My 4 year old labs cruciate ligament went on Sunday morning while we were walking her.  We have had about 2 years of it being a problem so lameness, lead walks and metacam by the barrel! I feel now that it has all come to a head at last and hopefully things will only get better after the operation. I know we are looking at a long recovery but it is the light at the end of the tunnel at last. Hope all goes well.
The op should have been today but my vet was stuck abroad because of the ash cloud!!

My dog had a tplo in November 2009 but had to have the plate taken out the other week due to recurrent infections - he's doing so much better without it!!  The recovery period didn't seem to drag on forever as I thought it might as once the check up Xrays have been performed the lead walks could increase (thank goodness!!!), you just have to stick to it to the letter and not be tempted to do too much too soon.

Good luck for tomorrow!

Hi,

The TPLO operation is a fanastic move forward from the old style operation.  Recovery is much quicker down to weeks instead of months as long as you follow the post op care instructions to the letter.

Good luck

Good luck with the op and I hope all goes well and your dog recovers fully.

One of my dogs had both cruciates operated on and I opted (on the advice from an orthopaedic specialist) to go for the conventional method.  I now have a fully fit dog and after x-rays he has no signs of arthritis and is doing great. 

All went well with operation today.  She has to stay in tonight on morphine but should be home tomorrow.

Good luck to your girl for a full and speedy recovery!

The operation was a success but I found out that it wasn't TPLO but TTA Tibial tuberosity advancement which has a much quicker recovery.  She walked out of the Vets less than 24 hours after the op!! Still a long way to go as bones take a long time to heal, and of course all the aftercare is the same as TPLO. Has anyone else come across this ?

No experience of TTA but we did have TPLO over 3 years ago with huge success. I found the following article for you, it may be of use?

http://www.vetsurgerycentral.com/ortho_TTA.htm

Wishing you a continued speedy recovery, it will be interesting to follow the recovery and compare to TPLO

Good to read so many positive comments about TPLO. Our Bichon had a total rupture about five and a half weeks ago while on a walk in the woods. We were shocked as she was only three years old, and not at all overweight, so it was a surprise. We opted for TPLO and she is now four and a half weeks through the eight week recovery process. I though keeping her crated so much would be a problem, but she has taken to her crate so well, and wags her tail as we put her into it! :)

I have been warned that the other cruciate might go now, and that the insuranace company might not be so ready to pay out for a second op even though it is technically a separate procedure. Has anyone had both cruciates go and if so how did your insurance company react?

Thanks,

Julie x

My Rottie bitch did both cruciates, the 2nd went on the 1st day she was allowed off lead after the original op. At the time we were with Argos pet insurance, and they paid up immediately, luckily our vet was happy to claim directly from them, so we only had to pay the excess to them.

It depends how much your cover is for as most insurers will class it as 'cruciate disease' and so only pay up to the amount per condition i.e. if you have a limit of £2k per condition then once the total for both legs together reaches £2k they will stop paying for any further treatment. 

Other insurers may exclude anything cruciate related after the first claim.