Cruciate ligament damage in dogs

pamril1 · 13 September 2008 at 12:13AM

Last night my 10 month old Siberian Husky attempted to jump some trellis work in my garden and severely damaged her knee (cruciate ligament) She was referred by our vets to a specialist who has estimated £2500-£3000 for treatment. Luckily we are insured and these costs should be covered.

The vet said it's quite a common injury in dogs so I thought I'd ask if anyone else had experience of this with their dogs and if so how much did you pay for treatment?

Also if you could fill me in on what to expect recovery wise I'd really appreciate it.
She is staying at the vets until Monday and I'm missing her already (over an hours drive to the specialist). The house is soo quiet without her.

I know I'm a pain but forgot to ask the vets and haven't had a pet stay away like this before. Do vets have someone to stay with/check on the animals overnight? Just worrying about her right now.

Forgot to say the treatment involved a TPLO and some bone work to prevent the knee joint popping out easily.

robster1964 · 13 September 2008 at 12:24AM

Hi Hun, my Yorkie just had op to repair cruciate. Didn't have to stay overnight, had a week on antibiotics and pain killers. The hard thing is trying to keep them from running around and over using it. Rio seemed to recover after about 2 weeks ( ie he could jump up onto the couch again) However, he is limping a bit again, so I don't know whether he has over done it, and damaged it again. The vet warned us that the recovery could be 3 months. So I will take him for a check up, but feel guilty that I haven't restricted his mobility more. The thing is, he is a little fat Yorkie that is not particularly active anyway, so god knows what it must be like to try to limit a big active dogs exercise.

I have no idea if someone stays with them overnight, but I would def think so?

It's cost around £600 so far, insurance covered two thirds.

Robster xxx

fraz_babe · 13 September 2008 at 1:09AM

I could not help you sadly. But i hope your dog gets better & your feeling better too xxx

cocoluvsmummy · 13 September 2008 at 9:41AM

Hi my dog (jess) has had both cruciate ligaments done and has had the same trpe of repair you mentioned. Aftercare wise she was very restriected, no jumping climbing at all for 1 - 2 weeks including steps or stairs, she had to avoid slippery floors completly (wood floors and tiles) she was then allowed to increase her time walking on a lead form 5 mins daily increasing by 5 mins a week until up to 20 mins twice a day. No off lead work for 4 months.

She came home wth antibiotics and 2 types of painkillers.

Your dog should make a full recovery it will just take time.
good luck

cocoluvsmummy · 13 September 2008 at 9:45AM

Also have a read of this thread

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=678275

coco

pamril1 · 13 September 2008 at 9:51AM

Thanks for the replies folks. Managed to get some sleep but now I'm awake I'm on edge again, so will ring the vets later to see how she is doing.

Robster hope your little one is ok soon.

I just hope the insurance pays out as it should.
The original vets said that the specialist had been mucked about that much by insurance companies that he required us to pay the fee up front and that we get it reimbursed from the insurance company,so we were worried sick yet again, after all thats what you get the insurance for in the 1st place. There was no way we were able to do this as my OH has just been laid off and spoke to the specialist vet and showed them our documents so he agreed to go ahead on a direct claim from the insurance company.
The worry of having to pay out £3000 there and then was a worry we could have done without to be honest. Now I'd do anything for my dogs but even Paul Daniels couldn't have conjured that amount of money out of thin air.

But that was yesterday and in the past. All I want now is my little girl home safe and sound.

pamril1 · 13 September 2008 at 10:10AM

cocoluvsmummy wrote: »

Hi my dog (jess) has had both cruciate ligaments done and has had the same trpe of repair you mentioned. Aftercare wise she was very restriected, no jumping climbing at all for 1 - 2 weeks including steps or stairs, she had to avoid slippery floors completly (wood floors and tiles) she was then allowed to increase her time walking on a lead form 5 mins daily increasing by 5 mins a week until up to 20 mins twice a day. No off lead work for 4 months.

She came home wth antibiotics and 2 types of painkillers.

Your dog should make a full recovery it will just take time.
good luck

Coco, how long did yours have to stay in for?
This weekend is going to kill me. We hate not having her here and my other husky is missing her terribly too.

orlao · 13 September 2008 at 10:17AM

Hi

My rott has had both legs repaired.....not the TPLO though. Like Jess he had 2 weeks room rest, loo trips on a lead and after the 2 weeks he was lead walked three times a day for 5 minutes, increasing every week for another 5 minutes.

You should be able to collect your dog early next week and that's the time to ask loads of questions about aftercare etc, maybe make a list?They will give you a phone number to call with any queries. Usually the vet hospitals have someone on site 24 hours to monitor the animals.

Also your own vet can be really helpful, they know your dog and can do a checkup if you're worried about anything.

TBH, the recovery time after the ops (he had his ops 3 months apart) was hard work but it was just over a year ago and since last September he has been a totally normal dog regarding exercise, soundness etc. The only difference in him between now and before the injury is that his stride is slightly shorter and he can't clear a 4ft fence from a standstill anymore.

The only caution I would give is to watch carefully for any infection in the wound and to follow the aftercare instructions to the letter as they can really make a difference in how successful the surgery is in the longterm.

My boy came home without painkillers as the vet wanted him to "feel the pain" if he tried to do too much!!! Harsh but I could see what he meant as the dog is a bit of a goon.....

He had antibiotics as he did get an infection after his 2nd op.....but IMHO that was because he had the first leg repaired again as he had damaged the original repair by hurdling a baby gate on his first day home.....see what I mean by a goon????

Not trying to scare you btw, I just wish I'd found out more about the aftercare before I was living it. All you think about is the op itself and the aftercare and recovery period is just as important IYSWIM. The way I got through it was to remind myself that it was a relatively short period of time that would allow the dog to lead a normal active life for years to come.

HTH

O x

pamril1 · 13 September 2008 at 10:47AM

My little (well not so little) pooch tried to jump the 4ft trellis in the garden, her leg went through the gap but she continued over the top she was hanging by her leg and struggling (hence the bad damage) the screams were horrific, I ran out to try get her off but only managed to eleviate the pressure as she was tangled up (she's 28 kilos at 10 months old) luckily the OH closely followed me and we managed to get off (lovely bite marks as a trophy but it wasn't her fault she was scared bless her)
Needless to say it's all coming down I don't want this to happen again...that's if she is able to jump as she did before, but somehow I don't think she will.

Just been looking through the other thread and noticed about the wooden and tiled floors. Will go and get some cheap carpet for her.
Luckily she has a crate and doesn't mind sleeping in it, so keeping her separate from my other dog isn't a problem (they get very boisterous with each other) I have a room divider and stair gates in place already for my dd so keeping her in one room not a problem.
Anything else I may have missed?

pamril1 · 13 September 2008 at 11:03AM

orlao wrote: »

He had antibiotics as he did get an infection after his 2nd op.....but IMHO that was because he had the first leg repaired again as he had damaged the original repair by hurdling a baby gate on his first day home.....see what I mean by a goon????

Not trying to scare you btw, I just wish I'd found out more about the aftercare before I was living it. All you think about is the op itself and the aftercare and recovery period is just as important IYSWIM. The way I got through it was to remind myself that it was a relatively short period of time that would allow the dog to lead a normal active life for years to come.

HTH

O x

Not scared me at all I'd rather know exactly what to expect. As you say the focus is always on the op rather than the aftercare and recovery, so If I can get an idea of whats ahead I'll be better prepared.

Know what you mean about the jumping I'm hoping she doesn't try to jump the safety gates etc in the house after this and cause more damage.
Thanks for your help by the way it's appreciated.

cocoluvsmummy · 13 September 2008 at 3:52PM

Both times Jess was in she was allowed to come home the day after her op. Make sure you are able to lift her in and out of the car as she wont be able to do it herself (in other words may be easier if you both go to get her) The first few days are very hard work, we had to have someone sitting next to her all the time (luckily we have kids so we could take it in turns) because if we didn't she would get all distressesd and start to cry, that was a few weeks on the sofa then for me or Oh as she couldnt get up the stairs to where she normally sleeps and was upset being on her own (and yes i know we are too soft with her)

thinking of you and good luck

Cruciate ligament damage in dogs

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