TPLO vs. Traditional Repair in Large Dogs – Jake

Golden Retriever TPLOOur family pet, Jake is a 3yo Golden Retriever. We basically noticed when he was about two, when he ran or joined us hiking he would be sore. One day he was playing in the snow and he fell through and came in the house breathing heavy and it was real difficult for him to walk or put weight on his leg. You could tell he was in pain. The vet said he had torn his cruciate.

Money was a little tight so we decided on artificial ligament surgery. I am not sure of the name. He came home real sore and cried all night even with pain meds. He did not eat, drink or go to the bathroom for days. Eventually he came around and after 8-12 weeks of following drs weekly orders of short walks to eventually runs he seemed to get better but still not 100%. But he could run again and it was fun to throw tennis balls to him again and watch him run for it!

About two weeks later, I was watching a little girl who pulled on his leg. He is still sensitive and it must have hurt because he wouldnt put too much weight on that leg all day and the next day it seemed better but then he ran after a squirrel and then a cat and tore his other cruciate. The dr said this was a great possibility of happening within a year.

He is now scheduled for TPLO in 3 days and I am real nervous of putting him through this pain again. I hope this surgery has better results. The Dr thinks he may have torn his original torn knee again so we may have to do another TPLO. We LOVE our dog, but we always have real expensive medical issues with our pets and we have just about depleted our savings and I hope we are not making a mistake in doing all this surgery, putting Jake through pain and I hope he understands we are trying to help him and not punish him.

I hope that he can run and be pain free ASAP!! Unfortunately, it will be winter againg by the time he will be allowed to run again! Thanks for reading and I would love any advice!!!

6 thoughts on “TPLO vs. Traditional Repair in Large Dogs – Jake

  1. Your dog shouldn’t have to be in so much pain! Jasmine stayed in the hospital for two days and was on pain pump. When she came back home she was on pain medications, she was favoring the leg when walking but was comfortable when not using the leg.

    Talk to your surgeon/vet about adequate pain management.

  2. The TPLO surgery is amazingly effective. My dog tore her ACL (CCL) at about a year old. I went ahead with the TPLO because it was documented as having the best long term results, and my very young dog needed a surgery that wouldn’t need repeated after 6-8 years.

    They will keep your dog for 48 hours after the surgery for monitoring and mainly for pain management. They will determine how much pain medication it takes to keep Jake comfortable and will send it home with you. My vet followed up with me every 8 hours post surgery to update me and then called me every day for 3 days after I brought her home. The vet was considerate of how my dog was feeling and said they could increase the pain medication at any time if she wasn’t comfortable. My dog handled the whole thing like a champ and always was willing to do more activity than allowed. We are now 9 months post-op and her knee is doing great…although I am fearful about her good leg.

    Good luck!

  3. Our Candy had TPLO in October 2008. This week we will celebrate her 10th birthday and she is doing great! She is as active as a pup! The recovery was a time of great stress for me, worrying about injuring the site. Be diligent and follow all of your vet’s instructions for therapy and exercise, and, if necessary, weight management. I know it’s very expensive and difficult but the end result is worth it. Good luck!

  4. Our Dogue de Bordeaux (145 lbs) had his 1st TPLO in June 2011 for a partially torn CCL and his 2nd TPLO a couple of weeks ago (other knee) with a again a partially torn CCL and Meniscus. He is now 26 days post op and doing well. We’ve started passive range of motion therapy for him and will continue to support him with his sling for at least 4-6 more weeks (snow & ice on flagstones) so we don’t risk him slipping and injuring the new surgical leg. We had Fabulous results with his first leg, No residual limping at all even after agressive play/exercise…….Cudo’s to our surgeon Dr. G. Bouck and his staff !!! After care, they tell me can either make or break the success of the surgery…take nothing for granted, do your best and be diligent…… :^) I hope Jake had an uneventful recovery and is doing well…..

  5. Dear friends.

    I truly need your advice. 2 months ago my 11 year old lab started limping and toe touching on his back left leg. We went to the vet who said “early signs of displaysia and beginnings of arthritis. Put in rimadyl and told to watch for changes. He got better then got a little worse and at the 60 day mark we went to a surgeon to get reevaluated as its now very difficult for him to maneuver stairs. This is our issue, . We live on the third floor of a 4 story brownstowne. This means every bio break requires 3 flights down and 3 flights back up. He’s used to this but again, he’s 11 years old. The cost of surgery is not an issue but what will stair climbing do to set us back? He can’t be carried. He’s 90 pounds and not overweight.

    What can we do?

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