ACL tear - 18 month old mutt

Chocaholic · 04:37 PM

Yep....Murph has been limping around. To the vet today. Both ACL's are gone. He's about 70 lbs and in good shape but vet says take him down below 60 lbs before thinking about surgery.

Anyone deal with this? Dare I ask about surgery cost? Would probably have it done at the Univ of GA Vet School...the best around. Go figure...the $50 rescue dog is the one that's going to rack up the vet bills. The $1600 Mastiff has been bullet proof....so far. Appreciate thoughts.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

dog that size repair would be several grand here in Cali

Jagshund · 07-22-2010, 05:46 PM

A friend had his Lab repaired at UGA's vet school after her hips went out. Their football team might not be much but their vet school is acceptable- the dog's 16 and still going strong.

Drdogface · Drdogface's Garage

Cost will depend on a couple things. There are several ways to do the surgery...some more expensive and time consuming. Also there are boarded orthopedic surgeons who are great but more expensive too. Many general practice vets can and do perform this surgery. Tobra is correct...here in Ca it would cost a bundle.

stomachmonkey · 07-22-2010, 05:50 PM

Had both knees done on our Newf/Mastiff.

She blew the second almost a year to the day that she blew the first.

First one was out of pocket but we got insurance on her immediately after so the second one was covered.

60-70 lb dog is pushing the high end for the fishing line fix.

Probably looking at a double TPLO. Although having been thru it I don't think you can do both knees at once.

Thing about ACL tears in dogs is it's almost always architecture issues. Angle of the knee is too great so if a dog tears one they are pretty much guaranteed to tear the other.

Your looking in the neighborhood of $1,200-1,500 per knee.

Good luck.

Dueller · 07-22-2010, 09:12 PM

PM'd ya...my brother is a vet in Ga. Call him for a consult...does quite a bit of orthopaedic work.i

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

and that my friends, is what they call networking

targa911S · 07-23-2010, 05:14 AM

Big Henry had TpLO on both legs. $2K per leg. Can't do them at the same time. I found the screws in his ashes.

Chocaholic · 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobra

and that my friends, is what they call networking

Yes it is. Really appreciated!

Dr. Dogface. . .just curious how this would happen. Murphy is a mutt. We did a DNA test on him when he was a pup and it turned up roughly 70% Lab, 20% Boxer, 10% Chow. He's young, strong, muscular and active. I can't imagine this just happened out playing in the yard...and to both legs (perhaps too much rough-housing with our Mastiff pup?). Could it be congenital? Would the proper repair be permanent? Safe to assume he'll deal with arthritis, etc? He's a great pup and we saved him from the gas chamber once, so not giving up on him now. Interested in your thoughts.

Thanks to all for input.

targa911S · 07-23-2010, 06:08 AM

playing is exactly how it happened to Big Henry. He was 2 when we had it done. His second leg went out days after the first one. He was a little bow legged after the fix but lived to be almost 13 with no other probs. He weighed 105 lbs.

stomachmonkey · 07-23-2010, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

Yes it is. Really appreciated!

Dr. Dogface. . .just curious how this would happen. Murphy is a mutt. We did a DNA test on him when he was a pup and it turned up roughly 70% Lab, 20% Boxer, 10% Chow. He's young, strong, muscular and active. I can't imagine this just happened out playing in the yard...and to both legs (perhaps too much rough-housing with our Mastiff pup?). Could it be congenital? Would the proper repair be permanent? Safe to assume he'll deal with arthritis, etc? He's a great pup and we saved him from the gas chamber once, so not giving up on him now. Interested in your thoughts.

Thanks to all for input.

Google TPLO, Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteomy.

According to my Orthopedic Surgeon if the angle of the knee exceeds a certain degree it allows the femur to move too far snapping the ACL.

That's why they typically tear both either at the same time or eventually. He told us that the dogs he sees usually have one full and one partial tear.

I was told that it was possible to diagnose dogs with a predisposition.

I witnessed our dog tear both. She went charging after something in the yard and pulled up hard at the fence line and boom, came back limping. Same exact thing a year apart.

What the TPLO does is fix the angle that the femur sits on the tibia pretty much eliminating the need for an ACL all together.

After the recovery they tend to look a bit bowlegged and their gait is altered but it does not limit them in any way.

It's a bit traumatic for us owners but for a large dog it's really the only permanent solution.

A few people on this board have had it done and I don't recall anyone regretting it.

Good luck, that's a handsome looking pooch.

Dueller · 07-23-2010, 06:30 AM

My brother's opinion is that owners/environment contribute to orthopaedic problems more than you would think. While many dogs, particularly purebreds, may be predisposed to hip/knee problems, dogs that trained to repetitively sit or stand at very young ages, are fattened up to mature body weight before 24mos, taught to jump up into beds of trucks young, run hard in the field, etc before their bones/joints are mature result in a lot of the problems he treats.

Of course its a fine line as much of veterinary medicine involves training the owners

targa911S · 07-23-2010, 06:34 AM

Drdogface · Drdogface's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

Yes it is. Really appreciated!

Dr. Dogface. . .just curious how this would happen. Murphy is a mutt. We did a DNA test on him when he was a pup and it turned up roughly 70% Lab, 20% Boxer, 10% Chow. He's young, strong, muscular and active. I can't imagine this just happened out playing in the yard...and to both legs (perhaps too much rough-housing with our Mastiff pup?). Could it be congenital? Would the proper repair be permanent? Safe to assume he'll deal with arthritis, etc? He's a great pup and we saved him from the gas chamber once, so not giving up on him now. Interested in your thoughts.

Thanks to all for input.

Choc.
Sorry for the late reply...just have not paid too much attention to the thread since a lot of other posts are right on. Having said that, I have been retired for ten years and, as you might guess, technology and techniques have progressed rapidly. I did do some ortho surgery in my younger days and did do some ACL repairs but using older methods obviously. There have been many techniques over the years. The older ones worked well most of the time. I think the TPLO is the new best repair, especially for a younger dog since it attempts to correct the anatomical faults that led up to the rupture.

Something like that needs to be done by a boarded surgeon or at least a vet that has done many.

Why did it happen? Likely lots of reasons. Too vigorous of play at a young age could be a major factor as could genetic weakness in the ligaments but that's doubtful in my mind. Dogs...esp ones that will be big and strong, may not develop the support structure as fast as the muscles leading to this. That's my best guess.