9/6/11

Doggie Troubles...

Our lovely doggie Duke had his vet appointment this morning.  He did very well at the vet, but they had to keep him and sedate him for more testing and x-rays.   They called just 30 minutes or so ago and told us the diagnoses.  He has a ruptured crucial ligament in his knee.  It's like a torn acl in humans.  I'm glad I did some googling before hand, because I was fairly certain this is what it was going to be.  We have to wait until 1:00 PM to go get him and talk to the staff about payment options and what surgery is best.  We're thinking of going with a TPLO.  It's more expensive, but long term we think it's best being as he is not even 4 years old yet.  I'll update some more about this later, and The Art of Housewifery will be continued either today or tomorrow, sorry for the delay!

Has anyone had any experience with a dog with a torn cruciate?  Did you pursue surgery?  If so, what type and what were your results and experiences?  Feel free to share below!

3 comments:

Amy said...

I've only ever had cats so haven't gone through this, but I'll be praying for you and your doggie friend. I hope it goes well!

Betsy said...

Hi--
I haven't commented here before, but wanted to share our experience with a DOUBLE (thank you very much) TPLO procedure. We have an Airedale who tore one cruciate, and we went through all the options for treatment--it's agonizing, as I'm sure you know.

Just as we had resigned ourselves to shelling out the big bucks for the TPLO, the dog went outside one morning, saw a squirrel, took off on his good leg, and tore that one, too. To make a long story short, we found a vet who specialized in the procedures and performed it frequently (very important), and he did both legs for us. And no, it was not buy one, get one free. HOWEVER. The recovery was very quick, and even now, 6 years later, we have had no other problems with the legs. Totally worth it.

My best advice if you decide on surgery is to make sure you take the dog to a surgeon who is experienced in the procedure and performs it frequently. This makes the surgery faster, which (IMHO) leads to a faster recovery for the dog.

Good luck!
Betsy

Kirsten said...

Oh no! Poor thing! Will be praying for you all.