Have just had this op done on one of ours and I was wondering how likely it is that the other cruciate ligament will need repairing later?

The orthopaedic vet who did the op said it can often happen that the other side ends up needing doing too.

Has anyone managed to get away with just one side doing, or have most people had to have both sides done? It's just out of interest really, and so I get an idea of likelihood.

I had a dog that had a cruciate op on one side at the age of eight. I was worried that the other side had gone about eight months later, but X-rays showed that it was fine. After that hiccup, she was fine and lived to over fourteen with no further problems in that department

In the last 16 years I've had three dogs have cruciate ops on one leg without having the other knee go. The first two dogs had the tplo done after the original op had failed (one had MRSA and the meniscus became damaged on the other one). The 3rd dog had just the tplo done.  I was ULTRA careful with their recovery to the point of being paranoid.

One dog I bred had both knees operated on twice (but it wasn't tplo).

My sisters Gt Dane had to have both done.

There is a 50/50 chance that the other cruciate will go.

The theory is that with proper and careful rehab, the second cruciate is less likely to rupture/get damaged. But most people let their dogs have too much exercise too quickly - and vets don't discourage them from doing so either.

It is important to rehab properly and not allow full off lead exercise until the operated leg is back to full strength - in other words until the circumference of the thigh muscle is the same again as the healthy one. That will take several months.

My dog had TPLO almost three years ago. He had both cruciates already damaged, it was decided to operate on the worst one first. This was done, I did physio with him for the first few weeks, planned walks and exercises to do with him very carefully and then introduced him to hydrotherapy and continued chiro treatment. At hydrotherapy they measured his muscles regularly and after six months, they were both the same size again and he was allowed to go back to normal off lead exercise. Now three years later, the other cruciate that was already damaged, still doesn't need repair and he is doing great. I put this down to his very careful rehab! All the other dogs I know that had the same surgery allowed their dogs to fully exercise much earlier again (usually at 3 - 4 months post op) - and they all ruptured their second one too!

I did a blog of my dog's recovery, let me know if you would like the link.

My old girl, had one done about 5 years ago, I was very careful in her recovery period, (think that is the key). She is a giant breed so I was very aware of the recovery. A year down the line she had to have the plate removed as one of the screws was causing problems, but recovery from that op was a lot quicker. Butchers bones were good friends as were kongs. She is to large to crate comfortably, so thankfully had a large kitchen/diner, covered any slippery flooring and slept in there on a sofa bed for quite a while, other dogs were quite jealous, hubby was delighted lol. x

I agree with careful care during the recovery period. We made a small area for the dog by an outside door, so she had only a small area to move about in and she could be let outside (on a lead) to relieve herself. She was kept in there for over six weeks and not walked at all. Then we took her for short walks gradually extending them, but always on the lead. She also had hydrotherapy which was very beneficial. The first time I let her off the lead was nerve racking especially when she realised and started to run, but given her age, she was pretty sensible.

> I did a blog of my dog's recovery, let me know if you would like the link.

Thanks yes, I would like to look at your link.

> But most people let their dogs have too much exercise too quickly - and vets don't discourage them from doing so either.

We were told to let her have 3 v short lead walks per day right from the start. We didn't start till the 2nd day, and only did 1 walk, then 2 the next day. She is putting her foot down so not hopping. Hope that's going to be OK, she seems well in herself.