Hi all, My fox red lab, Kona, is 4 1/2 years old. She has been limping off and on since January (after my sister’s 1 year old puppy stayed with us for a weekend and the two of them were running around a lot together). The limping would come and go, and mostly happened after she got up from laying down. When we took her for her annual checkup in March our vet prescribed an anti inflammatory, Vetprofen. After she was on it for a few days the limping stopped, but after being on it for a week she started vomiting so we took her off of it. Then the limping returned. Then she began not even touching her paw to the ground. Her back right leg is what’s bothering her. I spoke to the vet again and he said since it’s been a few weeks since we took her off the meds and she’s been resting and her leg isn’t better, he suspects she has a partial or full tear. I asked about possible Lyme disease but he said they checked for that already and it was negative. We took her in for sedated radiographs last month. This is what the report from the orthopedic hospital says: Thank you for sending the radiographs of Kona for evaluation. Based on these images, Kona appears to have a moderate amount of atrophy associated with the right pelvic limb as well as moderate stifle effusion. Based on the history and radiographic findings, Kona most likely has right cranial cruciate ligament disease. If the owners are interested we would be happy to see this patient for a consultation to discuss the findings and make recommendations regarding treatment (likely a TPLO). We have a consultation with the orthopedic specialist scheduled for 4 weeks from now - the earliest appointment we could get. She has been back on the Vetprofen and has tolerated it well this time when given with her food and some plain rice. We have not been taking her on walks or letting her run around the back yard or do steps - we just take her outside on the leash a few times a day. We are hoping she doesn't need surgery but I'm sure they will suggest it. I know this surgery, including the consult and the x-rays we already paid for, will total over $5k. We do not have pet insurance. It will also be a 6-12 week recovery. We love our dog, but are having a hard time coming to terms with paying that much for this surgery, and figuring out how to help her through the recovery while my husband works full-time and I care for our 3-year-old twins full-time. I am interested to know if anyone else had a similar experience, and either opted for the TPLO or not. Are there other treatment options available? Is it possible this could get better on it's own over time? She does not appear to be in any pain.
Hi, I am sorry your dog is struggling, I don’t have any experience but if you pop TPLO in the search bar at the top, lots of old threads come up. Hopefully, they might help. Good luck.
Hi, Our 4 yo Johnny had TPLO surgery in January 2020 and then the other leg went so he had that done in July. It was expensive yes. I noticed a brochure at the vet for something called Care Credit, which offered no interest payments for 6 months and other terms I didn't read but it's something you might look for. The good news is recovery is not bad at all. We purchased a large dog pen on Craigslist for $20 and put an extra large dog bed in it. For the first week or two he was in there all the time except for potty breaks. For the next 4 or 5 weeks he was either in the pen or on a leash in the house. He was on pain meds for two weeks and a drug called trazadone so he was pretty calm. The rehab is definitely something you can do at home. The surgeon will tell you what to do but in the beginning it's like 5 or 10 minutes of gentle stretching and 20 seconds of massaging the scar so adhesions don't form. While our surgeon favored TPLO based on her experience, we also discussed the tightrope procedure. I learned the rehab for that is more intensive because a ton of stretching is required and the dog may not be able to get the leg on the ground for some time. If you have hardwood or tile floors, you'll need to put down some rubber backed runners or tape down rosin paper so the dog doesn't slip in the early weeks. Johnny made a full recovery so we're delighted, if somewhat poorer. The bad news is that this a ligament disease, meaning the odds are 50% or better that the other leg will need to be done. We had good luck with gabapentin for pain. Not as good as carprophen but easier on the stomach. If I had to do it all over again, I would have tried to find a way to get the surgery done sooner. We had a 3 month wait for the consult and I think he damaged himself more during that time. In retrospect after the second knee operation, I realized that his recovery was much slower with the first operation. good luck with this and so sorry you find yourself in this situation. I'd be happy to answer questions about rehab
