Dog Knee Injury

How much will a TPLO surgery for my dog cost?  How much should I expect to spend on a TPLO repair?

TPLO, also known as Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy, is a CCL repair technique through which the veterinary surgeon alters the head of the tibia and plates it to create a new joint angle.  Simply put - your veterinarian will re-invent your dog’s injured knee joint to provide increased stability through changing the way the top and bottom of the leg meet at the knee joint.  This is the most invasive, and requires the most surgical skill, of all the surgical cranial cruciate ligament repair options; it is also the most expensive.  In this article we will break down an actual TPLO cost estimate and explore the cost of choosing this type of CCL repair surgery for your dog.

Below is the estimate I received for my dog to undergo TPLO surgery.  Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve started the physical therapy. Weekly half hour swimming session have Beau moving his leg very well. The stairs are also going well, though we seem to have to do it twice a day for five minutes because once a day for ten minutes is just too boring for both dog and human. He absolutely loves the walks on the golf course hills, but I am concerned that the weather is going to get in our way. It is January now! Read the rest of this entry »

This week we have seen a big improvement in Beau’s ease in getting around. In fact, he thinks he’s superdog! He clearly isn’t feeling much pain, so we have eased off on the Tramadol, but continue to give him the Metacam and the Acepromozine for sedation. The most difficult part of the week is getting him to just lay around. We’ve invented some little games to keep him busy but still – such as a toy we have that has stuffed, squeaky squirrels hidden in a stuffed tree and he has to work to get them all out. To up that game a bit, we hide a small cookie at the bottom. When he’s really full of himself, a small rawhide chewie settles him down a bit – but they sure don’t last very long. He’s never done well with the big rawhide bones – loves them, but his gums start too bleed. We have some very thick sweet potato chewies that do last longer, but they are expensive. Read the rest of this entry »

One Week Post Op

Overall, this has been a good week and not as terrible as I imagined. By the third day, he no longer dragged his toes and was actually putting some pressure on the leg. We applied a cold compress to ice his knee area four and five times a day, but are not doing any passive range of motion exercises yet. He is able to lay himself down much more easily. His incision is healing nicely, he is leaving it alone so far. Read the rest of this entry »

Day After Surgery

My husband and I modified our work schedules somewhat so that someone could be home with Beau at all times for the first week. Today was my turn. In the morning, I took the bandage off as instructed and was very happy to find that the vet technician had done a great job in ensuring that the gauze underneath would not stick. It was an easy removal and his incision was not bleeding or oozing. I was surprised at just how long the incision was though! Must be twelve inches long! At that point, Beau had I called the vet’s office to give them a report, as requested, and the rest of the day went well. Beau was alert, but wasn’t interested in trying to walk around much. A few trips outside and then he was lying down again. I had a harder time keeping myself in one place so that he wouldn’t want to follow me! At least I had a good book to read.

The Day and Night of Surgery

I dropped Beau off at the vet’s at 7:30 am and went on to work, warning all my co-workers to expect a basket case in the office that day. By 8:30, I had a call from the vet’s office. I started panicking, but it turned out that they just had a question about when he’d received his last dose of Metacam. The technician told me he was fine – so fine that he wouldn’t go to sleep with the pre-anesthesia like a good boy should! We decided he was looking for cheese – that’s what he usually gets when he goes to the vet. Read the rest of this entry »

Preparations for Surgery

To prevent further injury, we needed to keep Beau quiet. No running, no jumping and lots of rest. We were given Metacam for pain and Acepromozin as a sedative. It just about killed me to see my happy, active dog so sleepy – even though I knew it was for his own good. And in between doses, he was all fired up! I learned quickly that keeping him quiet was going to be big challenge. He wasn’t limping much anymore, and I’m sure he’d forgotten all about it. As a dog who has probably had some minor pain with his hips for many years, I think Beau is tough and just pushes through. Read the rest of this entry »

Our Dog Beau

Our dog Beau is a seven year old Golden Retriever and master of the household! He’s friendly, fun, energetic and spoiled! Unfortunately, we learned early in his first year that he also has hip dysplasia. Until now, this has not stopped him from having an active, doggy life. However, in late November we noticed some on again, off again limping and after a few days of this, we took him to the vet to check it out. Read the rest of this entry »

Prices for veterinary surgery vary greatly depending on where you are located no matter whether you choose TTA, TPLO, TR, or a lateral suture method.  The prices can also fluctuate due to the availability of a certain procedure, number of surgeons performing the surgery, and the size of your dog. A number of veterinary practices will include a number of weeks of post-op physical therapy, including hydrotherapy, as part of a package price for the surgery. It is important when comparing prices to understand what is included in the quoted price, so you are able to compare apples to apples.  Taking these factors into consideration can help to explain the wide variance in prices presently for the Tightrope (TR) CCL repair surgery. Read the rest of this entry »

The newest surgical technique to repair torn cranial cruciate ligaments in dogs is the tightrope procedure.  Tightrope CCL is an extracapsular technique which uses lateral suture stabilization in conjunction with a virtually indestructible material called FiberTape for knee joint stabilization.  The Fiber Tape is placed in the dog’s knee through a few small incisions, mostly done arthroscopically, which create tunnels through the bone, and is considered to be one of the least invasive surgical approaches to canine cruciate injury repair.  Read the rest of this entry »