Hi all

George had his cruciate repaired in May 2008 and recovered well.  About 4-5 months ago he started limping again so back to the vets who said that the knee was stable and he had not ruptured his ligament again.  He made no improvement so went back about 6 weeks ago and we were advised to get him xrayed.  This was not a problem except when my mum went to pick him up they said they had done the xray but no treatment and were never planning on doing any and the only way they could tell if the meniscus was damaged would be to go in and have a look as it wouldn't show up on xray (duh!).  I am thinking it is likely a mensical injury as it's almost as if something is catching when he walks and he has a limp especially if he is trotting, plus metacam makes no difference and neither does resting.

My question is has anyone had experience of limping after a cruciate repair and if so what was the problem.  Also has anyones dog had a meniscal repair/meniscectomy?

And finally should I be peeved with the vets for having him in for what, to me, seems like a pointless xray especially after being told his symptoms and the fact he had not reruptured his ligament and perhaps an arthroscopy may have been a better diagnostic/treatment technique (bear in mind I am no vet so there may have been a good reason for the xray but to say 'well it could be the meniscus but we wouldn't be able to tell on xray and would have to look inside his knee to determine the problem' seems to hint there was no need for another anaesthetic and xray).

Any advice??

I think that an x-ray is a first 'port of call' as the limp may not be related to the cruciate , it might be a new injury .

My only experience is of my cat who had a cruciate repair . About 2 years after the repair she started limping again. An x-ray showed she had a large tumour in her pelvis so was PTS , yet the way she held the leg with the tumour was the same as when the cruciate had snapped so the diagnosis came as a shock .

I hope your dog gets sorted soon .

My Rottie had a cruciate repair in December last year and in April began limping again, he went to the specialist who suspected meniscus (sp) damage i.e a bit of cartilage breaking off.

The operated on him and did indeed find this is what had happened so they removed it along with the suture used for the original op (it was no longer needed) and he is now doing well on his leg. 

He has already had the suture out as once it had done its job it slipped and was rubbing, making him limp.
How much was it for the meniscal op, if you don't mind (just incase it comes to this)?

Does anybody else have any advice?

I've started him on a new glucosamine to see if things change but if not then he'll ba back to the vet.  It's most noticeable when he trots as he really tends to limp then.

Ok been back to the vet today and he was shocked that we had managed to bypass the orthopaedic team in all the consulatations!  George has now been referred to North West Surgeons for what looks like meniscal damage and hopefully they can do this arthroscopically.  Has anyone else been referred here (PM if you like!)?

Anyone??

no, I live in the northwest never heard of this vets .. the one hospital I would want to be referred to is : http://www.liv.ac.uk/sath/index.html

Roni

Yes I was referred to the North West Surgeons and they are brilliant, they saved my boys leg after two operations failed which were carried out by orthopeadic surgeons in Shirley,  I think that practice in Shirley was called The Willows.

We found North West Surgeons to be really caring practice and nothing was too much trouble, everything was explained we felt we could phone at any time before and after the op to ask questions when needed and they put the animal first.  Our dog loved the vets there, we saw Chris May mostly but we did see one of the other surgeons on one occasion who we were also impressed with.

If one of my boys were to ever get a problem in future this is the practice I would request to be referred.

Thanks guys!  I'm in Leeds so it's a bit of a drive but if it means there is a chance he can lose his limp and be able to run (not that it's actually stopped him...) properly it's definitely worth it.  Hopefully it won't be a big op and it is a cartilage problem that can be rectified rather than having his whole knee reconstructed eeeekkk

Perry, is it your dog that may have to have a hip replacement or have I got you confused with someone else??

Perry, is it your dog that may have to have a hip replacement or have I got you confused with someone else??

Not my dogs they are both perfectly sound and healthy (touch wood) it was my last dog that had problems with hips and knees. 

I don't know if you watch Coronation Street, but if so you might remember the large dog on there that the boy had, I don't watch much so don't know names of characters, but he was the blonde boy who is about 14 on there now?  Well that dog was treated at North West Surgeons too.

The boy is Chesney and the dog is Schmichael...

Well, been to the vets today and George has snapped his RIGHT cruciate as well so needs that repairing before the left one is looked at.  Argh!  He's going to have to have a TPLO on the right as the suture method hasn't worked that great on the left and then maybe the same on that leg.  Oh and to top it all off I don't think the insurance will pay for the right leg so I'm going to have to dig deep...but so long as he gets better that's what counts :)
They seemed very nice there and explained everything really well including all the things that could go wrong so we're back on Tuesday for pre-op Xrays, bloods and so they can aspirate some joint fluid to check for infection. 
Anyone else got a bionic dog like I'm soon to have??