ACL tear in a dog - cost to repair?

[janey99]

We think our dog may have torn his ACL - waiting for a vet visit early next week.

Anyone who has had this happen, what was the cost to do surgical repair? I know all areas of the country are different - we are in North/Central Jersey.

Also, he is over 10yo - what was the age of your dog at the time and the quality of life that resulted from the surgery? In case size matters, he is a 60 lb pitbull.

Thanks,

Jane

 

[DL55]

Our dog (shepard mix) had that surgery in Oct 2008. She was about 12 at the time. She gets around fine. It's hard to tell since she's getting up there and moves slower due to age.
It cost us $1000 here in a small town in New Mexico. It will probably be more for you.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

My collie tore hers at the age of 10.

Her surgery cost almost $1000.00 and that was 10 years ago. Funny how you don't forget those things.

She was a very active dog prior to her surgery and very active after. She recovered well. Arthritis set in later in her life, but she lived to the ripe old age of 16.

Good luck with your pooch.

 

[tommya60]

We went through this with our Standard Poodle about 2 years ago. Get all the information you can from the vet. Ask what type of repair they are proposing. Our original vet proposed a TPLO...I very invasive surgery, huge costs, with some specific complications for our poodle (she had a toe removed due to cancer a few years prior--the hardware for the TPLO has a slight increase in bone cancer risk, the vet couldn't tell us the impact for our dog with her specific history). I didn't particularly like the vet--our longtime vet had retired. A sought a second opinion. Her new vet did a line repair (basically fishing line type stuff to hold the joint). Much less invasive, lower risk--and if it didn't work we could still do the TPLO. 2 years later our now 9 year old fur baby is doing great. She is stiff on that leg on occassion, but really her old self. And I really like our new vet! Cost was about $1100.

 

[kristenrice]

We havean 8-y/o Rottweiler who has a suspected tear in her ACL. The vet said that the X-rays needed to confirm it will be about $100 and then the surgery to "correct" it will be about $1100.

It is a hard decision to make since the success rate for such a large dog (she is 110 pounds) is only about 70%. She would have a pretty good chance of tearing the repair and that would not be good.

Right now, she is still active (can't stop her from chasing the squirrels!) and can get around fine. She generally holds her rear leg up but will walk on it for balance at times. The vet gave us some Deramaxx for her if she seems to be in pain, but she really has not "mellowed" all that much.

Because of her age, the cost of the surgery and the fact that it probably won't improve her quality of life all that much, we have decided to just "keep her comfortable". The vet agreed that that decision is probably the most prudent at this time.

Good Luck!

 

[janey99]

Thanks all for your replies.

Kristin, if you're still on, from your description of your dog, it seems the leg is not held up so much from pain, but because of the structural damage. I would also worry about him damaging the repair (or tearing the other side too) - he is extremely active and generally uncaring of his own health. It's just in his breed to ignore pain and power through with whatever he's doing. I can't see him being restrained to a crate or limited in any practical way.

It sounds like your vet was supportive of no surgical intervention, just maintainence, and the quality of life was perceived to be the same?

PM me if you like, with more detail.

If Tucker NEEDS surgery and there is potential for good longish term outcome, he will get it, but if there are other options, I'd like to know about them too.

Thanks,

Jane

 

[Bete]

but with that said we would do it again. We had the problem twice if you can believe it (each leg), once at age 7 and the next time age 10. We're in a smaller town and $1000 to $1200 is what you can expect to pay plus the cost of x-rays. This includes follow up visits.

I know we are a disposable society, but our dog is family and I would never consider putting her down for this condition nor would it be kind to let them live with the condition. It has to be fixed.

 

[Bellastumbles]

Where in North Jersey are you? My dog had to have surgery on her hip and we went to Animal Emergency and Refferal Associates in North Caldwell. Dr Hunt the orthapedic surgeon and he is top notch!

 

[dreamin'boutdis]

Our 5 year old, 140 pound Rottweiler tore his ACL last July. Because of his large size and the general curvature of his leg, our vet recommended against the "tightrope" surgery (which would have run roughly $1200), and suggested we go with TPLO if we wanted to fix it. The surgery cost $2200 and included all follow up visits and X-rays. After the first few days of recovery (which were HARD), our boy did great! He's fully recovered now, and acts like nothing ever happened!

I'd recommend doing a quick google search on torn acl in dogs before your vet appointment next week. Being informed before hand helped my husband and I make the best decision possible for our dog.

Best of luck to you and your pup!

 

[usnuzuloose]

My dog is now on the recovery from a second tplo. Her first one was done in july 09. Second one was done jan 10. Her knees had a bad angle of 37% so they had to cut the bone. She is doing great and very active, in fact I could not keep her pinned down. But if you guys only paid 1100 consider your self lucky. My cost was 3200 a piece! So its taking time to pay for that. But I hope your dear doggie will be fine. Keep us posted. Jo

 

[ambgoph]

In Oct. 2008, our 70 lb. golden/saluki mix had the surgery done. We took her to the top ortho. vet who is located in Brooklyn, NY - over a 2 hr. drive each way. Cost was $3,800. It was the best decision we ever made - she was walking on all fours 48 hrs. after surgery. Today she runs around like nothing ever happened.

 

[tommya60]

We paid less, but our dog did not have TPLO. The decision on which surgery has a number of factors, including the size of the dog. For our Standard Poodle (she weighs about 50 to 55lbs), the TPLO was not needed. For a larger dog, it may be...the OP's dog weighs 60lbs, so they may have the option of the fishing line or tightrope surgery. It's an individual decision for each family and for each dog. If the fishing line had not worked, we would have had the TPLO done. She's a member of the family, I call her my toddler.

 

[momsully]

Our 5 year old lab had a complete tear of her ACL - December 31, 2009. After talking with several vets we decided against surgery and followed a conservative management treatment program. We also got her a custom knee brace from Orthopets. While this course is not supported by all vets it is working for us. Brownie is now up to two mile walks with her brace and can run. We still don't let her play catch but I am hoping by this summer. As soon as it is warm and we can start swimming again that might help as well.

Here is the yahoo group on conservative management.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ConservativeManagement/

 

[Evi]

I had a cocker with this about 12 years ago and it cost me about 5k then to repair it. The cost difference I think your seeing is based on what kind of procedure they do as well as where you are located. There are few kinds of procedures one they recommend for less active small dogs with internal sutures and one for more active larger dogs with screws and pins, they also do a procedure where they cut the bone and let it re-heal. Really ask a lot of questions call around for prices and find out which procedure they are recommending and why. Be sure that you keep your dog as inactive as possible before and after the procedure till it heels or it can tear again.

Good luck

 

[Disneycrazy!!]

$1200 in a 9 yr old Blue Heeler. He is doing great, just can't run hard ever again and has to be careful jumping up on beds and going up stairs. Hard to do, keeping a very active breed from playing hard. He still limps if he does work his leg to hard.

 

[horseshowmom]

Many years ago I had a cocker beagle mix who did this in both of her back legs (the first one and then shortly thereafter the second one - she slipped away from me when I took her out after the first one and took off after a bird ).

The vet said that they regularly did surgery and generally had great success. However, he suggested that we try long term rest and management (he knows we have a lot of rescue animals and generally tries to help us find the cheapest way of managing a problem). She was kept in a playpen, and I had to pick her up to take her outside. Obviously, a larger dog would present problems (she was about 25-30 lbs.). After many weeks (can't remember whether it was 6, 8, or 12 ), she recovered completely and never had another problem (2.5 years at the time and lived to be 14).

 

[Order66]

Hello,

I work at a veterinary hospital that does anywhere from 4-8 ACL repairs a week. Yep, per week. It's probably the most common orthopedic procedure we perform. Pitbulls are one of the breeds we do a lot. As are Labs and Rotties. Thick bodies on stifles that are not optimally angulated by artificial selection.

And I'm the owner of 2 dogs that have had bilateral tears. If your dog has torn his, then there is about a 1 in 3 chance he will eventually rupture the other side as well....someday. Both my dogs were about 18 months apart.

There are several ways to repair this injury. We do the extracapular repair where I work. It's an older repair, but generally the least expensive. Basically the joint in inspected for damage, then the doctor will drill a few holes and stabilize the joint with a nylon wire. The joint will scar in over time and the dog will walk normally. A full recovery can take 4-6 months. We encourage rest for 2 weeks followed by slowly building the dogs leg back up with longer and more frequent walks as time goes on.

The other 2 procedures which are more recommended for larger dogs are the TPLO (Tibial plateau leveling ostetomy) and the TTA (Tibial tuberocity advancement). Both of these procedures involve cutting the tibia and reangling the stifle joint. More expensive, but quicker recovery and more stablizing for the larger dog.

Both of my dogs have had the extracapular repair. One had both sides surgically repaired. The other had only one side. I paid about $600 for each surgery. At the time of the second tear, I wasn't working and just couldn't afford it. I rested her and used anti-inflammatories and it took her longer (about 8 months) and she has more scaring on that side, but the joint stablized itself. She is 10 now and had no problems with either leg. The other is almost 14 and slow due to age, not his knees.

So get your diagnosis. It can be confirmed without radiographs if the dog will allow it. Pits are so musular it can be hard to find the drawer (where the tibia will move forward- indicating a tear). Radiographs are necessary to assess the actual damage to the joint and to check the hips. Dysplastic dogs do not do as well with surgery as they are 3 legged for a little while. Ask your vet to discuss the options of surgery with you, request your xrays if they took them, get your dog some anti-inflammatories and get at least 1 other opinion and 1 from an orthopedic surgeon if you are inclinded to go with the TPLO or TTA. In Jersey, it might be worth your while to get an eval at UPenn. One of our doc's is a graduate of there. Then get the treatment you are comfortable with and can afford.

We do so many ACL's because our doctors are some of the least expensive on the procedure. They charge under $1000. A TPLO here (NE Ohio) is about $3000. And while yes, it's not the top choice for large dogs, both of mine weigh about 100lbs. The largest dog I recall assisting with was an American Bulldog about 140lbs. He's doing fine. We also do many dogs that are over 10. We have a Golden who's had both knees done, most recently one at 13.

regards

 

[KLAIT]

my dog is heading for this surgery too. Please tell me what the recovery is like. I am so nervous to take care of her..please tell mw what to expect.

 

[vicki_c]

Both of our dogs have had reconstructive ACL surgery (not sure the specifics, DH deals with all that) - first one in about 2001 (she was 5) and our current dog in 2007, I think (she was only 3). The joy of the giant breeds!

Anyway, I think each one was in the $1500-$1800 range. But both dogs did really well after the surgeries.

 

[phragmipedium]

We had this done a few years ago for our big lab mix - he was only two! We'd rescued him at a year and a half. We thought he might have hip dysplasia from the way he was walking, but after x-rays the vet said it was an ACL tear. Our vet only did the extra-capular "fishing line" surgery, not the TPLO. Because Marley was about 95 pounds, the TPLO probably would have been the recommended surgery, but we were moving in two weeks - our vet could get us in then and we didn't have time to find someone who could talk to us about a TPLO. The surgery went really well, he had very little scar tissue, and everything - xrays, surgery, meds, etc - cost about $1500 altogether. His recovery was good; very hard first night but he felt almost too good at first and needed some fluid drained from his leg because he used it more than he probably should. Two and a half years later, you'd never know he'd had the surgery. We do have some Rimadyl on hand if we go for a long walk or hike and he looks stiff, but he's doing great. We would never have not gotten the surgery, especially at his age. If it happens again we will likely go for a TPLO to fix it, but knock on wood everything looks fine for now.

Our poor lab pup Daisy is another story - she's 2.5 and probably does have hip dysplasia/arthritis. Her hips sometimes look very stiff when she gets up, her back legs sometimes look stiff when she walks, she drags them when she gets off the couch and lays with them stretched out behind her, etc and it's been like this since she was little. We haven't done x-rays yet but the vet believes she does have problems so she's on Rimadyl daily which seems to help. We will probably be looking into potential surgeries to correct this as well. The Rimadyl is about $50 a month, so it would even make financial sense in the long run to have a surgery especially if it would fix things, but there are always risks so we're weighing options and seeing how the meds alone work for now.