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Arrgh... dog tore ACL Login/Join 
Unapologetic Old
School Curmudgeon
Picture of Lord Vaalic
posted
She's kind of older and stiff, but saw a squirrel and thought Im not as fast as I once was, but Im as fast once as I ever was....

Dog went after it like a bat out of hell, and I thought these two old idiots will never catch a squirrel... but they did. One managed to really screw herself up in the process, tore an ACL, maybe two. Looking at $4000 surgery.

Frickin squirrel




Don't weep for the stupid, or you will be crying all day
 
Posts: 10719 | Location: TN | Registered: December 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of just1tym
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And as a dog owner I'm guessing you already know how difficult it is keeping them from re-injuring it during healing. My pup broke his femur in an odd accident and had to have a plate put in. The Doc told me I had to keep him very calm and off that leg for periods. He was a 10mo old Irish Setter and always ready to run and play. Man that was a difficult time but he pulled thru.

Hope all goes well with yours!


Regards, Will G.
 
Posts: 9660 | Location: 140 mi to Margaritaville, FL | Registered: January 02, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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One of our investigators at work had a young German Shepherd that tore his ACL.

She had a heck of time trying to keep him calm and off the leg for hit to heal.

this just happened a couple of weeks ago.
 
Posts: 1836 | Location: In NC trying to get back to VA | Registered: March 03, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
I'm Pickle Rick!
Picture of Pickle Rick
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Been there done that. Our Australian Cattle Dog " Wingnut" saw a delicious looking cat. So he jumped over a large wood pile chased the cat down and caught him. The cat let out a very very loud hiss and my dog did not what to do with the cat. My dog came back to us with the 4k limp. Good luck with your pup. NO CATS WERE INJURED.


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Posts: 2862 | Location: Lancaster, PA. | Registered: February 06, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go ahead punk, make my day
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Dang, I know the feeling. One of the Great Danes came out of his cage lame one morning, but we were lucky that it was only a broken toe from some antics in the front yard chasing stuff. But he's got 4-6 weeks light activity coming, which is a pain considering he wants to run as fast as he can 2-3 times a day.
 
Posts: 45798 | Registered: July 12, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Inject yourself!
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Our female had two TPLO surgeries. 6 weeks apart. That was fun. She’s pretty calm thankfully.

Be aware that you may need to have the other one done before long due to the extra stress.




Do not send me to a heaven where there are no dogs.
Step Up or Stand Aside: Support the Troops !
Expectations are premeditated disappointments.
 
Posts: 8340 | Location: West | Registered: November 26, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Still finding my way
Picture of Ryanp225
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Sorry about your pooch. Give her some extra scratches for me.
 
Posts: 10827 | Registered: January 04, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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4 grand? Jesus Christ. Where do you live? The going rate around here is half of that or less.
 
Posts: 2690 | Location: Baltimore | Registered: October 22, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of m1009
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TPLO is not cheap. Also depends on the weight and size of the dog. Out GSD tore his CCL 3 years ago, and it was dang near $5k when all said and done. Couldn’t stand to see him in pain, and he really did a number on it, completely tore it, not just a little tear. He’s doing really well, he was 107 lbs when it happened, and by the time I got surgery scheduled, had him at 97 lbs to help out. He did very well, didn’t have to get a huge crate, just kept him in the bedroom with the cone, and water while we worked. I still watch him like a hawk though. He’s 10 1/2 now. Walks fine, wants to run, and doesn’t seem to have any issues. I don’t let him over exert though if I can help it.
Good luck to your dog.
 
Posts: 1124 | Registered: September 27, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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My sister's cockapoo tore both of his on the back legs. At different times. But the pet insurance more than paid for itself. I think they were out of pocket about $750 total.
 
Posts: 4652 | Location: Middletown, PA | Registered: January 09, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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One of ours is still recovering from ACL surgery. Energetic mutt and I felt like such a jerk limiting her activity for so long. The looks she’d give were tough to endure.
 
Posts: 13735 | Location: Shenandoah Valley, VA | Registered: October 16, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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As others have stated, the threat of re-injury after the surgery is real (or injury to the other leg since it takes the load during recovery).

We also found that the water therapy was the best way to get our dog moving the leg.

There were no water treadmill facilities around so we took ours to the lake and held onto her in the water so she would naturally paddle her legs. It was amazing how well it worked since it gets them moving the joint through the full range of motion with minimal stress.

We also did things like taking couch cushions off to eliminate jumping on and off furniture and putting runners on the hardwood floor to minimize the risk of the legs kicking out.

Our dog lived another 6 or 7 years after the surgery with no leg problems (she was already 6 or 7 when it happened).
 
Posts: 326 | Registered: January 26, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Scientific Beer Geek
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https://mypetsbrace.com/home

My Akita tore her ACL and our vet explained that large dogs tended to rip what was repaired by the surgery again very often. The vet recommended a leg brace which would allow the joint to naturally develop scar tissue and stabilize itself as an alternative to surgery.

Please check out the website and talk to your to see if this may be an option for your dog, since she is older. Mine is now 11 and the brace did help her regain a lot of mobility without the more costly and stressful surgery.


Best of luck,

Mike


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Posts: 2078 | Location: Philadelphia Suburbs | Registered: August 02, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of Rinehart
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Sorry to hear that-

We had the same problem. (There was another thread about the surgery earlier).

Our female Australian Shepherd tore hers about three years ago. Fortunately we had dog health insurance thanks to my wife.

Keeping an Aussie quiet after ACL surgery was the hard part. The first week or so we had to do the sling assist walk/go outside thing...

But the surgery went well and she's fine, although we had to stop the airborne frisbee stuff and agility work...

 
Posts: 1507 | Location: PA | Registered: March 15, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Equal Opportunity Mocker
Picture of slabsides45
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Sorry for your bad luck! As has already been mentioned, the odds of the opposite side's CCL (dog name for ACL) going out are about 50/50, and the longer you delay the surgery and subsequent healing time, the worse it'll get.

There are options to the TPLO, but in bigger dogs the only ones I'm comfortable recommending are the TPLO and the TTA. I personally do the TTA, mainly because it's a simpler procedure with generally shorter postoperative recovery time. Also, while the TPLO (as seen in xrays posted here) cuts the load bearing bone in half and then plates it back to itself at a new angle, the TTA does not affect the load bearing surface of the bone, thus allowing for reduced postoperative lameness.

Recent studies show that TTA's have shorter recovery times because of the differences in where the bone is cut, but that at 12 months the TPLO has a slight advantage in load bearing scores while running. Walking and standing scores were essentially equivocal. As such, my usual spiel is to tell clients that if their dog will be super active and run a lot, consider the extra cost associated with the TPLO. If they're a calm and settled dog who doesn't run that much but walks around a good bit, the TTA is a great option.

Either way you go, it's a big deal, and you want to be sure the surgeon knows his stuff. Best wishes for a speedy recovery and for the opposing CCL to be intact at the end of the drama!


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Posts: 6389 | Location: Mogadishu on the Mississippi | Registered: February 26, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Two vets whom I respect highly told me that the ACL surgery is not as necessary on smaller dogs. They both said arthritis could be likely without surgery. We elected not to do surgery on a 25lb Beagle & within 2 months was chasing rabbits again. Never had arthritis.


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Posts: 4251 | Location: Nashville, Tennessee | Registered: December 16, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Equal Opportunity Mocker
Picture of slabsides45
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quote:
Originally posted by Anush:
Two vets whom I respect highly told me that the ACL surgery is not as necessary on smaller dogs. They both said arthritis could be likely without surgery. We elected not to do surgery on a 25lb Beagle & within 2 months was chasing rabbits again. Never had arthritis.


Small dogs definitely don't have the level of morbidity that big dogs do with this injury. Also, the level of severity of the tear (total vs partial), meniscal health (torn meniscus=bad juju), and concurrent joint inflammation/damage will all play a role in how bad it is for individual dogs.

That said, I think any vet I know would recommend doing at least an extracapsular procedure to stabilize the knee, if the client were financially able to do the procedure.


________________________________________________

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving."
-Dr. Adrian Rogers
 
Posts: 6389 | Location: Mogadishu on the Mississippi | Registered: February 26, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of Prefontaine
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Best of luck my friend. My Mal got a deep interior cut right in the middle of one of the front paws. It was quite difficult for me to get through and worse for her. We ended up having to put the big plastic cone on her to keep her from messing with it. That didn't work. She ripped out the stitches 3 times. I had to end up putting another cone on, as well as a muzzle and basically trapping her in a crate where she could barely move to get her through it. I went to the vet 11 different times over the course of 6 weeks restitching. Dogs don't like a break in their routine. Maybe your vet can cast the leg.



What am I doing? I'm talking to an empty telephone
 
Posts: 12569 | Location: Down South | Registered: January 16, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Unapologetic Old
School Curmudgeon
Picture of Lord Vaalic
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Dog had surgery today. Everything went well. They did TPLO or something ... They don't repair the ACL they actually rework the bones for better support. She is way too big to not have something done at all, shes 70 lbs.

Oh well, vacation money gone and she gets the cone of shame for a few weeks, but she should be fine once healed up.




Don't weep for the stupid, or you will be crying all day
 
Posts: 10719 | Location: TN | Registered: December 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Unapologetic Old
School Curmudgeon
Picture of Lord Vaalic
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quote:
Originally posted by slabsides45:
Sorry for your bad luck! As has already been mentioned, the odds of the opposite side's CCL (dog name for ACL) going out are about 50/50, and the longer you delay the surgery and subsequent healing time, the worse it'll get.

There are options to the TPLO, but in bigger dogs the only ones I'm comfortable recommending are the TPLO and the TTA. I personally do the TTA, mainly because it's a simpler procedure with generally shorter postoperative recovery time. Also, while the TPLO (as seen in xrays posted here) cuts the load bearing bone in half and then plates it back to itself at a new angle, the TTA does not affect the load bearing surface of the bone, thus allowing for reduced postoperative lameness.

Recent studies show that TTA's have shorter recovery times because of the differences in where the bone is cut, but that at 12 months the TPLO has a slight advantage in load bearing scores while running. Walking and standing scores were essentially equivocal. As such, my usual spiel is to tell clients that if their dog will be super active and run a lot, consider the extra cost associated with the TPLO. If they're a calm and settled dog who doesn't run that much but walks around a good bit, the TTA is a great option.

Either way you go, it's a big deal, and you want to be sure the surgeon knows his stuff. Best wishes for a speedy recovery and for the opposing CCL to be intact at the end of the drama!


She can be pretty rowdy with my other dog, and likes to run and barrel down our stairs at 100mph so the leg gets a lot of action. She's 70 lbs, and pretty solid, not a lot of fat, vet said we should trim her weight a little but not much. so hopefully still has several good years to go.
 
Posts: 10719 | Location: TN | Registered: December 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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