Cranial Cruciate Ligament Rupture

[doglover6049]

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of whether broken screws can be repaired in a dog who just had TPLO (cruciate ligament surgery) about 12 weeks ago. He was not running, I had him sequestered in the living room, walked him up and down stairs with a leash for the most part - a couple of times he escaped and ran around the back yard, but I can't understand how this could happen and now how it might be fixed. Also, he'll need surger in his other knee which I understand is pretty common. Any thoughts?

[Daveyo]

Well, first thing you did wrong is walking this dog up and down the stairs which put incredible strain not only on the leg having the surgery but to the other leg as well. This is a first no-no in the recovery process.

Then the dog escapes and ran yet which is another no-no and you and that dog was asking for a heap of problems and inviting another surgery scenario not only to the same leg but to the other leg as well.

Go see the VET who did the surgery for you, and tell him what happenned here and I am sure he or she will cringed and tell you what possibles are left for your dog. My guess is another surgery has to be done to fixed the first leg and then you have to re-do the healing process again.

12 weeks is way too soon to be forcing a dog going up and down the stairs. Usually after these kind of incidents, you should never have your dog do the stairs again, and never have your dog run around which if it does, increases another tear to happen again. After you have both surgeries done, keep your dog on a leash and control it and prevent any running around. You can walk your dog but go at a normal to slow pace.

This kind of surgery is similar to a human when they have knee surgery, or have kneecap replacement. If you had this done you certainly would not want to run or try going up and down the stairs yourself risking further damage.

Maybe after a year since the last surgery you can then try to let the dog do a bit more like going up a few stairs, not many like maybe 5 steps to 6 steps the most. Remember, the dog needs plenty of time to recover from such and really 12 weeks is not enough.

Daveyo

[doglover6049]

Thanks for your comments. When we first had the surgery done, the doc said it was ok to walk the dog up and down the stairs as long as he was on a leash - which we did. I did question it at the time because until then we had been carrying him up and down (living in a town house isn't without stairs). Then the doc said after the first visit, that it was ok to take him on short walks, which we did, on a leash. Then he said to increase the walks and not to worry since he had a big metal plate in his leg. We were still cautious and we certainly didn't want the dog to get out and into the yard, but he slipped by us at about the 10 week mark post surgery. I have had screws in my knee for the past 10 years and was pushed to exercise pretty agressively after surgery and still haven't broken any screws. I question first of all whether there is a problem with the screws, surely they should be strong enough to accommodate the fact that the patient is a dog but secondly, if indeed my dog is going to be hobbled for the rest of his life, I doubt I will have surgery on his second leg. He doesn't appear to be in pain and if he isn't, I just won't put him through this again. For now, I'm taking him in tomorrow to see what they can do - and you're right, it probably will be surgery re-done and a long recovery period. Had I known this going into it at the beginning, I would never have had it done.

[Rescueadog]

Doglover6049 and I chose a specialist with an excellent reputation for conducting TPLO surgery. The advocates (us) for the patient (our dog) ultimately count on this person to give accurate and timely information regarding post surgery expectations. We investigated but did not count on one person's opinion or the wealth of information on the Internet to guide us; we did eventually have to place our trust in the surgeon which is not terribly unlike we humans once we are ensnared in the country's "health care" system.

I just surfed the net and found a story where a 165 pound dog broke away from its owner, ran towards a fence and fell. This was about a month after TPLO surgery. The extent of the damage was limited soft tissue. Not one screw was cracked or broken.

Every story I come across about TPLO surgery and recovery is different and many include similar issues to what Doglover6049 shared-conflicting information from practitioners and or "Dogs Gone Wild" stories. We already got the steely-eyed glance from the surgeon about the the latter. But will he ever admit to incorrectly stating that stairs were okay? He hasn't so far.