Torn ACL - Looking for opinions - Page 1

I received a call today from a puppy buyer whose 20 month old bitch was just diagnosed with a torn ACL.  The vet is only giving her one option - TPLO quoted at $2300.  When I asked about TTA instead, the vet got an attitude and dismissed it as a treatment option.  We will be looking for a second opinion.  I am just curious as to others experiences with ACL injuries and treatments.  This family cannot afford a high priced surgery and the vet has her scared that the other ACL will give out shortly after this one, so she doesn't want to spend money on one only to be crushed if the second one goes and she cannot afford to fix it. 

I appreciate any input. 

 

I have had the TPLO done several times on my Rottweilers with great success, I'm in Canada and the last one was $4400.00, so to me $2300.00 is a bargain. I do know other people who had the surgery done and down the road the other cruciate ruptured and they had to have it repaired, (they were all Rottweilers).They should get a second opinion to weigh their options. Just remember the longer they wait the more strain it is putting on  the good leg.

Here is an article that might help:

http://www.wagsnwellness.com/pdf/CM-for-ligament-injuries.pdf

The article ZweiGSD posted is the same one I have that was in Whole Dog Journal.

We braced our older dog 2 years ago and she healed very well. We  used Orthopet. http://www.orthopets.com/ Good folks. The braced recovery time was much the same as projected post-op recovery. We continue to brace her as a preventative and to help stablize her hind leg has she has mild HD as well. She normally only wears the brace for outside activities.

She is now having problems with her left and we are going to go with a brace from http://www.animalorthocare.com/stifle-braces/ as they have more options for their stifle braces.  Somewhere on the site or in their documents, it is mentioned that this company with talk directly to your clients so long as they have a veterinary diagnosis within the last two months... They can order the brace and casting kit directly. $575 plus any shipping needed for kit and for brace delivery and any adjustments that are needed. A number of stifle braces on their FB page as well https://www.facebook.com/pages/Animal-Orthocare-LLC/128259910702

I believe both companies may share names of veterianrians, if any, in your clients area or driving distance that they have worked with in the past. A veterinarian that does chiropractic or acupuncture (our vet does both) may be more open to conservative management. There is also a Conservative Canine Management group on Yahoo. https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ConservativeManagement/info

 

K9gsd78....how bad is the tear?...That will make a difference whether you have the option to go  conservative vs having the surgery. In my cases they were complete tear.

Thank you for the responses.  I don't know if the vet knows for sure how bad the tear is at this time.  He did an x-ray and physical manipulation of the joint and recommended the TPLO.  I have no experience with ACL injuries, so I am just learning all about it.  I am assuming it is a complete rupture, but I will ask tomorrow to make sure.

 

It is my understanding that a TPLO is the gold standard of treatment  for a full tear on a larger dog. My sister's BC blew out both knees, about two years apart. The first one was really severe so a TPLO was required. The second knee wasn't nearly as bad, so they did a tightrope procedure, but she only weighs 40 lbs. and was 10 years old at the time of the second surgery. 

$2300 is a very reasonable fee for a TPLO. If she were my dog I would do the TPLO because she is young and has many active  years ahead of her. Without the surgery she will always have limitations. JMO

What the vets don't understand is that the temperament of the dog has a lot to do with the treatment. What I mean is the best surgery won't be worthwhile if the dog cannot be kept quiet during recovery. Depending on the temperament and drive of this dog, one option may be better than another. I have had complex procedures done on dogs because they were the gold standard, but the dog's temperament prevented full benefits from being realized and in hindsight, I should've done the option w/the shorter recovery time, even though it wasn't as good as the one I chose. In the end, the expensive, gold standard option can end up being an utter waste of money and we end up going with the cheaper, more traditional, less complex approach but the results are much better. Soooo, my point is to look at the WHOLE picture when deciding which treatment is best- the vet doesn't know the dog- you do. 

Where is this dog located? If within a few hours drive of Chicago, I would strongly recommend http://myveterinarysurgeon.com/

Good point, Jenni. It is a difficult situation.  A friend of mine had to keep her high energy dog sedated for quite some time and that really helped. 

She is in Montana.  I have a call into my vet and I will also speak to the WSU vet school about options.  Unfortunately, if the family cannot afford a $2300 surgery and there is a less expensive option that they can afford, even if it is not ideal, it will be better than no surgery.  I am also looking into funding options for the family if anyone knows of non-profits that might help in these situations.