Cruciate Ligament
Sky seems to have torn his cruciate ligament on the left hind leg today. Nothing is official because he needed to be under sedation to tell for certain, and we didn't do that today. Probably in the next couple of days. I was curious is anyone else has had this happen to a dog and what your experiences were. Did you do surgery or no? How much did it cost?
Last month's Whole Dog Journal talked about alternatives to surgery, but it seems they are not any cheaper than surgery (which the vet today said could range from $1500-2000 and up). I am concerned about the effectiveness of such surgery and about how long I'm going to have to PBJ to pay for it! My mom is not encouraging. Her words were "it's a dog, if it's going to be that expensive you need to just put him down." =(
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sky and Lyla on
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Studies like this do not give me great hope... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8579557
(less than 50% of dogs were clinically sound, even after surgery)
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Were you able to find what their definition of clinically sound is? I know my parents' dog is sometimes a little stiff in that leg, but she hikes and swims for miles. I know that with horses with a bowed tendon, for example, they will always move a little short and you can tell something is wrong (so they are not totally sound) but they are functionally sound.
The study did say that 9-14% still showed "persistent lameness", which is why I am wondering what their definition is of "clinically sound."
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This is true Beth, that article wasn't overly descriptive. I was also reading on the ACVS website this morning that for dogs weighing less than 25 lbs conservative management may be best. They did say that degenerative joint disease was inevitable with conservative management, but they said the same thing with surgical options. Basically, one way or another the dog is going to have some pain or lameness later in life.
I did call the vet this morning and was hoping to talk to him, but I didn't get past the receptionist. I wasn't altogether happy with her. When I asked for an estimate on the cost of the visit she said "well you know, if money is a problem you don't have to come in." Excuse me?! Grrr, there are a handful of things I love about this vet, but I seem to have a lot of things I don't like too, mainly the attitudes of everyone who works there including him.
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Permalink Reply by Wally, Jessica, and Olive on
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Our poor pups and bum legs! We're in a two week wait with Olive on rimadyl to see if her front leg hobble heals up. Knee surgeries in general don't do a whole lot but give you more time w/o dealing with arthritis, be it human, horse, or dog. Too much going on in the joint. I'd consider myself clinically sound after my surgery, but that doesn't prevent my knee from raising cane after a run or like activities. Hope Sky and Wynn end up alright w/o the need of a knife!
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Markley on
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Just got home from the vet. He's 80% sure she has a torn ligament--he's going to sedate her tomorrow AM to get a better feel of it. He's also going to shoot xrays of her leg and hips, to make sure she doesn't have anything congenital. He recommends surgery since she's so young (she'll be three in May), and she's pretty active. He says she should do great after that, and be pretty much back to normal. Bad news is he said that 90% of the time it doesn't happen from a traumatic injury, it's due to poor blood supply to the ligament--which he said makes it almost 100% sure that in the next 12-18 months she'll rupture the other side and need it done also. Guess I'll start pocketing money now- and thank God for my parents who are lending me the money this first go-round. Wish I'd gotten the pet insurance! Have you heard anything new with Sky?
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Poor blood flow a Corgi thing, or just your pup? Sorry to hear about the need for surgery... :-/
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Thanks--it's very hard watching her hobble around and having to keep her quiet...I think it's harder on me than her! We have to take the other dog to agility tonight without her, which is going to be very traumatic--she loves agility! None of that for awhile though...
The vet talked like it wasn't specifically a corgi thing, but most dogs the ligament rupture happened to, that the poor blood supply was the major factor in the process.
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We weren't able to get in today, he goes in tomorrow. I am going to talk to the Dr about some conservative management. The ACVS site recommends that for dogs under 25 lbs. I also read on the Oregan State Vet school site that they have had good success with rehabing partial tears instead of surgery. Will keep you up to date on what we decide with the vet tomorrow.
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Definitely let me know what he says about conservative treatment. My vet said she'd end up with horrible arthritis if we did taht. I totally trust him, he is great, but if no surgery is an option, I'd like to look into that. Seanna weighs anywhere between 25-29 pounds depending on who's feeding her...:-) Good luck! Let me know....
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Read the article at ACVS if you can (my Internet is down so this is all on my phone so I can't copy and paste it for you). It did say that without surgery the dogs would eventually have joint degeneration, but later in the same article it said that dogs with surgery would also. The rehab stuff at OSU is still pretty new I think, so idk but it sounds interesting and it looks like it's been pretty successful so far.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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Good luck! It will be interesting to hear what they have to say. How's he doing???
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Permalink Reply by elly harper on
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We had to have our corgi's ligament repaired, and six months later the other one tore, so that involved more surgery. After that, she was good to go. They used monofilament line, and, cost $800 each, but this was over 6 years ago. Good luck with your Sky, and I hope you get better news.
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