs about 7kg).

There is also the option to suture the ligament which is probably the cheapest but this is also the least effective and I personally wouldn't consider it an option except possibly in a very old dog that isn't very mobile anyway or already has advanced arthritis.

You need to talk to the ortho vet though about the different options and which one will be right for your particular dog and his injury.

grahamm123

Hi, yes we do have insurance at £4000. which the vets said it will cost the full amount. Just before this happened he was on about doing an investigatory op on her other knee to see if it was dislocating as you can not tell on the X Rays due to Muscular legs and this was going to cost £4000. She also has Arthritis.

sheramber

My dog is 26kgs. She had TPLO done 3 years ago by an orthopaedic specialist. The cost for him was £1800. By the time you included pre xrays by my vet and specialist opinion them, and follow up xrays after the op the total cost was about £3000.

Obviously, charges will vary depending on where you live and your vet's charges.

Both my vet and the specialist are in the middle range of charges.

grahamm123

Thanks for your reply Sheramber.

Pollycat

Was talking to someone who has a big dog and it cost £3k to sort his cruciate ligament out.

krlyr

My Rottie x (smaller side, around 32kg) had a TTA op last September and it came to around/just under £3000 all in (x-rays, aftercare, etc.)

TPLO is more expensive but from what I read/was told, it's not specifically 'better' just because it's more expensive - a surgeon good at TTA will do a good job of a TTA, one specialising in TPLO will do a good TPLO.

There are cheaper ops whereby they fit a suture to act as an artificial tendon - but the success rate in this is much higher in smaller dogs. I think 50lb is the cut off weight they suggest - but a Bulldog is very short and stocky so I'm not sure if that would make them as suitable a candidate.

krlyr

My girl also has arthritis (front leg) and I would highly recommend golden paste - this will help with any inflammation caused by the cruciate ligament tear too. You have to be a little cautious as it affects the blood's ability to clot - so stop the day before surgery and give it a day or so before starting again, but it really did help my girl after her TTA, as well as making a huge difference to her arthritis on a daily basis.
http://www.turmericlife.com.au/turmeric-recipes-golden-paste/

gettingready

Someone called?

Zara had both cruciates operated on at a cost of nearly 5k each. She is 40kg of a dog.

Recently we had screws/plate removed from one as it kept causing infection, another 1500 or so.

4k is not much I am afraid a far as insurance goes.

Call around though as my current vet said that at his place the same operation would be around 2500 per leg. And he is very experienced in this issue.

But Zara's one leg was done at Goddard and the other at Fitzpatrick hence the massive cost.