Cruciate Ligament Repair

[persephone]

CLICK HERE

"We opted for something known as the tightrope technique.

"We used 700 pound breaking-strain Marlin fishing line and two stainless steel plates either side of the joint.

"Holes were drilled through the bone and the fishing line was doubled through - so he's got double the strength of a 700lb line there.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

dammit, why couldn't they have used fishing line to reconstruct my knee instead of stuffing up my patella tendon...

[korbin13]

Well, I feel a bit ripped to be honest. I paid $4500 for a 35kg dog and they paid $5000 for a 1000kg bull :laugh:

[ness]

for which surgery though korbin - a tightrope repair fits somewhere between a traditional/lateral suture repair and a bone cutting TPLO/TTA procedure as far as cost is concerned. Wonder how you crate rest a bull though. Edited March 15, 2014 by ness

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

(snip) Wonder how you crate rest a bull though.

it's called stock yard and crusher

http://www.australianstockyards.com.au/id/2/

[persephone]

I don't think cattle would be/could be kept in a crush for the weeks needed after surgery - I would guess a small indoor pen with all mod.cons. at first, then a yard, then a bigger space if needed. There would be LOTS of pain relief,Cattle are pretty stoic ..and I think would manage better than horses?

[Kirislin]

I hope it isn't a conformation fault that's caused the injury or there's going to be alot of cattle out there with dodgy knees from him.

[RuralPug]

I hope it isn't a conformation fault that's caused the injury or there's going to be alot of cattle out there with dodgy knees from him.

Very good point!! If it is, I also hope they will stop selling his seed.

[kelpiecuddles]

I've said this elsewhere but I'll say it here too. The price might seem cheap but it was undertaking at Melbourne University Vet and was essentially an experimental procedure so would have been good advertising for them, would have most likely been used as a teaching opportunity(and would have been recorded for future teaching) and may even be written up by one of the vets there for submission as a discussion of the technique for a journal or similiar. I'd strongly suspect that this procedure was HEAVILY discounted.

[OSoSwift]

I hope it isn't a conformation fault that's caused the injury or there's going to be alot of cattle out there with dodgy knees from him.

Very good point!! If it is, I also hope they will stop selling his seed.

I agree, if it's a conformational fault then yep I hope they do, however I have a dog who damaged her cruciate from a high speed impact with my other dog. I queried the vet numerous time regarding a genetic predisposition. They said no.

So while it could be a weakness, it may be a total accident. They wouldn't have spent the money to keep him as a pet.

Edited March 17, 2014 by OSoSwift

[kelpiecuddles]

I think if he's in a paddock with a bunch of girls it's probably pretty reasonable that he may of twisted his leg awkwardly while on the job. :laugh: Plenty of ways you can do a cruciate without it having a genetic factor at play.

[OSoSwift]

Weellll Yes, but I guess the argument is many bulls do their job day in and out and don't snap cruciates. I have never heard of it in any I know of in my limited knowledge - heard of broken penis's but not cruciates.

So yeh is it an inherant weakness or just a bad luck accident?

[Kirislin]

I think if he's in a paddock with a bunch of girls it's probably pretty reasonable that he may of twisted his leg awkwardly while on the job. :laugh: Plenty of ways you can do a cruciate without it having a genetic factor at play.

I get the impression they sell his semen, so I think alot, if not all matings could be AI

[persephone]

found this:

Rupture of Cranial Cruciate Ligament of the Stifle Definition:

Tearing or disruption of the cranial cruciate ligament as a result of twisting or rotary movement.

Incidence:

Not uncommon. Seen more in older bulls and in heavy cows, especially when first put out on pasture after being restricted. Often cows are in late pregnancy.

Clinical Signs:

Sudden onset of lameness. Lameness is moderate to severe. Early, if animal is tractable, may elicit a positive drawer-forward test. If problem is chronic in nature, may be difficult to demonstrate. See moderate to severe distension of femoral tibial joint capsules. Audible or palpable crepitus maybe felt on movement or rotation of the hock joint. Tibial tuberosity maybe more prominent.

Differential Diagnosis:

Collateral ligament rupture, meniscal damage, acute gonitis, degenerative joint disease, patellar fracture, and distal epiphyseal fracture of the femur. Clinical signs especially a positive drawer-forward sign are extremely useful as are arthrocentesis and radiography.

Treatment:

Rest, TLC. Analgesics in the acute state but overall very little in the heavy animal. Modified Paatsama procedures have been performed in lighter animals.

Prognosis:

unfavorable

and this

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080327171031.htm

seems it is not only heavy beef breeds which can suffer!

[kelpiecuddles]

I thought the article said he was in with cows at the time

Here it says:

diagnosed a ruptured cruciate, probably sustained while "doing his job"

which one would assume would mean he was in a paddock with the ladies at the time.

Edited March 18, 2014 by kelpiecuddles

[Crisovar]

Probably the closest he gets to real cows is an artificial vagina, I understand he is a "collected" sire.

[kelpiecuddles]

Possibly although I had thought it might have been a it like a horse stud I stayed at where it was a mix of paddock work and AI. Either way it sounds like it was considered to be an injury due to a 'poor dismount' ;)

[OSoSwift]

Yes he was but it is not an injury commonly seen in working bulls. Yes it would happen but not commonly.

So it is perfectly feasible that he is an older mature bull and as they age they get bigger and heavier so it is possible he sustained it working, but I would having a little niggly doubt regarding conformation.

I have had a few bulls and one was that big that they nearly had to send a special trailer out to pick him up as he barely fitted in the stock crate. He was 1500kg and his back was very close to the top of my head and I am 5'8.

He was extremely agile on his feet - as my FIL found out when he went to get the bulls in on the bike one day and the bull decided to play. He had extremely good angulation and never had any issues working.