My dog tore his CCL, please help me think through my options!
October 14, 2019 2:57 PM Subscribe
I have a 4 year old, 72 lb Belgian Shepherd I rescued from the SPCA who was born with hip and elbow dysplasia. His left hip is worse, and he tended to favor that leg, and now he's torn his right CCL (knee ligament) when he ran too hard through the yard. He needs surgery, and I need advice. Please help!! Puppy tax here. His name is Fenris and he is a very good boy.
Letting it heal on its own is not an option. His left leg is too unstable -- it would likely mean total mobility loss within a year or less. I am a US citizen currently in Canada and need to return no later than (but can't return earlier than) Nov 1. I cannot wait until I'm back in the US to do this, as I don't have a viable place for him to recover from the surgery.
My apartment in California is on the second floor, so I will be leaving my dog here with my partner (in a one story cabin) to recover from surgery for a few weeks before my partner drives down to California with Fenris so we can continue rehab at home once he can manage stairs. I am deeply saddened to not be able to be here for his early recovery, but his health is more important than my desire to have him with me.
One local vet (who can perform an extra capsular repair) is willing to take him on Oct 22. The other local vet has a surgeon who can perform a TTA repair within the next two weeks. No one in this area performs TPLO.
At 72 pounds he is within, but at the high range (80 lbs is the max), of where the first vet will perform an extra capsular repair. I understand the fail rate of this surgery for heavier dogs is quite high. He is young, very lean for his size, somewhat active (within limits), and I am worried that this surgery will not work over the long term. However, he is usually quite conservative in his activities. The tear came from being surprised by a bear on our porch and chasing it away from me. He stumbled during the short run and that's when the injury happened. We have a gate now, to prevent this from happening again. He is generally not a big chaser, or runner, and prefers to be helped onto high places rather than jump.
My concern is that with how weak his left leg is, that a longer recovery from TTA will overstress the dysplasia in his left hip and cause more problems. But if the extra capsular surgery fails, we'll have to go for the TTA or the TPLO at that point anyway. Both vets agree this is a concern, and neither are advocating for one procedure over the other. I really don't know what to do.
He is an amazingly good boy, a registered emotional support animal, and deserves the very best quality of life I can give him. Please help me weigh the pros and cons. Anecdata of your own pets of similar weight/breed going through this is appreciated as well. Advice on making his healing process as comfortable as possible is also encouraged. We do not have access to PT facilities in this area, though once he comes home I want to find a water treadmill place (recommendations in the Bay Area?) He just started Cartrophen (Adequan) injections, takes fish oil supplements, and is on a high-quality limited ingredient diet.
Thank you, MeFites.
Letting it heal on its own is not an option. His left leg is too unstable -- it would likely mean total mobility loss within a year or less. I am a US citizen currently in Canada and need to return no later than (but can't return earlier than) Nov 1. I cannot wait until I'm back in the US to do this, as I don't have a viable place for him to recover from the surgery.
My apartment in California is on the second floor, so I will be leaving my dog here with my partner (in a one story cabin) to recover from surgery for a few weeks before my partner drives down to California with Fenris so we can continue rehab at home once he can manage stairs. I am deeply saddened to not be able to be here for his early recovery, but his health is more important than my desire to have him with me.
One local vet (who can perform an extra capsular repair) is willing to take him on Oct 22. The other local vet has a surgeon who can perform a TTA repair within the next two weeks. No one in this area performs TPLO.
At 72 pounds he is within, but at the high range (80 lbs is the max), of where the first vet will perform an extra capsular repair. I understand the fail rate of this surgery for heavier dogs is quite high. He is young, very lean for his size, somewhat active (within limits), and I am worried that this surgery will not work over the long term. However, he is usually quite conservative in his activities. The tear came from being surprised by a bear on our porch and chasing it away from me. He stumbled during the short run and that's when the injury happened. We have a gate now, to prevent this from happening again. He is generally not a big chaser, or runner, and prefers to be helped onto high places rather than jump.
My concern is that with how weak his left leg is, that a longer recovery from TTA will overstress the dysplasia in his left hip and cause more problems. But if the extra capsular surgery fails, we'll have to go for the TTA or the TPLO at that point anyway. Both vets agree this is a concern, and neither are advocating for one procedure over the other. I really don't know what to do.
He is an amazingly good boy, a registered emotional support animal, and deserves the very best quality of life I can give him. Please help me weigh the pros and cons. Anecdata of your own pets of similar weight/breed going through this is appreciated as well. Advice on making his healing process as comfortable as possible is also encouraged. We do not have access to PT facilities in this area, though once he comes home I want to find a water treadmill place (recommendations in the Bay Area?) He just started Cartrophen (Adequan) injections, takes fish oil supplements, and is on a high-quality limited ingredient diet.
Thank you, MeFites.
Best answer: I'm going to chime in with something that might be totally out of whack with what you are talking about, but I think there are some takeaways. And, this was 6 years ago so I don't remember all of the words.
Our 60lb Australian Shepherd broke his rear ACL when he was about 8. We took him to our vet who said that by all means she could fix it, but going to a canine orthopedic surgeon would be way better. So we did. And by the way, for everyone, they are called Southpaws just south of DC. The only place ever where he voluntarily walked away from us in a vet office. I can't recommend them enough.
They did the thing where they shave down the bone and put in what we ended up calling his 'bionic knee.' We were super worried about this messing up his other ACL because of the stress, but it never happened. I think we were very lucky, but for the remaining 4 years of his life we were extra careful that he never really went up on his back legs or was caught twisting crazily playing or whatever.
All in all it was worth it. We did PT at home as they taught us, and after a few weeks of carrying him up and down the 6 stairs to get outside he really started to recover. After a few months he could run, walk for miles, and really enjoy his life. Super expensive, but for a working dog I think you need to do what you can to keep them moving as much as possible. And if you have to get the other one done, so be it. But don't cripple them so early if you don't have to.
Tl;dr: go to the surgeon and get as much done as you can. I promise.
Hearts to Fenris.
posted by Snowishberlin at 6:06 PM on October 14, 2019 [3 favorites]
Our 60lb Australian Shepherd broke his rear ACL when he was about 8. We took him to our vet who said that by all means she could fix it, but going to a canine orthopedic surgeon would be way better. So we did. And by the way, for everyone, they are called Southpaws just south of DC. The only place ever where he voluntarily walked away from us in a vet office. I can't recommend them enough.
They did the thing where they shave down the bone and put in what we ended up calling his 'bionic knee.' We were super worried about this messing up his other ACL because of the stress, but it never happened. I think we were very lucky, but for the remaining 4 years of his life we were extra careful that he never really went up on his back legs or was caught twisting crazily playing or whatever.
All in all it was worth it. We did PT at home as they taught us, and after a few weeks of carrying him up and down the 6 stairs to get outside he really started to recover. After a few months he could run, walk for miles, and really enjoy his life. Super expensive, but for a working dog I think you need to do what you can to keep them moving as much as possible. And if you have to get the other one done, so be it. But don't cripple them so early if you don't have to.
Tl;dr: go to the surgeon and get as much done as you can. I promise.
Hearts to Fenris.
posted by Snowishberlin at 6:06 PM on October 14, 2019 [3 favorites]
Best answer: TPLO for sure. My then 80 lb shepherd-X tore her ligament chasing a deer out of our backyard about 4 years ago and we did a ton of research that basically convinced us that it is the best way to go. It took her about two hard months to recover but it was *well* worth it. She is almost 12 years old now and is still occasionally chases deer out of our backyard and I continue to take her for daily long walks like I did when she was 8.
This is the veterinarian who did the surgery, and it looks like he is located in California now. I would definitely recommend him. I still have all the receipts and diagnosis and discharge information (and even xrays), so if you want any specific information feel free to message me.
Fenris is a beautiful pup, good luck.
posted by Poldo at 6:45 PM on October 14, 2019 [2 favorites]
This is the veterinarian who did the surgery, and it looks like he is located in California now. I would definitely recommend him. I still have all the receipts and diagnosis and discharge information (and even xrays), so if you want any specific information feel free to message me.
Fenris is a beautiful pup, good luck.
posted by Poldo at 6:45 PM on October 14, 2019 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Our 60-pound dog tore her CCL this summer, and we lived in a 3rd floor walkup. We were also really concerned, but our surgeon who did the TPLO said that we could, very slowly, take her up the stairs on the 2nd day after surgery(she stayed overnight at the hospital), with a towel to help sling her butt. The first few days we only took her out 2-3 times a day to pee, and monitored if she was going to need potty pads, but she did fine.
Obviously talk to your own vet, but it's not totally impossible that he could handle stairs.
posted by nakedmolerats at 7:23 PM on October 14, 2019
Obviously talk to your own vet, but it's not totally impossible that he could handle stairs.
posted by nakedmolerats at 7:23 PM on October 14, 2019
Response by poster: Thanks everyone! This was super helpful. I ended up deciding to scrap the TTA idea on your advice and go for a CBLO (a modern version of the TPLO) in California. 6 week healing time, and you have given me the confidence to rehab at home, stairs notwithstanding.
I'll be looking in to rehab centers for additional therapies as well.
Y'all are the best!!
posted by ananci at 6:25 PM on October 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'll be looking in to rehab centers for additional therapies as well.
Y'all are the best!!
posted by ananci at 6:25 PM on October 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
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