Dog has a torn ACL- What to do?

[El Chupacabra]

That’s a gold plated pooch

He sure is.

[jm2e]

1. Have a board certified surgeon do it.
2. Follow their strict activity restrictions.
3. Get pet insurance. Very high chance it’ll happen on the other side. Statistics don’t lie.


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[dan_pdx]

1. Have a board certified surgeon do it.
2. Follow their strict activity restrictions.
3. Get pet insurance. Very high chance it’ll happen on the other side. Statistics don’t lie.


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Read the exclusions carefully, our policy with Healthy Paws said that a pet with one CCL tear was high risk and a CCL tear on the other side would not be covered. But they covered it anyway because customer service told us it would be covered when we called them to ask before the surgery. Incredibly stand up of Healthy Paws, but we just got lucky.

[Kevo]

Our 8 year old 50 lb mix just had bilateral TPLO surgery in Sun Valley on Monday.

Her almost 13 year old sister had a "possible" tear as well and she has been laying low for the past month but is not healing.

The almost 13 year old is a really incredible girl. She is a very accomplished trail runner and has run and skied thousands of miles with me. It's really difficult to see her in pain, and unfortunately she isn't getting better.

We did a video consult with the sun valley vets today and they said she likely needs bilateral surgery and she may be having back issued as well. They said rust fixing her knees will likely help her back.

Not fixing her knees will likely lead to front leg issues.

There isn't anything that i value more than pup. The monetary aspect is not a problem. I'm trying to understand the best path forward.

I'm worried about putting her through a major surgery but the vet doesn't seem concerned about her age.

Hoping for any advice or thoughts from mags who have been through similar situations.

[Core Shot]

13 is old. Not just for the dog and surgery. But for justifying the money for tplo
My 7 year old has $6k of knees. Sucks. But she’s my girl.
My old girl had a blowout at 11 years. Doc said old school surgery made more sense than tplo. Less invasive. Less money. And she made it to 15.
Vibes. Tough decisions

[garyfromterrace]

Our 8 year old 50 lb mix just had bilateral TPLO surgery in Sun Valley on Monday.

Her almost 13 year old sister had a "possible" tear as well and she has been laying low for the past month but is not healing.

The almost 13 year old is a really incredible girl. She is a very accomplished trail runner and has run and skied thousands of miles with me. It's really difficult to see her in pain, and unfortunately she isn't getting better.

We did a video consult with the sun valley vets today and they said she likely needs bilateral surgery and she may be having back issued as well. They said rust fixing her knees will likely help her back.

Not fixing her knees will likely lead to front leg issues.

There isn't anything that i value more than pup. The monetary aspect is not a problem. I'm trying to understand the best path forward.

I'm worried about putting her through a major surgery but the vet doesn't seem concerned about her age.

Hoping for any advice or thoughts from mags who have been through similar situations.

Kevo, totally feel for you man. Our Maisie had tplo on both as a young dog. Both were serious amounts of time doing dog physio (incl passive range of motion, heat, ice, massage). Also ramping up the mobility on small walks, building to multiple small walks, longer walks etc etc etc. bottom line was that I was really happy I was retired as it was very time consuming.

I would be a bit concerned with the post surgery recovery of a 13 yr old dog. But I'm no vet, and I don't know your dog. I do not envy your having to make the decision and I wish you and your dogs the absolute best recovery possible.

[Kevo]

Thanks Gary and Core shot. I'm able to devote the time to PT, so that isn't a concern.

I'm worried about the recovery and the surgery for her.

Keetna (my 13 year old) is used to being active. She's really restless because of lack of exercise- for the past month while she's been injured she has all this excess energy that she puts into going out to the back deck and back all day.

She has a bell by the backdoor that she rings to go outside which means either "I need to go to the bathroom" or "let's go on a walk".

While she's been injured she has been ringing the bell asking for a walk 30+ times a day.

I guess what I'm getting at is that she isn't anywhere close to giving up and she really wants to return to activity.

[old goat]

We had a 15 pound cockapoo who wound up having one and then the other CCL ligament repaired. She was an avid jumper and the surgery gave her her jumper back, even though one got infected and the graft had to be removed the scar tissue was enough that the joint worked fine. This was a dog who was jumping up and down on the edge of the landing when I came in, tumbled down half a flight of stairs landed back on her feet and without a pause ran the rest of the way down without missing a step, at blinding speed, like she planned the whole thing. I almost expected her to take a bow. This was a few months before we had to put her down at 15 years old.

[El Chupacabra]

Thanks Gary and Core shot. I'm able to devote the time to PT, so that isn't a concern.

I'm worried about the recovery and the surgery for her.

Keetna (my 13 year old) is used to being active. She's really restless because of lack of exercise- for the past month while she's been injured she has all this excess energy that she puts into going out to the back deck and back all day.

She has a bell by the backdoor that she rings to go outside which means either "I need to go to the bathroom" or "let's go on a walk".

While she's been injured she has been ringing the bell asking for a walk 30+ times a day.

I guess what I'm getting at is that she isn't anywhere close to giving up and she really wants to return to activity.

Is the 13 yr old dog a breed that tends to live really long (like 18 or something)?

We mostly have large dogs where 13 would be a long full life if perfectly healthy -- so for a big dog, I don't think I'd put them through a knee surgery at age 13. It's a tough decision.

[Kevo]

She's a shepherd husky mix.

Here are recent pics.





When we were at the vet last month no one could believe she was almost 13. She doesn't look like it or act like it, minus this recent injury.

And here is our 8 year old this morning, recovering from bilateral TPLO surgery.

[jm2e]

Talk to a board certified veterinary surgeon.
All vets are allowed to do surgery, and a lot of them self teach surgeries, or learn something from the old guy they work with. And some of them are okay at it. But you’re rolling the dice with a non-boarded vet doing surgery, especially if you can swing it financially.
A specialty clinic will give you the pre and post op care your dog deserves. They’ll adequately treat pain intra-op, so that pain is less post op. They’ll have better trained staff monitoring his recovery. If there are complications, they’ll understand why and not just make shit up.
Good luck with it.


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[Core Shot]

Keetna is beautiful. And has more years left. It’s a tough choice. One is what you spend. The other is invasive ortho surgery. Tplo is serious. And she’s an old girl. If your vet is pushing that I would be sus. A good vet would be willing to do either. Based on the dogs age and the customer budget is a fair conversation. I would say old school repair.

PS. The O stands for osteotomy. They cut the front of the tibia and angle it forward and then screw and plate shit to change the knee angle. Huge surgery. Long recovery. Worth it for young dogs if you have the money.

[old goat]

Our 15 pound dog just had grafts, no osteotomy. I don't recall that even being offered. Maybe the size had something to do with it.

[Kevo]

Thanks guys.

The vets we've been going to are top notch surgeons. They're halfway across the state and when we were their for our 8 year old there were people who had flown in from around the country to see them.

Will look into non-TPLO options and ask the vets.

[garyfromterrace]

Thanks guys.

The vets we've been going to are top notch surgeons. They're halfway across the state and when we were their for our 8 year old there were people who had flown in from around the country to see them.

Will look into non-TPLO options and ask the vets.

Good call looking into tplo options. Our vet said if our dog was older or not as active that there was a simpler procedure that he could do. I don't know what that was though. We had a board certified surgeon do both of Maisie's procedures (in Calgary).

[Kevo]

I took Keetna to Sun Valley for a consult and possible bilateral TPLO this week.

Her knees are intact (great news) and it is actually back issues that are the cause of her pain. Possible IVDD

She is on meds and under strict orders to limit activities for a few weeks in hopes that the pain and inflammation subside. The IVDD research rabbit hole is sad and scary. The ortho vet in Sun Valley said that she wouldn't seek surgical intervention if it were her dog

It sounds like her pain is similar to what I went through in the past year with an L5/S1 rupture. I feel so bad for her and really hope that she makes it out of the pain and back to activity. The vet gave me hope that it is possible with rest and time, similar to what I went through.

[riser4]

Milo, my toy poodle with a bad back, wishes Keetna the best. He did ask for pics though. 8)