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Permalink Reply by Geri & Sidney on February 5, 2012 at 12:40pm

Ouch. I'm so sorry. Sidney was three when his hip dislocated and we learned about his hip dysplasia. We did surgery and followed up with hydrotherapy which really helped the healing process.

My friend's beagle had the exact same injury and had the TPLO surgery. She's a much older dog (9) and it took her a good year and a half, but she's fully healed now. She also had the hydrotherapy. I can't remember how much my friend paid for surgery, but we're in San Diego so a price comparison wouldn't really be valid anyway.

I know there are a lot of folks here who have gone through this and will give you some awesome advice. Prayers for a full and speedy recovery!

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Permalink Reply by Karen Dadisman on February 5, 2012 at 2:26pm

There is a list, Google ortho dogs, that deals with ACL injuries mostly. Go there and join. They can give you lots of good advice and maybe have a vet name for you.

Best of luck. Recovery from TPLO takes a fair amount of time but it is a stronger repair right from the start than the traditional repair which is done with fishing line type material.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Markley on February 5, 2012 at 3:31pm

Seanna fully tore hers almost two years ago.  She was 29# at that time.  She is down to 23#, which is a great weight for her.  She is an active dog, does agility, and was 2 and a half when she tore hers.  First, even though it is a major surgery with intensive recovery, he will have a normal life!  Most vets in my area recommended the TPLO also, but the surgeon and my personal vet said the extracapsular would be more than fine.  We talked to three different surgeons before we went with the one my vet recommended.  They quoted us from $500 (extracapsular) to $2500-$3000 for the TPLO.  We went with the extracapsular for $1200.  Sounds like a game show doesn't it?  :-)

So, your dog WILL end up with arthritis no matter what you do.  It's probably actually already forming.  What the surgery will do is stabilize the joint until the scar tissue can build up.  The type of surgery is really up to you.  Personally, I've heard good things about the TPLO, but recovery is longer, and if the bone breaks after surgery, it's a major deal with more complications.  In the TPLO they actually shave bone off and reset the angle of the bones.  Infection in a joint or bone, is bad, and wasn't a risk I was willing to take.  I did the extracapsular, where they go in and wrap a high tension line (used to be fishing line--seriously) around the joint to stabilize it.  Eventually the line breaks, but by that time scar tissue has built up and naturally stabilizes it.  Seanna had three months no activity (in a puppy pen, leash to walk outside).  We also did hydrotherapy for over a month, and you would never be able to tell there was anything wrong with her leg now.  We also have a 7 year old corgi who tore his while in a puppy mill, and obviously it was never fixed.  The only time you can tell he ever had a problem is after running hard for long distances, or sometimes when he gets up from a hard sleep.  Then he only limps a little, we give him Previcoxx, and it goes away.  And he has SEVERE arthritis in that leg.  So at his weight, I would do surgery for sure.  Which type depends on your finances.  The TPLO is considered "the gold standard" of repair now, but my vet trusts the extracapsular just fine...I trust him, like him, and he was right in Seanna's case.  If you have any more questions I'd be willing to give you more info!

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Permalink Reply by Zion (pem) & Andrew (me) on February 5, 2012 at 4:18pm

Thank you very much for your thorough answers.  I will be checking in this thread and updating as he meets surgeons in the coming week.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle on February 5, 2012 at 4:24pm

Sorry you guys are going through this.  Do you live close to a univerisity vet school and if so have you considered getting him referred there?  We have had good luck with university vet clinic diagnostically as well as surgically.  They have specialist of most any kind on board to help you thorugh the process.

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Permalink Reply by steve smith on February 5, 2012 at 4:33pm

Glad to see that you have such a good vet. Hope he is not in pain

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Permalink Reply by Ellen Andersen on February 5, 2012 at 5:15pm

My Annie had a TPLO last year at a referral practice in Manassas, VA.  The total cost (including all follow-ups and meds and things) came to about 3500.  The surgery went beautifully and Annie has had no issues at all since then.  She was 3.5 at the time of the surgery.

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Permalink Reply by Becky S on February 5, 2012 at 9:38pm

Lilly had ACL repair last Nov.  cost was about $1800, orthopedic surgeon came to our vet clinic.  I was very faithful with the ROM, Heat and ice for the 1st 2-3 weeks.  After that she pretty much rehabbed herself with playing fetch.  Today we took a pretty long walk and she did great!  oh BTW she'll be 3 in May.

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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on February 5, 2012 at 9:46pm

I had a dog fully tear his ACL and we did the TPLO. It is a far superior procedure and has much less chance of complications. There is a yahoo group (and lots of other groups) that talk mostly about ACL tears (I think Karen mentioned the one I'm thinking of) I learned so much from them and the various types of repairs and how to rehab. With my dog the full rehab took a total of 4 months before he was allowed unrestricted activity. It was 2 weeks strict confinement, then I believe about 6 weeks of short leash walks with gradual increase of activity. Your vet will give you a detailed pamphlet about rehab and you can google it and find TONS of info as well. It is essentially the rehab of any broken bone, they cut the bone and realign the angle of the knee and then place a plate and screws to keep it in place. You want to limit activity to allow the bone to heal and make sure the screws don't back out. I probably paid around $4000 for surgery (pre and post op x-rays) and all of the recovery. This is in California so I'm guessing that you will be facing something similar pricewise. $6500 seems quite steep to me. If I were you, due to his age, I would certainly do at TPLO and wouldn't risk doing any of the other methods simply because the chance of recovery is much greater, the dog will walk out of surgery on all fours, and the chance of developing arthritis is not as great. My dog never developed arthritis in that knee and if any of my dogs ever tears an ACL in the future I wouldn't hesitate to spend the extra money to go for a more guaranteed and stable repair. When I was younger I had a dog who blew out both her knees (pre invention of TPLO), the did the fishing line repair and she actually re-injured one of the knees and we ended up having to put her down due to her age and the re-injury of the knee. She was never the same after the surgery either, never gained 100% use, probably only about 70% and always had trouble with arthritis after the surgeries, this was a lot time ago though and vet medicine has come a long way since so I'm sure things would go better now days.

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