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Dog ACL surgery experience?

3K views 26 replies 16 participants last post by  bottlefed1 
#1 ·
My Newfoundland is 8 1/2 years old and has recently been diagnosed as having a bad acl in Her left rear leg.
She is in excellent health other than hips getting sore which is pretty normal for Newfs of this age.
Have any of you had this surgery done on your dogs? Anyone had a Dog recover on it's own?

It's hard to tell with dogs if they are getting better or just better at dealing with the pain and balance.
Opinions?
This is not a question of money.
Thanks Gord
 
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#2 ·
Our Shepard/Husky had both knees done about a year a part. He was only three at the time of the first surgery. He is almost 9 now and still going strong. They did what they call the "loop" surgery. This is same day the bandages came off. The first two days are the worst, they do not sleep and pace back and forth in pain.



246716
 
#25 ·
Do you remember how long it took for your dog to stop limping?
Georgia is just over 8 weeks post surgery and still tender putting weight on that leg and limping. She can walk not too bad for 15-20 minutes which is good.
Just not sure if this is normal.?
 
#7 ·
I thru a ball and my queensland heeler ran down a the cliff to get it tore him up good he was 4 then. He's almost 14 now and isn't doing good with that injury. Got ten years out of it tho (surgery) His dad lived to be one month shy of 20. Don't think mines gonna make that date.
 
#8 ·
Had two dogs blow out both ACLs. One a lab mix and one a border collie mix. Four separate surgeries. Once they had time to recuperate, they did great. The ACL cannot "heal". Once it has come off the bone it's done. In my dogs, the vet used fishing line as a replacement for each torn ligament. Take care. Tom Worthington.
 
#13 ·
Our first Akita had ACL go and did what is called TPLO surgery I beleive. She was 9 when it happened and after it healed she got around fine for her age until she passed at 12 years old.

Had another that did his in but he had developed an autoimmune disease and our primary vet said that the surgery might kill him, so we opted out on him and he eventually got to where he could walk very well without surgery.

You might discuss to see if the TPLO is an option for your pup since she is a large breed, our vet said that on the bigger strong breeds that seemed to be a better option sometimes than repairing the tendon because they are so strong that the tendon repair might not hold.

I appreciated our vet giving us the pros and cons of each method and having an option to get our doggie fixed up.

Good luck on getting her fixed up, dogs are really pretty tough, but it sure broke our hearts to see them limping around right after it happened and we just wanted to get them healed regardless of cost.
 
#17 ·
Just put my 2nd basset down a while after the 2nd ACL blew. Chose not to do the surgery, she had a multitude of other health problems that helped make that decision. We waited until the medications were no longer effective, and she was pretty much just dragging herself on the floor. Fucking hardest thing ever as she was only 6, but it was the best decision for her as even with 2 repaired ACL's her hips were going and she had an autoimmune disease causing the whole thing. She had already had a previous major surgery, and more surgery was in her future.
 
#19 ·
Had our female Labradoodle done about 3 1/2 years ago left rear and then the other leg about a year later (as the vet predicted). She is now 8 and still runs like the wind, if she over does it chasing her brother around she limps a little afterwards but not for long. A friend just had their St Bernard done - both legs about 7mths apart ($10K) and he is 8 and doing great. Both dogs had the surgeries were the shave the bone down flat style of repair (don't remember what they called it)
 
#23 ·
Glad to hear she is on the road to recovery.

A co-worker just had to have his 1 1/2 year old lab fixed up with a TPLO last week.

He is a brute, about 100 Lbs and rambunctious as all get out, he said the hardest part is keeping his throttle at idle :)

He is keeping him in the crate mostly and on leash when he goes for potty breaks.
Took him in for a therapy session Thursday and he was doing great according to the vet techs.
Take is slow with your pup and she will be good as new in short order.
 
#24 ·
I've had surgeries done on my GSDs in the past. The one thing the vet brought up at various times was the age of the dog. According to him certain breeds (GSDs for one) can be susceptible to anesthesia so you may want to ask about that. With GSDs it can be dependent on bloodlines too so you may want to do some research on that too via a Newfi breed club.
 
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#27 ·
God daughter has a Pit Boxer mix. She has had the complex procedure on one leg and the simple version on the other. Now she needs the procedure done again.....fucking sucks to pay 12 grand and still have a dog limping around in pain. If there were a way to convince them to quit running around and jumping like they were still puppies it would probably be a big help.....
 
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