I would be interested to hear from any of you that has had your dogs cruciate ligament operated on. Especially those of you with large heavy breed dogs and even more so those of you with hyperactive large breed dogs.
Please tell me your experiences e.g;
How did post op care go?
How did you manage?
What did you do?
How long till your dog was sound again?
How long till they resumed normal activity?
Was it completely succesful?
Did you have it done by your general vet or an orthopedic specialist?
What method they used?
Are You Glad you had it done?
Shady is scheduled to have her op tomorrow and I want to hear all experiences good and bad please.

I have a very bouncy Rottie, she ruptured hers running after a ball on a very cold morning. No yelps, or immediate notice that anything was wrong, she started limping a couple of hours later. Complete rupture, repaired by TPLO by my "Normal" vet, not an orthopaedic (sp) specialist.
Post op - not sure that we were advised properly! Full leg plaster for 7 days, once removed lead walks only for 4 weeks. She ruptured her other leg 5 weeks after the initial op, as we were told she could be let off lead then!
Recovery was longer on the basis the other leg needed doing, before the original leg was back to full strength.
Started hydrotherapy as soon as vet gave the OK, which made a big difference.
Do I regret it - no. We didn't have a choice as she has HD, so leaving it was not an option.
Luckily my insurance covered both procedures and at c£3k per leg, it was a good job they did!
Hope all goes well for Shady tomorrow.
Tx

don't have any advice, just wanted to wish you good luck with the op tomorrow, here's hoping for a good result.

My Rottie X (BIG dog - approx. 50kg) had his first repair (left leg - partial tear) at 2 and a half years old.  And the second repair (right leg - complete rupture) 10 months later.

My normal vet happens to be an orthopaedic specialist and he carried out both ops.  My dog stayed in the vets for about a week after each op - but that was mainly because my vet was aware that I had a boisterous giant breed youngster at home at the time and ensuring complete rest for Shay would have been difficult  -I have never used crates and he woud be miserable confined to one. So he was confined to his kennel at the vets for a week, with several short trips to the toilet during the day.

When he came home, I was surprised by how mobile he was - he could touch the affected leg to the ground from day 1 (well, one week post-op) and was weight-bearing within a few weeks. We confined him to the downstairs with baby gates to keep him off the stairs. Vet encouraged a couple of very short walks per day for the outset - we would walk the 20 yards to so to the end of the street, let him rest and watch the world go by for 15 minutes or so, and then walk home again.  We gradually built the walks up as he gained strength in the leg.  He was swimming again within about 3 months (wih vets consent), if I recall correctly, and exercising normally not long after that.

I think exercise levels immediately following the op are dependent on the type of op as I know of other dogs that have been confined to cage rest for several weeks.  I can't recall the type of op Shay had right at this moment but I know he had a 'stabiliser' fitted in the joint.

The only complication we had following the op was that he had fluid build up in the knee for several weeks afterwards which he had to have drained off about twice a week.  As the vet said at the time, it was an inconvenience for Shay but wasn't detrimental to his recovery.

His second op was same as the first, and recovery was pretty much identical only a little quicker for some reason.

Shay is now nearly 6 and a half and has been left with fairly serious arthriris in both joints.  However, we manage it with supplements and he is pain free and, for the most part, exercises normally.  If he over exerts himself, we can notice him a little stiff in the legs the next day but a little rest generally sorts him out - so far, so good anyway! We're also lucky in that his hips are excellent (they were x-rayed as well at the onset of his symptoms) which compenstaes a little for his dodgy knees. Shay now has 2-3 check-ups a year at the vets and they are delighted at the outcome for him.

I hope Shady's op goes well and that she  makes as good a recovery as Shay has.

I havn't slept all night I have cried and cried till I have no more tears and my eyes are so puffy i can hardly see through them.
I have spoken at length with my daughter, family and friends who know Shady very well and all feel the same, that if everyone knew what a difficult over the top dog Shady was mentally (excitable is really far to mild a word for her) they would say straight away don't put her through it as she will end up hurting herself with the totally irrational way she behaves and thinks. (She is a rescue dog with serious mental health problems). They also feels like me this op would be the end for Shady but in a very painful way.
She will need to be kept so heavily sedated to stop her kicking off at the slightest sound, we would not be able to manouver her safely down the step to the garden for the toilet as she is so big and heavy. How will we lift her in and out of the car when we get her home and have to take her for checks, I don't have a hubby or anything, but most of all Shady would go insane without exercise for so long drugged or not.
On top of that she will then need to have the other leg done and go through it all again and the calcification lower in her leg is going to cause her problems in the near future too, the specialist told me that.
Shady is already a very difficult dog to manage and people have described her as a time bomb with her aggression towards children and other dogs and animals, without frustrating her even further.
I wouldn't be able to give her the rehabilitation walks she needs as I can't walk her out of my front door there are too many children, cats and other dogs always loose to make it safe and I can't lift her in and out of my car to take her somewhere for them and anyway even in the car she spends the whole time spinning and rushing from one side to the other to bark and get worked up at all those things we pass.
Whats the alternative though? To bring her home on strong painkillers, give her some quality time and then have her put to sleep, everyone that really knows her day to day thinks thats the kindest as they feel she would go through this and then end up hurting herself and still end up being put to sleep with me never forgiving myself for making her last days so frustrating and painful and its not just this she will still have other leg problems and this op could also set in arthritis on top.
I just feel damned if I do and damned if I dont and all I really know is the whole situation is breaking my heart because I love her so dearly, but I have to admit in 40 years of dogs I have never met one who is as nuerotic as Shady. I've had over excitable dogs but not anything as crazy as her.
I will have to phone the surgeon at 8am otherwise she may have already been taken down for the op, but i don't know what to do or say for the best.
I just don't know what to do all i know is I love her to bits and feel like my heart is being ripped out. Is this where that saying quality not quantity should come into play?.

Bevb, breath....

Just one question you say you can't walk her out from your house due to other distractions... Whats it like at between 5-6am? Its light out and i doubt kids would be up playing.. Would getting up early to walk her help and late at night too?
Do you have any friends that could pop by to help lift her into a car every few days so you can walk her elsewhere?

I am always up by 5 am anyway and i always walk my other dog out early and as soon as we get out of my front door it seems half the neighbourhood cats are on thier way home after a night on the prowl, people cycle past us on thier way to work.   I live right in the middle of a not very nice rather rough  part of a housing estate and there is something going on here 24/7.  You certainly wouldn't go out after dark as the chavs come out then with thier status dogs and Shady has already had several attacks from thier dogs.
This morning just before 6am two little kids ran shrieking and laughing past my house in thier pyjamas carrying quilts (obviously been for a sleep over)
Sadly I don't have any immeadiete neighbour friends here (you are safer keeping yourself to yourself round here and other friends are at work or have little children in tow.
I think now I have calmed down a little its mainly the practicality of it all given where i live, Shadys temprement and most of all her other leg problems as to whether it is fair and worth it to her to put her through this.
I am going to phone the vets soon and speak to the surgoen again before he starts the op.
I want her to be well again and have a quality of life more than anything its really whether it can be achieved realistically in the circumstances.  I don't want her to suffer unessecarily.   My emotions are clouding a lot of things and I have tried to be practical and list the fors and againsts and in all honesty the against list is way longer than the for.
I really feel torn apart here and wish i lived in the middle of nowhere so that she could have a quiet undisturbed recovery.

The specialist has just rang me and answered all my questions he assures me that in a normal recovery she should be back to normal and using the leg to run and play in 6 weeks.
As I type this she is in the operating theatre having the op done.
I am still terrified, I feel sick and am going to wait very anxiously for his call following the surgry and each update from him.
So please pray this goes well for her as that girl means more than the whole world to me.

Bev. Good Luck and thinking of you.

Thinking of you, it's amazing how quickly they recover, hope you have a positive outcome.

My large male Rottie had 2 cruciate ops, the first at 14 months and another 9 months later:

Please tell me your experiences e.g;
How did post op care go?  It went really well, lots of hard work.  Short walks, physio exercises from both specialist vet and qualified animal physio.

How did you manage? Very well with careful management of my dog.

What did you do? Kept my dog in a pen then penned him in half of my living room whilst I was at work and couldn't keep an eye on him.

How long till your dog was sound again? For complete soundest I aimed for 9 months we got there in about 7 - 8 months then the other cruciate went and he also had the meniscus (sp) cartiledge removed so another 9 months on before he recovered.

How long till they resumed normal activity? 9 months before I would let him play off lead with other dogs.  You can do it earlier but I want a sound dog for the rest of his life so did the upmost to achieve this.

Was it completely succesful?  I believe so, I had x-rays done and my vet was amazed that there were no signs of arthritis which normally sets in very quickly (although doesn't cause problems straight away)  I now have a 3 1/2 year old dog that is sound enough to be shown and can run and play off lead with no problems.

Did you have it done by your general vet or an orthopedic specialist? Orthopaedic specialist.

What method they used? The conventional stitch method.

Are You Glad you had it done?  Yes or I would have a very unhappy lame dog.

>(She is a rescue dog with serious mental health problems). They also feels like me this op would be the end for Shady but in a very painful >way.
>She will need to be kept so heavily sedated to stop her kicking off at the slightest sound, we would not be able to manouver her safely down >the step to the garden for the toilet as she is so big and heavy. How will we lift her in and out of the car when we get her home and have to >take her for checks, I don't have a hubby or anything,

Can the volunteers/workers at the rescue not help with her... if they are also helping with costs... I notice there is a site asking for donations towards the cost of this op

>I notice there is a site asking for donations towards the cost of this op

That must be someone else, Kay, because in that one the problem is in the hock, and this is about the cruciate.

>> I notice there is a site asking for donations towards the cost of this op
> That must be someone else, Kay, because in that one the problem is in the hock, and this is about the cruciate.

Just checked JG, and its definately Bev and Shady

How peculiar.

My 43kg Dobermann had TPLO done about 21 months ago. He had been limping on/off for some time (could go months looking completely sound). We were referred to an orthopedic specialist and had an inititial consultation including xrays on the affected leg. He looked completely sound when the specialist watched him moving and he couldn't feel anything wrong with the knee when manipulating it. Xrays showed a small amount of swelling and fluid in the knee. It was decided that I would attempt to get him over the injury with rest/restriction (for 6 months) in the hope that the knee would build up enough scar tissue to stabilise the joint. It seemed to go perfectly well over the 6 months, but after afew months back off lead we ended up back at square one. We were referred again and this time the specialist could feel changes in the knee, which were confirmed on xray, and advised us to have TPLO done.

I prepared everything in advance. He was confined to one small carpeted room with no furniture to jump on, and all windows covered with light sheets (thin enough to still let light through) to block out his views of cats, squirrels etc. I moved my mattress into the recovery room to stay with him as he usually sleeps on my bed upstairs. I played music or kept the tv or radio on to block out noises he might bark at. We were advised no walks for the first 6 weeks, only into the garden to go to the toilet. I took him out to the garden on a short lead and headcollar every single time without fail. I bought a ramp to get him down the step from the back door and also used this for the car.

I spent my whole time with him (I only went out twice in those first 6 weeks(!) and my mum looked after him). Luckily I'm at home all day anyway. I had one friend in particular who was brilliant and came to visit us alot (meetings on headcollar and lead), always bringing a huge hide bone with him. These do tend to make my dog squitty and I know alot of people don't like them because of the choking hazard, but they kept him happy and entertained and he would chew on one for at least 2 hours at a time. Family also came to visit him. I  bought a big supply of raw meaty bones, lots of treat toys, and taught him tricks he could do laying down. We spent alot of time sitting in the garden (short lead and headcollar again as he loves to charge after cats, pigeons etc etc and will literally run the boundaries on 2 legs trying to grab squirrels off the fence!!). After the first 6 weeks he was allowed 3 x 5 minute lead walks for 2 weeks, then 3 x 10 minutes walks for 2 weeks etc etc. He had follow up xrays at about 7 weeks and was healing well (he did go lame at about week 2 and it turned out had broken his fibula due to the new angle of the bones. The fibula usually bows slightly to accomodate this apparently).

He had hydrotherapy from about the 3 month mark, twice a week, for 2 months. He was not impressed with this but it built the leg up wonderfully. I didn't let him off the lead until 5 or 6 months post-op (he's mad off the lead, and it would have been alot easier with a moochy ploddy dog!). It was so so difficult at times and the hours dragged on like I've never known. He is absolutely mad for chasing things, loves to charge around barking, is utterly obsessed with toys and retrieving and generally very full on for most of the day so recovery meant a total lifestyle change for him, but he coped brilliantly.

He's pretty much back to normal on that leg now. He does have some arthritis  and is sometimes stiff when getting up but he was also diagnosed with OCD in the knee at the time of surgery and also had some of the meniscus removed so it wasn't just a straightforward torn ligament. I'm happy with the outcome though and would do it again. I definitely wouldn't do the "wait and see" approach again, especially not with such a big active dog.

Best of luck to you.

Any news Bev?

Hmmmm, I would be a bit cautious about the vet's advice, they are not specialists, as in breed specialists, and their advice is *general*. 

My older bitch, Indie (chocolate Labrador) had a cruciate repair, and nearly 18 months later, had to have one of the meniscus pads repaired.  She had quite good basic training, and I used the time with her when she had to rest, to really train her, doing heelwork, clicker training her to indicate articles, and tried to ensure she managed to heal slowly and steadily.  Part of my problem was that I had someone else (now my ex) that I had a constant battle with because they felt she was ok to run around, and in fact all dogs need to have their legs walked off them daily to tire them out.  Unfortunately, I think this did more harm than good, and is most likely the reason why she needed the second operation, because she wasn't allowed to heal properly before being allowed too much free exercise.  So my advice would be that yes the operation does work, it is incredibly difficult keeping a large bouncy dog calm, but definitely take the time to let her heal slowly. 

Indie was 18 months old when she ruptured her cruciate, she'll be five this year, and she has been sound and fit for over a year now.  I take great care not to overdo things with her, and keep her weight down, so that she can have as healthy and fit a life as possible.  I also give her various things in her diet for arthritis, which had set in on the knee she injured.  Things like green lipped mussel extract, glucosamine and chondroitin etc are good for joints. 

Good luck, hope your girl's op went ok, and she's making a good recovery.

We are on week four after a cruciate ligament operation.  My 33kg black lab was operated on by the TTA method (Tibial tuberosity advancement).  Inkie had been sore on the leg for a good 6 months before it finally "went" on a walk 5 weeks ago.  This is the most up to date method and was recommended by my vet who performed the op, he is an orthopedic specialist. The post op care is going well. We are taking it VERY slowly. No cages, but confined to downstairs and no furniture! Still on painkillers/anti inflammatory tablets (Rimifin). We keep her on the lead whenever she goes outside in the garden. For the last 10 days we have been doing 5 minute walks twice a day at HER walking speed. My vet was very pleased with the progress at 3 weeks and we need to go back at 6 weeks for xrays. She doesnt really limp at the walk but does get sore towards the end of the day, which is to be expected I suppose. We are very glad that we have had it done as we had been frustrated over the last 6 months not being able to do anything. Not sure about the future post op care but I expect it will be to take things as slowly as we can and gradually get her fit again after the x rays have shown that the bones have knitted together nicely.
I hope Shady's op went well.  What method was used? Its a long road ahead but you will get there eventually! Dont make plans, just take each day one at time. Good luck for the future x