Canine ACL surgery

[qtwns]

My lab mix is probably going to have to have ACL surgery. He damaged his ACL playing with our new puppy. He is 4 years old and healthy and active. I am so worried. I know this is common surgery and I have been doing some research on it this weekend. He is in some pain, but the vet has him on Rimadyl (sp??) for pain and inflammation. Has any one had any experience with this? We are scheduling a consult with the ortho. vet next week. We'll probably have the surgery a week or two before we go to WDW. This way he'll be able to have 10 days of his recuperation at the vet while he is being boarded, but be far enough post-op to be safely boarded and away from home (unless, of course, they feel he needs the surgery immediately.) TIA for any words of wisdom!

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

My 10 year old collie tore her Acl. Its been quite a few years now, but she did very well after the surgery. She never even limped.

Be very careful because the pups have a greater tendency to tear the other one, once it has happened before.

Also be careful with the Rimadyl. My dog was on it too, but so much more has been found out about that drug in the last few years.

Good Luck PM me and let me know how your pup does.

Louise

 

[WDWBarb]

My DDog had ACL surgery just before Christmas '06. She was 4 years old and we have NO idea how it happened (which means that I worry about this happening again!).

We chose to do the TPLO surgery.

The only caution I have for you is to prepare for a lot of stress regarding recovery. You have to extremely limit activity and watch them very, very closely. My DDog and I pushed our relationship to it's limits during the month or so after surgery. It was super difficult to confine a very hyper German Shepherd who is also in pain and not understanding what the heck is going on.

Follow your vet's instructions to the letter and prepare the entire family about what to expect and what the rules are.

But the great news is that DDog is running around and acting like it never happened She feels great and, once she recovered, she never looked back.

 

[golfgal]

We thought our dog tore her ACL but it turned out to be Leggs/Calves/Perths--degenerates the hip joint. She had her hip joint removed and the ligaments reworked. She is only 12 lbs so that works for small dogs.

For her rehab we found information about water therapy. Since she was so small we did ourselves in our jacuzzi tub. It really helped her rehab. She gets sore every once in a while but it hasn't slowed her down much.

My SIL's dog had an ACL repair about the same time. SHe is a hunting dog and does just fine on it.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It's not something I'd rush into. Sometimes things can heal on their own, given time. I'm also ever mindful of the potential for complications, or even death, after surgery, based on my personal experiences.

 

[golfgal]

It's not something I'd rush into. Sometimes things can heal on their own, given time. I'm also ever mindful of the potential for complications, or even death, after surgery, based on my personal experiences.

An ACL cannot repair itself. A dog may learn to deal with it so it becomes a non-issue but an ACL tear will not repair itself.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

An ACL cannot repair itself. A dog may learn to deal with it so it becomes a non-issue but an ACL tear will not repair itself.

However, it's not always what it at first appears to be, have seen it happen.

 

[AmyinKY]

My husband performs this procedure about twice a week on different breeds of canines. Strict cage confinment is a must after surgery. Make sure you understand the procedure, the follow up care, meds, etc. before the day of surgery. Boarding her/him at the clinic is in yours and your pets best interest while you are at WDW. PM me if you have specific questions.

Amy

 

[WDWBarb]

However, it's not always what it at first appears to be, have seen it happen.

This is true - we went to have hip replacement surgery and found out that we were mis-diagnosed. She had torn her ACL instead.

She does, however, have serious hip dysplasia and will need hip replacement surgery down the road.

So I suppose that the diagnosis could be wrong..

 

[chirurgeon]

My husband performs this procedure about twice a week on different breeds of canines. Strict cage confinment is a must after surgery. Make sure you understand the procedure, the follow up care, meds, etc. before the day of surgery. Boarding her/him at the clinic is in yours and your pets best interest while you are at WDW. PM me if you have specific questions.

Amy

I am not a vet, but my bichon blew out her ACL when she launched herself off the porch in her normal "How dare there be a squiral or a bird in MY yard" streak outside. Out vet was adamant about the confinement. We had one of those folding pens in the living room. Of course it was smaller for her than what you will need, but you will have to keep your dog confined for about 6 weeks. Only outside for potty breaks on a leash, and she hates to go potty on a leash. That was fun, not. Good luck. Your pupadoo will be fine.

Kim

 

[tennisfan]

My DDog had ACL surgery just before Christmas '06. She was 4 years old and we have NO idea how it happened (which means that I worry about this happening again!).

We chose to do the TPLO surgery.

The only caution I have for you is to prepare for a lot of stress regarding recovery. You have to extremely limit activity and watch them very, very closely. My DDog and I pushed our relationship to it's limits during the month or so after surgery. It was super difficult to confine a very hyper German Shepherd who is also in pain and not understanding what the heck is going on.

Follow your vet's instructions to the letter and prepare the entire family about what to expect and what the rules are.

But the great news is that DDog is running around and acting like it never happened She feels great and, once she recovered, she never looked back.

My dog has had the TPLO done on both his hind legs. We are fortunate that he is older so his recovery was easier as he doesn't run around so much. Its amazing looking at the xrays and how they pin his knee in his little legs. He had a french vet come over to do the surgery as there aren't many vets in the UK who do this.

OP my dogs have been prescribed rimadyl for the anti inflammatory etc & have had no problems.

 

[Tigger2252]

My dalmatian tore her ACL several years ago. She had the surgery and I followed the surgeons orders to the letter. She was kept confined to her crate for 6 weeks. Only out to go to the bathroom on a 4-5' leash. After a few weeks he gave permission for her to sit outside the crate, on her leash with me holding it. She healed perfectly (except when he closed the incision he didn't match her spots up so the entire length of her incision the spots are off ). He actually didn't think I would be able to do it as they are such hyper dogs. She was fine though, and never blew out the other one like he thought she might. She is 12 now and doesn't limp to this day.

 

[qtwns]

Thank you all so much for your replies and support! I'll be calling our vet tomorrow for the ortho. consult as there hasn't been any improvement over the weekend. Poor fella...But he is eating up all this extra attention he's getting. He's asleep next to me on the couch right now--he isn't allowed on the furniture, but I want to keep him away from the puppy...too much temptation to play. I have a feeling he is going to be absolutely rotten by the time this is all over.

Will he have a brace support that he will have to wear while he recovers?

I will keep you all updated.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Our last dog tore 2 ACLs, one at the age of about 5 years and one at the age of 14 years.

On the first ACL, we had the capsular surgery done. It was a long recovery, and we swore we would never put him through surgery again, but then at 14, he tore his other one. The one vet in town who does the capsule surgery did not think he was a good candidate, due to arthritis. Our local vet school was too backed up to see our dog, so we took him to an orthopedic veterinary surgeon in Jacksonville for a TPLO.

The surgeon said the decision whether or not to do the TPLO surgery was a "no-brainer." Well, our dog had the TPLO surgery and ended up with a lousy repair and osteomyelitis. He was in such terrible pain that he needed a Fentanyl patch. It was an awful, awful experience. We finally had him put down after he experienced a GI bleed in response to some of the antibiotics or pain meds he was on, about 3-4 months after surgery.

A customer of DH's has a Rottweiler who had an ACL tear several months ago. DH told him about our experience with our dog, and he did a lot of research and brought his Rottweiler to a vet who did a different kind of surgery (not the TPLO or capsular repair). He wasn't able to get the dog in for a couple of months, and meanwhile, the joint capsule repaired itself with scar tissue. The vet examined the dog, told DH's customer that all was well, and the dog did not need any surgery.

No, the ACL doesn't repair itself, but the neither the TPLO nor the capsular surgery repair the ACL either. Both surgeries are basically work-arounds.

Please be aware that if you choose the TPLO, the surgeon will cut into bone and put into metal hardware. This is MAJOR surgery and can have major complications.

Also, I would not board a dog at the vets post op. Our dog literally could not stand up and had to be held up to eat, drink, and do his business. Also, for the first several days I literally slept on the floor with him because he could not move around enough to do anything for himself, like get to his waterbowl.

The vet who did the TPLO surgery on our dog was also not very knowledgeable or caring about post-operative pain, and we ended up having to bring our dog to our own vet to get Tramadol in addition to the Rimadyl, and a Fentanyl patch when the Tramadol was not adequate. So you will need to be an advocate for your dog.

For both surgeries, including when our dog was much younger and had his first one, he really needed us around to take care of him. I don't think he could possibly get the kind of care while being boarded, unless your vet has an intensive-care kind of service (which is very expensive, nothing like the regular bill for boarding!) I would wait until you get back to have the surgery.

Your dog is young and healthy and I'm sure things will go well--I'm not trying to scare you--but for either surgery, the recovery period is very, very difficult for the dog and the dog's family!