Kali, our 7 year old German Shepherd, has had a knee problem for a while (an anterior cruciate ligament partial tear). She would improve on a NSAID, then get worse. We saw an orthopedic specialist last month who suggest surgery. Tuesday she had a tibial plateau leveling osteotomy and she came home yesterday morning.
She is on an excellent pain control regiment, and is getting physical therapy three times a day. My gf took a week off of work to play nurse.
Anyone else have experience with this surgery? What was your dog’s recovery like? What was your dog’s outcome?
My dog (a Labrador) had this surgery and it went well enough and he was able to walk, but he never was quite the same. Like a lot of old Labs, he eventually couldn’t handle the stairs and eventually had a great deal of difficulty in walking. But he had a good 3-4 years after the surgery where his quality of life was pretty good, excepting that he really didn’t run anymore. The time from operation to cast off wasn’t that long as I recall and post op care wasn’t any problem.
Yes. My Rottweiler did this in 2 legs. Once she healed up, you would never know that anything had happened. She went on to 8 more limp-free years.
The hardest part was keeping her in a controlled environment for healing. She was about a year old and very energetic. We relied heavily on her crate, and kept her on a leash quite a bit. As I recall, recovery was right on the schedule laid out by the surgeon.
Our 40 lb Staffordshire/Boston mix had that exact surgery in early November on one of her back legs. We bought a 4’x4’ pen and stuck it in the front room to restrict her movement. Any time out of the pen, she was on-leash so that she couldn’t try to jump on anything or take off after a squirrel if she was outside. The vet had suggested we help her do her business by using a towel as a harness so she’s have an easier time squatting but she never seemed to take to it and had little trouble on her own. Granted, her body is relatively low to the ground and a taller dog might need that help. We were also giving her a daily antibiotic pill and glucosamine supplement, but I don’t remember exactly how long that went on.
The sutures came out after two weeks, which was a relief because we couldn’t keep any of the traditional anti- chew collars on her (her neck is as big around as her head). We made do with a collar made from a folded bath towel secured with duct tape and that worked fine.
We kept up the restricted movement for another six weeks, at which point an x-ray showed that her bones were healing fine. We’d let her walk around the house and yard unsupervised and began taking her on short walks again, but still discouraged her from jumping.
Fourteen weeks after the surgery she was back at the off-leash dog park running around like a maniac. She’s not as fast as she was, but that could have to do with her getting older (she was roughly 2 when we got her, so she’s probably 6 now).
Blackjack, 75 pound Shepherd/Border Collie mix had an ACL repair. He recovered fast, when we picked him his doctor said he wouldn’t be able to put his paw to the ground for several days. He did it right there and then. Problem was the getting the incision to close up, he appeared to be allergic to material added to strength the ligament and the wound wouldn’t heal. They had to remove that stuff, surgeon did it for minimal charge. Therapy with a treadmill in a pool was recommended but he did fine without it.
Good to hear the overall good outcomes here. Just talked with my gf. Surgeon called and is very pleased with Kali’s recovery so far. She just did a 15 minute leash walk and was weight bearing on her operated limb the entire time.
Unfortunately, I’ve had a ton of experience with canine ACL surgery – two of my dogs over the years have torn at least one knee. The good news is that their long term out comes have been stellar. I have a Lab/German Sheppard mix that tore her right knee at 5 and her left knee at 6. She had the TPLO procedure done on each knee at the University of Illinois vet school. She lived to be nearly 15, and her knees were no worse off than any dog that old.
One vet recommended surgery for our dawg, but the one we went to for a second opinion prescribed two weeks of rest. She’s seemed fine the past year, but I won’t bounce a ball high enough for her to jump off the ground to catch it. Previously her vertical jump was amazing.
Kind of off-topic but if you have an SUV in which the dog travels, I can’t recommend this ramp more. I used it for years with my golden retriever, it was perfect. I got it after she sprained her leg or something and needed to rest, then just kept using it as her hips got bad. Even when she was on death’s door with brain cancer and balance problems she could still get up that ramp!
Looks like they have a small one now for vans, RVs, couches, beds, etc. We could have used one of those too!
Great! Glad you guys liked the recommendation! I looked it up and I bought it in 2010. So we used it every day for 4 years and it is still in great shape, ready for when my new doggies will need it.