My dog's got to have surgery...

[Canton_Coot_Killer]

About a month ago my dog comes up hobbling around, I didn't really think anything about it. The hobbling got better, then about a week later, the son of a gun could hardly walk.....

After trips to 3 different vets, it turns out it's a torn ACL. What the HELL!?

After much $$, I learned that a dog's acl is just like a humans. When it's gone, it's gone... Now there's 2 options to get him back to where he can just be able to walk around.....

1st option cost is $800, if this surgery is taken, he will basically be a lap dog, no more hunting.... And with the size of my dog, 100 lbs., the surgery may not hold up... The surgery would be done locally by a vet...

2nd option cost is $2000, if this surgery is taken, dog will be ready to go by next hunting season and this surgery will be able to hold up and he'll even be able to hunt some more..

Now the dilema is this... I'm not worried about him hunting anymore, he's been a good retreiver for me, but if the 1st option of surgery is questionable about holding up, I guess I'm left with no option but to get him fixed up right even though I just don't have $2000 laying around to spend on my dog....

You guys heard of or seen a dog work after having blown out his ACL? Any comments appreciated..... I'm thinking about option #2, what other choice is there?

[dukbum]

you talking about ole steeler? sorry to hear about that dude! man i have always said they are like kids wut ever it takes is wut i would do and get it done rite!

[velcro]

I had an ACL surgery on a 105 pound black lab in the mid 90's. I have no idea what they're talking about with him being a lap dog. He would work out hard and hunt with no problems at all, and it wasn't a $2000 surgery. I'll send you a pm with some info.

[Canton_Coot_Killer]

Yeah Bum, ole Steeler's come up lame on me...

But Velcro has sent me the number of a guy in La., going to give him a call and see what's up....

Velcro, I'm guessing it was your dog that had the surgery... And from what you're telling me, all went well and good?

The $2000 surgery is supposed to be the latest and greatest now and I had a vet tell me that he wouldn't feel comfortable performing the older surgery since he was 100 lbs....

[Meeka]

You might wanna ask your vet to call the LSU vet school and send the films and get a second opinion and ask about prices. They do real good work, but I have to use a credit card to shop there.

[velcro]

any updates yet?

[Duck Sniper]

I would spend $1,000,000 on my dog! Whatever it would take, I would pay!

[Canton_Coot_Killer]

Velcro, I called your guy. Unlike some vets, he was real easy to talk to and didn't talk any bull$hit, he told me how it was. I appreciated that...
But he was going hunting for 2 weeks, and I had to get something done, so I set up the appt. and took him to MSU yesterday.....

Good news is that it wasn't as expensive as my vet told me it would be....
Bad news is that both acl's in his back legs are bad... WTF?!?!?

By the time I'm finished, he'll be RoboDog with all the plates in his booty...

So he is having surgery as we speak and they are going to call me when he is finished with the surgery.....

Meeka, 'preciate the input, I didn't call LSU only because I was running short on time and it was just easier to set it up at MSU... About the 2nd opinions... I got 4 of 'em.....

[velcro]

Glad you felt better after talking to my guy, he'll tell you like it is. I wouldn't trust anyone else with my dog. Let us know how it goes.

[dukbum]

good luck to ole steeler.....he is a strong doggie....and will pull through fine and be just as good as new

[Canton_Coot_Killer]

Just talked to the doc, he's out of surgery and everything went well... I'll be picking him up tomorrow... He told me that recovery time is around 7-10 days... I'll keep you guys up to date.....

He also told me that ruptured acl's are common in labs... I didn't know that.......

[Canton_Coot_Killer]

Picked up the ole boy Friday, now comes the fun part......

Ice incision for 2 days, 2 times a day, I work his leg as if he were walking on it, 2 times a day, 2 sets of 10-15 reps...

After 2 days of icing it, you must put a heat pack on it for 3 days, 2 times a day followed by working his leg, 2 sets of 10-15 reps twice a day...

On Friday, the staples come out and he should be bearing significant weight on his leg, I have to keep him detained, no running, jumping, etc.. for 4 weeks... After 4 weeks, go back for a checkup...

So far his recovery is going well, the incision looks good, he's bearing weight on it, more than I thought he would this soon after surgery, I also use a leash when I go outside to let him do his business and I have a strap that I put around his belly to give him support....

One bit of advice I have for you dog owners... If your dog comes up lame one day and you don't know why, ie.. limping, go get it checked out... Sometimes these injuries can heal themselves if you keep your dog from running and hurting it more... I wish I would have known that when my dog first came up limping. Might have saved me a lot of money... A $30 vet visit and an hour of your time ain't chit compared to a acl surgery....

[dukbum]

glad to hear the ole boy is doing good

[Canton_Coot_Killer]

'preciate that Dukbum! Looks like you boys have been killing some ducks.... hopefully they'll stay around for ya'...