Animal Welfare Professionals

We currently have a young pittie female who was dumped and another volunteer trapped her and we got her into the vet up to date on all her shots, we got her spayed and then she also needed a dental because a lot of her teeth were broken and she just had a lot of issues from what we don't know because she was dumped. However a couple days before her dental I noticed that she was limping sometimes and not wanting to put weight on her back leg. So when she went in for her dental the vet checked her out and realized that she had a torn cruciate and will need surgery, the vet is recommending either the TPLO surgery or amputation. However we found a vet that does an alternative to TPLO surgery which is called a CCL repair surgery. It is less invasive and better results long-term and also less expensive. The downside of it is that the recovery time is much longer. I'm wondering if anybody else has had this surgery done and what your experience was and any tips.

TIA 

#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization

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Samantha Paxin
Founder
Little Critters Rescue
OR
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Hi Samantha, 

I have a scrub nurse on my board who works at a specialty hospital in CT and handles about 4-5 TPLO surgeries a week. CCL stands for "Cranial cruciate ligament".

TPLO's have very high success rates and recovery time is quiet fast, dependent on the case.  When I worked ICU and handled recovery post op before discharge, most dogs were up and mobile the next day. I've seen a fair amount of double TPLO's as well, when both knees are done at the same time, and it is still amazing how quickly the dog can adjust (with support and proper post op care per your DVM). We have also handled plenty of cases where amputation was the best option and again, it is amazing how quickly a dog can adjust and be mobile afterwards. With larger breeds, size and long term complications - such as osteoarthritis/joint degeneration - should be taken into consideration. 

Is there a specific reason that amputation was recommended aside from the TPLO surgery? 

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Maria Putnam
Founder/CEO
All About the Animals Foundation
CT
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The second veterinarian is probably referring to the Lateral Fabellar Suture technique for CCL repair. That procedure is "older" but can also be very successful. There are benefits and drawbacks to all the options for CCL injury….conservative rest/NSAIDS, repair, amputation, PT, acupuncture…they all are valid and the right choices depend on a number of pet/owner/lifestyle factors. For that reason, my shelter generally chooses not to perform surgical repair while dogs are in our care (unless amputation is warranted). I can explain more about the shelter-side of that decision if you like.

We start NSAIDS and restrict exercise and discuss the options with potential adopters so that they can make the best choice for their finances and other considerations. Many dogs improve dramatically with conservative treatment so there is no need to rush to surgery of any kind unless the injury is very severe (in the vet's opinion). 

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Rachel Powell DVM
Director of Surgery
Greenhill Humane Society
Eugene, OR
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