mbc1963 Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Every morning, I walk Buddy with my friend and her dog, Abby the chocolate lab. She's a happy, food-fixated dog who likes to amble and pee and sniff out garbage. She gets along well with Buddy. They have a companionable, sibling-like relationship - not in love with each other, but happy enough to see each other after a few days apart. Abby tore her left ACL last fall, and then healed a bit, then injured it more severely. About 4 months ago, she had surgery to repair it. ($2500.) She's just in the last few weeks been walking normally, happy to be feeling good and having her limited movements expanded. Last night she went chasing after a Weimeraner, and suddenly cried out. Now she can't step on the other rear leg. It seems like she's torn the other ACL. I guess this is pretty common, once one leg has been operated on. Anyone ever had the second leg done, too? Any experiences with success? Failure? Long-term prospects? I feel so badly for Abby's owner. She's just crestfallen about having this giant setback, after finally seeing hope for her girl. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Devils Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Yep - my acd had her right one done and 2 years later the left (Both TPLO). She is back to playing flyball at 10.5 yrs of age. It is common to tear the 2nd one and it is worth fixing bit lordy it is expensive. At least my pocket book had some time to recover. It has been a year since Foster's last TPLO. Her long prognosis is good and the docs say now her knees are better than when she was born Tell your friend not to think of it as a giant setback. When Foster did hers I was actually a tad happy. I could stop worrying about when it would happen. Tell Abby's owner that there is an orthodogs Yahoogroup that she may want to join. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herdcentral Posted February 13, 2009 Report Share Posted February 13, 2009 My ACD Holly had her second TPLO done 4 years after the first. She is fully recovered and continued her agility career with no problems. It is a pain but the time passes and my Holly is as active as she ever was, back to normal really. The yahoo orthodogs site is and excellent group for information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Devils Posted February 13, 2009 Report Share Posted February 13, 2009 I really do think your friend should sign the orthodogs group. I did setup a yahoogroup for dogs competing in sports who had surgery or may need surgery, etc.... It is called dogsportsafterorthosurgery. It is a small list right now and is mainly for sport dogs but your friend could also join that one. It is not busy all the time but it is also a good resource but the mainl orthodogs list would get more/faster responses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted March 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 Hey, I thought I'd drop an update on Abby, my dog's friend who had on ACL surgery and almost immediately injured the other knee. Abby had the second surgery very soon after injuring her second leg, and the recovery this time was remarkable. My friend said that within days of coming home, you couldn't tell the dog had a limp. It's been the required 5 - 6 weeks now, and she's back on morning poop patrol with me and Buddy - short walks, but she looks good. My friend cannot believe the difference between the first surgery (waited a while for a diagnosis, pain treatment, see if it would heal on its own, etc.) and the second (went dirctly to surgery). The first took a very long time to heal and came with a lot of pain and limping afterwards. The second has had a brisk and seemingly low-pain recovery. (The doctor also upped the Rimadil prescription, I think, which may have relieved the stress of pain as well as the pain.) So, if you ever run into this particular problem with your dog, I recommend not delaying the surgery. The vet thinks the time delay allowed arthritis to set into the first joint. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Devils Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 That is great news. The second may also have gone more flawlessly because of the initial muscle buildup from the 1st knee injury and then the surgery recovery. The dogs favor the bad leg... Tell your friend good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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