Torn Cruciate

[GoetheMommy]

My 6 year old female lab/chow, Goethe, has ruptured one cruciate ligament and injured the same on the other leg. Has anyone been through this? Has anyone not had the surgery?

This is the first major medical problem she's had.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

My last Rottweiler tore one cruciate, but not the other. We didn't do the surgery for her, our vet said it would heal just as good without it and he was right. I'd talk to your vet about it though and if your dog tore both, maybe surgery would be a better option for you. Good luck! I hope she's back to normal quickly.

Welcome to PT, by the way!

[GoetheMommy]

Thanks, the vet recommended surgery for the right one which is torn. But she also said that while she is recovering from surgery she could tear the other one beacuse she will have to bear weight on the left one. I just saw the vet today, I would like to try to let the left side recover more before she goes in for surgery. She's getting Rimadyl for now.

So yours was actually torn and recovered? how long did it take?

[chocolatepuppy]

My Lacey has had both knees done, one just recently. They were both torn. The one that is torn needs to be fixed soon. From what I understand, the knee/leg can start to degenerate and quickly. If both are injured, you could be dealing with a dog that cannot walk. As for the other one tearing, the odds are good that it's going to anyway. Please reconsider your vets advice. Good luck and please keep us updated.

[manda99]

I went through this with Smokey. He had the surgery and it was a rough recovery period of 3 months bed rest. I think it was the best thing for him, though, as he doesn't limp and doesn't seem to be in pain (sometimes he seems a little stiff after laying or playing for a while). He gets Glucosamine daily to help with the joints. So far the second knee has held up.

Good luck!

[GoetheMommy]

So how much did you spend on the procedure? How much are you spending monthly on medicines? Has anyone ever tried orthopedic devices like braces or sleeves to help?

[manda99]

I think it was almost $2000 for the surgery (including meds, surgery, the hospital stay, etc). If I was smart I would have had insurance earlier (since they only cover that after a certain time period). But again, I feel it was our best option.
I spend about $70 every 3 - 4 months for his Glucosamine. He is my baby and I would do anything I need to for his health. As much as I hated seeing him in pain & uncomfortable after the surgery it's better than seeing him in pain daily.. ( Smokey is a pit bull who tolerates pain a lot but he was limping before the operation and I hated seeing him like that)

P.S. Am I the only one that has med insurance for my dog but not for myself? heh

[K9karen]

Thanks, the vet recommended surgery for the right one which is torn. But she also said that while she is recovering from surgery she could tear the other one beacuse she will have to bear weight on the left one. I just saw the vet today, I would like to try to let the left side recover more before she goes in for surgery. She's getting Rimadyl for now.

So yours was actually torn and recovered? how long did it take?

I'm so sorry to hear about the cruciate tear. My beloved Cody tore his right one first and as your vet said, tore the left because of the weight bearing. I had no choice but have his right leg operated on. It took about 6 weeks of complete rest and gated in our downstairs family room which has a door so he could easily go out. I played it safe and used a towel around his waist to hold him up so he wouldn't bend his knees. He wasn't happy but eventually got used to it. Thankfully there was someone home all the time so he was never alone. I waited 6 months to have his left leg done. He seemed to realize what was going on and remarkably "took it easy". He also was on Rimydal intermittently. I also used buffered aspirin. We started taking him for short walks after his surgeries. He also had hip dysplasia, but he fully recovered from is ACL surgeries. I will tell you, it is sad and heartbreaking to see them shaved and cut and it can be hard to keep them calm, but it is one of the most common surgeries done. IMO, to avoid further damage, I would have the surgery done ASAP. Good luck! Goethe will be just fine and you'll feel better too, seeing her well again! PM me if you want.

[chocolatepuppy]

Laceys surgeries were around $1,000.00 each. She doesn't take any meds for this now, but we are going to put her on Glucosomine.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

So yours was actually torn and recovered? how long did it take?

Yes, I think it took roughly 6 months or so until she was completely back to normal but she was able to put some weight on it before then. She wasn't allowed to run around though and wasn't able to get a whole lot of exercise, which was fine by her as she wasn't an active dog.

[lv4dogs]

(forgive me if some technical terms are incorrect, this is all coming from my memory LOL)

Raustyk has had both cruciates on both back legs repaired, both were torn. The first leg I opted for the cheaper surgery, (ACL repair if I remember correctly, if not it was the CCL) where they use natural tissue from the stifle, large suture material &/or surgical wire to pretty much connect the tissue & help stabalize it. The complete total for this surgery (including pre& post op care, x-rays, etc...) was about $900. This happened when the newer surgery was just coming out (TPLO I *think*) so most vets would only perform this type of surgery anyways. Total recovery period was about 6 months, but she will always be affected by this.

A year later her other cruciate was torn. Knowing that the other leg would never be right again, and it would be unfair if both back legs were not very stable (as her other leg was only repaired & arthritis had already set in), I opted for the better surgery, (TPLO if I remember correctly), where they actually file down the bone to make a better, more stabalized fit of the tibial plateau or fibular head. They then help connect the tissue via natural tissue from the stifle, large suture material &/or surgical wire. This surgery was about $1500 total and well worth the cost. The healing preiod was much shorter and less painful as well. And recovery is just absolutely wonderful, it's almost like she never ever had a problem with that leg before. Total recovery time for this surgery was about 3 months & she is not bothered by this what so ever.

After seeing her go through both surgeries I would never ever reccomend the first surgery. It's well worth the extra few hundred dollars, and in the long run you'd probably end up saving thousands in additional vet care, meds & supplements not to mention their activity level with the first surgery will be decreased and will always have to be monitored more closely.

I do not reccomend NOT doing surgery, that is a very painful injury and I could not imagine living with that day in & day out.

[GoetheMommy]

For me, $1800 for each leg, is a lot of money. It's a little overwhelming. I am encouraged though, by the information I've gathered on braces and leg sleeves, and by the stories I've heard of other dogs recovering from this injury. I work at home so I am able to be with her 24hrs a day. And while 6 months of intensive care is a lot of work, I am happy to do this. I got her when she was 2 weeks old, her mother had stopped nursing the puppies. So for the first few months of her life we were never seperated. I love her very much and I want her to have a happy pain-free life. While I understand that this surgery may repair the injury, I also know that many dogs have recovered without the surgery.

I want to see what things are like for a week. The injury only happened yesterday as she was jumping up to get on the bed for her afternoon nap. She's getting complete down time in a pen in the living room, right next to me, I don't even let her stand, and even though she's 60 lbs I carry her to the yard and back to the recovery den.

[GoetheMommy]

I'm still weighing options. I just need a couple of days to find out if there are any alternatives, talk to as many people about it as I can, figure out how to come up with the money. I just have to be convinced that this is the only-only option.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

Forgot to add earlier, we seriously thought about the surgery as it would have been more comfortable for her but our vet told us that there was only one vet anywhere near us that could do it and he charged $2500 with a 40% chance of it actually being successful.

[GoetheMommy]

My vet said she would do it, but didn't seem confident. I don't know if that was because she isn't a skillful surgeon, or just would rather a specialist do it, or because the success rate over a longer period of time isn't much higher than letting them heal at home. By success I mean not only restoring mobility, but avoiding arthritis. It seems to me that even though they have the surgery they will still eventually develop arthritis in the joint. As I understand, the pain from the injury will subside as it heals, and that long term pain comes from arthritis. It seems to me that the surgery is good for a faster recovery and staving off arthritis for the next year or two, but that in the end, her knee will still have the arthritis, and will never be the same as before the injury.