Cruciate Ligament injury in Labrador?

[Baggybreeches]

Took our choc lab to the vets tonight, she has been getting progressively more lame over the past week/10 days and really struggled on her walk this morning.
Vet suspects cruciate ligament damage, she is going for scan/xray etc on Friday and then referral to specialist surgery.
So what can I expect prognosis wise? Recovery time wise and also cost wise? (she is insured but you know that sometimes they drop little 'bombshells')
All advice gratefully recieved!

 

[soloabe]

My boy had both go and had surgery on both. For us it was suprising how quickly he got over it.

He is 7 and literally right after the op even though he was sore he was weighbearing and you could tell how glad his was that he could walk and run properly again.

6 weeks of leash walking and after that he was a good as new.

 

[jack9]

my old dog had this and cage rest was advised for 10 weeks. her outcome wasnt good as she had a number of differnt problems however agility dogs that i know have come sound enough to go back competing again

I have heard the injury can re-occur and does - however the majority go back to as good as new

 

[Abandluc]

My boxer snapped one of his cruicate about 3 years ago. He had TPLO surgery which involves rotating the top part of the bone in the knee and putting a metal plate in it. This procedure strengthens the whole joint and takes away the need for the ligament.
The whole recovery time was about 3 months. He was strictly rested in a crate for about 4 weeks then slowly brought back to exercise.
Now he is absolutely fine on that leg (it's the best one out of the four!). He doesn't do a lot any more because he has arthritis in his shoulder and a weak ligament on the other side.
He is 9yrs old now and when he first did the injury the vets I was at, at the time told me he should be put to sleep! Needless to say we got another opinion and he is still with us.

Cost wise was about £3500

Good luck with your dog

 

[Nickijem]

My mum's labrador had cruciate ligament damage in both his hind legs last year. The op would cost about £3000 per leg. It was then that she realised her Saga pet insurance only covered her for £1000.
There was no way she could afford to find another £5000 so she looked at the alternatives - if there were any. She took him swimming at a hydrotherapy pool and only walked him for a few minutes on the lead each day. Luckily he is a very lazy lab who was quite happy to laze about doing not a lot!
After about 6 sessions at the pool, he really started to improve. After 10 sessions he wasn't lame at all. Now he comes for walks with me and my spaniel pup and he can happily walk for an hour. The pool sessions cost £160 in total - a bit cheaper than the op!

 

[Baggybreeches]

Nickijem, thanks for that we have a hydrotherapy place 1/2 a mile away. I will know more after xrays on Friday. I will make sure about the insurance payout BEFOREHAND, not because I am tight or horrid but I really can't afford to spend that much on something that rest and rehab could mend.

 

[echodomino]

Not quite the same scale but one of my JRTs did hers and had to have it replaced with a nylon one as it was beyond surgical repair. Was advised about 8-10wks recovery then lead walking and gradual build up of exercise. She seemed back to normal at the right time and had her check ups no probs but she couldn't even do half an hours free running without coming home lame. Took her well over a year to be back to normal but you'd never know to see her.

I can't remember exact cost, think it was just short of £200

 

[roypaul55]

TPLO, or tibial-plateau-leveling osteotomy, is a surgery performed on dogs to stabilize the stifle joint after ruptures of the cranial cruciate ligament. TPLO and veterinaryimplantsdirect offers a variety of services to keep your pet healthy.