Torn Ligament

[Andrew]

My last upland hunt of the year has turned into a nightmare.  My 8-year old chocolate lab tore her cruciate ligament on her right hind leg.  Essentially similar to a human tearing an ACL or MCL. Vet tells me for $2500 she will be back to normal self in 12 weeks.  I was informed that if I don't do anything the leg will heal however most likely the dog will have a limp and develop bone spurs or arthritis.  If I do find the money to do the surgery there is potential that she still limps and that she may tear the other knee or both.  I'm wondering if anyone out there has been faced with the similar diagnosis and can tell me what they did and how their hunting partner is doing.  If money were no object I'd do it hands down, but obviously that isn't the case.

[at2smithjason]

I dont know what vet you use, but I have heard of something called care credit.  Its a credit line that you can use for medical expences for your pets.  This might be something to look into for your vet.

[10Key]

Not sure if you would be willing as you are in Bellingham, but a visit to WSU for surgery would be the route I would go. They have a doc there that specializes in that surgery. Might be worth a call.

Sorry to hear and good luck.

[Happy Gilmore]

Read up on it here-
http://svanimal.com/orthopedic-surgery-center/common-surgeries-performed/tplo-surgery/


From everyone in the Field Trial world, Randy is the ONLY choice. He's less expensive even after driving to Sun Valley and has the best reputation in the business. Numerous field trial competitors are back in action. I wouldn't be on 100% after a couple months. Remember you need to include rehab. Often a warm swimming pool under controlled conditions yields best recovery times.

http://svanimal.com/

[AspenBud]

$2500.00 seems a little on the high side. If you don't mind burning some gas you might want to price shop a little.

[Cougar Gold]

I have had 2 labs that had the same injury. My 13 yr old lad tore hers when she was 3. A friend told me not to do the surgery. She said to buy a supplement given to horses called Tri-Flex by Vita Stress. It lubes all the dogs joints up. It bought time until the knee capsule strengthen and took over for the torn ligament. She hunted without a limp until she was 10. Still doing great as a retired family dog. I would never do that surgery.

[Andrew]

Thanks all for your advice and feedback, after spending most of the night reading about this I'm leaning towards conservative managment (non-surgical), however, will need to purchase a custom knee brace that she will wear for the next three months.

[Ruger]

I have had to do this 3 times, 2x on one lab and once on another...

The problem if you don't do it, there is a high chance the dog could injury the other one because of compensating for his hurt leg.  I would call the WSU vets and see what they suggest.  There are a couple different surgeries you can do, at the time I had to do ours it was the TPLO surgery... 

[lewy]

I had to do the tplo on my lab, she was only 2. Im glad i did, she recovered well from it. If she was 8 i may have gone with one of the lesser invasive/cheaper surgeries......

[AspenBud]

Thanks all for your advice and feedback, after spending most of the night reading about this I'm leaning towards conservative managment (non-surgical), however, will need to purchase a custom knee brace that she will wear for the next three months.

If you expect the dog to work I would not. But...

If you want a good assessment I would call the woman who runs the Back On Track Veterinary Rehabilitation Center down in Portland, OR. Have her evaluate the dog. Dealing with such injuries is her bread and butter and she's one of the best around. If she tells you the dog needs to go under the knife it probably does. She is heavily backlogged however so be warned.

[YellowDog]

I had my lab tear both cruciate ligaments at or near the same time at age 6.  I took her to WSU and they did TPLO surgery on one leg followed by 3 months recovery then we did the onther leg followed by 3 months recovery.  At 8 years old I would definately have your dog evaluated by someone that has a lot of experience with the injury and surgery.  If you want to hunt her, I think TPLO is really the only option and you will have to understand that there is something like a 60-80% chance that she will tear the cruciate in the other leg at some point.  I think if I had an 8 year old I MIGHT consider the "thread repair" and retire the dog from hunting but that is just me.  If money were not an option, I would do the TPLO surgery, keep her weight down, try to keep her conditioning up all year long, and hope for the best while continuing to hunt with her.  The surgery and recovery can be pretty hard on the dog and owner because the dog has to be down and inactive for a very long time and as we know, labs love to run, play, and hunt ...they don't like being confined to a crate.  My girlfriend at the time was able to stay home almost all day long with my dog for those 6 months of recovery which made it MUCH easier on me and the dog. 

FYI- my dog had also torn the miniscus in one of her knees which they trimmed up because it is extremely painful so without the surgery you may have a chronic condition that will cause your dog to go lame every time she is active.

[JJD]

Have someone who specializes in these types of injuries evaluate your dog.  Know you are on a limited budget but it my be well worth the price, if surgery is not neded you stand to save a bundle.   If the tear is complete or nearly so, no supplement is going to fix it.  If it has just been strained, maybe.
I give a supplement to my dogs daily, it is to prevent such issues, not to cure structural damage that has already occured. 
Best to keep excess weight off your dogs as a prevetative measure.

[Happy Gilmore]

Best to keep her weight off and low/minimal impact for the rest of her life without surgery.

[Mudman]

My wife is Vet. Technician.  They have a specialist and do these all the time.  This really is a must do.  Care credit is great option-check into it.  Price 2500 is normal.  Success of surgery is more about aftercare.  Must follow instructions completely or risk re-injury.  It is not easy the care dog will require post-op.  If you dont it is likely dog will be painfull and arthritic for life.  Injury on other leg is likely as animal compensates.  My dog has had surgery as well.

[AspenBud]

I'll add one more thing to this.

In cold hard terms, you have an 8 year old dog. For $2500.00 you can buy a well bred dog and probably throw in a little training to boot and have a dog that will probably out last your 8 year old.

If an MRIT is an option you might look into it if you're willing to retire the dog to pet status and start with a new one for hunting.