Hi everybody, first post and really after support and advice. Our chocolate boy is five and he is has been through the wars basically. About three years ago we were out walking him, nothing out of ordinary. He wasn’t leaping or charging about when he suddenly yelped and pulled up. To cut a long story short it was ACL and after a referral TPLO surgery was done. We were warned by the specialist that did the surgery that there was a very real risk that his second one would go at some point. Sure enough almost a year later, under pretty similar circumstances, his second one went. Again TPLO surgery and a long recovery. This was about two years ago and all had been fine up to about six months ago when we started to notice him pulling one of his back legs. It happened after his walks and rest period when he seemed to be unable to put his weight on his back right leg. Again to cut a long story short he was referred to an orthopaedic specialist. He was examined and admitted into surgery yesterday. During the examination she expressed concern not only about his back leg but his front right leg, which he had injured many years ago and she wanted to do a scan of it and preform anthropic surgery on it as well as exporitory surgery on his back leg. We spoke to her yesterday after the surgery and the news is both good and bad really. The surgery on his back leg showed he had a damaged meniscus ligament and she was confident that she had been able to repair it. However the surgery on his front leg showed, basically, he had elbow displacia. She was able to remove some of the bone fragments from his joint but this did require cutting into the joint rather than the original keyhole surgery. She also said that the cartilage had been worn away. We are guessing and it is only a guess that the elbow issue is a result of an injury he got as a young dog rather than a hereditary defect. He has been kept in over night and we are due to pick him up today and we a naturally concerned here as it looks like two of his legs have undergone quite large operations and how he will cope with two legs being affected. We are really upset that he has to go through this and just want him to recover and have a decent quality of life, he is only five years old and have no idea really what will greet us when we pick him up today. Thank you for reading.
Hi and welcome to the forum. I don't have any experience to offer, sorry, but I wanted to just say I'm sorry your boy has had to undergo this and that you'll find a lot of support here from people who have been through similar things with their own dogs. There are loads of success stories from people whose dogs have had cruciate repairs and both elbow and hip dysplasia.
Hello and welcome. You indeed have been through the wars, haven't you? As you've been through TPLOs with success, I've no doubt that you'll get through this as well. No question having two legs to work around will be tough, but hopefully you'll get good guidance from your vet and she wouldn't have done the two OPs together like that if she didn't have a plan for managing the recovery. While every case is very different, I wanted to offer a bit of optimism from my own experience. I had one dog who had a TPLO at 8 years old and kept hiking with me (and quite speedily as well!) until the age of 12, going on to live until 16. Then Brogan (in my avatar) had 2 TPLOs at 5-6 years old and elbow dysplasia with bone shards in one joint diagnosed (but no OP) at a year old. He lived to 13 and while he was very slow his last couple years, he never indicated pain in his joints and was happily walking a couple hours a day until the end. So as you already know, the recovery for surgery stinks, but there's still room for a very positive outcome. Wishing you all the best and please let us know how you get on.
Thank you for your warm welcomes and encouraging words. We have literally just had the call from the vets and are heading out the door to go and pick him up. It is so difficult because you can't explain why this has been done but we will being doing all we can to ease this in the short term and hopefully improve in the long term. He has been referred for hydrotherapy. He is a big guy but not over weight and she has told she wants him to look like a greyhound to ease the strain on his joints. Not too sure about the greyhound look but a strict diet will have to be in place. On the long road to recovery again with plenty of TLC. Having been through orthopaedic surgery three times now, we are hopeful this will be the last one and with the changes that we have to make to his daily routine, diet and exercise he can enjoy a better quality of life. Once he is home I will update on how he is and any further advice we have been given. I am also sure there are tears ahead as well. Thank you, Kev.
