billbro

Not sure if anyone can help me with the below, they weren't covered off in my discharge meeting and our regular vet is still off sick: 1. Are there any exercise/physiotherapy I should follow - as it's mentioned on a lot of veterinary websites online. Massaging is also mentioned, but he seems very tender even when brushing away hair from his incision. 2. Should I be using a cold compress over his leg? I know for human treatment the methodology has moved from RICE to MEAT. 3. Towel walking - is this recommended? Again I see a lot of reference to this online. 4. When should we expect him to start placing weight on his foot? I know you mentioned the longer he stays off it the better. 5. He has not opened his bowels today - do we need to be concerned/worried? He has only peed once today, but that might be because he hasn't been drinking a lot. I've emailed the vet director and our regular vet, so hopefully they get back to me tomorrow. We've got a post-op appointment in 3 days, so it might be covered off in that, but the sooner I know the more comfortable I'll be.

So I visited our little guy today and it's kind of heart reaching. The surgery sounded very successful, which is good news. However, I was told they had to perform a meniscal release and my brief bout of googling has made me somewhat concerned.

Ours definitely is not calm, we rushed around last night to buy additional items - e.g. blew a hole in my wallet buying a baby pen, bedding rails, etc. We already have a crate and a plastic play pen, but we had to ramp everything up. It's been a very costly couple of days.

Thanks for all the responses, I looked up SASH and ARH and I don't think we would have been able to afford either facilities out of our pockets. Following a second independent consult, we took our little guy into surgery this morning - he was freaking out on being left there, like we were freaking out leaving him. Didn't help that he slipped and splayed out on all 4s as the veterinary nurse took her around the back as they had just mopped the floor and it was wet... Thanks for all the advice, I'm concerned we haven't had any post-op discussions with our regular vet yet. However, since we are on a care plan, at least we can go for as many consults as needed after surgery. Also, both vets were of the opinion that De Angelis was sufficient given he is a small dog and anything else would be overkill (e.g. I was considering paying for an athroscope before anything else or TPLO, TTA, etc).

Jumabaar, thanks for the detailed reply. I've confirmed with our regular vet and she will be performing a 'Flo modification of de Angelis suture'. After some reading, I think the suture method might be acceptable given the size of my dog, but the concern will really be around ensuring we properly restrict/confine him. I think the problem with the diagnosis with our little guy, is that on the initial onset of some lameness there wasn't any movement of the knee when the drawer test was performed (maybe he was tense?). However on a subsequent follow up our regular vet felt that there was some movement - she referred us to the director of the clinic who is confident it is an issue. I've got another consultation booked tomorrow - it's with a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, so I'll see what they say. Also worth noting that if it is a CCL, I think scar tissue might have already started to develop as this initially occurred over the Anzac day long weekend - so it's been a number of weeks, as the CCL diagnosis wasn't until last weekend. He's been on metacam for weeks now, but I'm also concerned about that after doing more research...

Well I live in Sydney, fairly close to the CBD - though I'm happy to drive where ever if there is a good specialist that people recommend.

Thanks for the responses, I'm actually trying to organise for another paid consult at another veterinary clinic. I'll ask about a referral from my regular vet and the new one to see what is available.

So I reached out to the owner of the tiggerpoz website, which I saw mentioned on a thread here. The owner of the website seems adamant that surgery would not be a good idea, but I obviously have no idea about his background. Is there any merit in delaying the surgery and seeing how my dog recovers? He is improving, though the risk with his improvement is that he will re-injure it (e.g. he is already starting to jump onto the bed again). I've also read that x-rays won't help diagnose a ligament injury (so not sure why it has been recommended to me on so many occasions) - should I be paying for an arthroscope instead ahead of all this surgery? The current approach was to x-ray him under anaesthesia and move straight onto surgery, but I'm okay with the additional cost to ensure we are going down the optimal approach. I should stress, that unlike some others, cost is not a primary consideration for us (though a relevant one) - but I am reluctant to open my little guy up unless it is the best option. Apologies, I am going around in circles but the more I read the more conflicting opinions there seems to be.

Thanks, I sent them a note earlier today to confirm a few things: 1. What are the go/no-go criteria for the surgery following the x-rays that are being performed. 2. What type of repair method (it might actually be the suture method) 3. What are the risk factors of the surgery, as this wasn't explained clearly. Would it be impolite to be asking my regular vet for a specialist referral? Also, should I be concerned about delaying this further, by looking for a surgeon, but he is on the mend? Sorry for the silly questions.

Kirty, Is a specialist needed - as we prefer the familiarity of our regular vet. Only the veterinary director at the green cross clinic we go to performs the acl surgeries. Thanks for all the feedback, our main concern was having invasive surgery for our little guy who is pretty young - but definitely seems like the best course of action. Edit: woops autocorrect on phone.

Thanks for the responses, I'm hopeful that this isn't a bilateral event for him. We kind of suspect this only occured because a while back at the dog park a man accidentally stepped on the same leg and he yelped - which is rare for him. I think that started a trend that lead to the eventual tear/rupture. The little guy is getting better slowly, which is the confusing thing about operating on him - but we want him back up to speed as soon as possible, so there probably isn't any other option.

Hi all, Apologies for adding another post about this topic, I have tried to browse through the search option before posting. Unfortunately, we have a 3 year old Japanese Spitz who has potentially torn or ruptured his cruciate ligament - he was running at the park, when all of a sudden he started limping. We have had a number of consults with the vet and it has been quite a few weeks now, the limp is definitely improving, but when he starts jogging the limp will be present and he isn't really bearing weight on it. Long story short, we have booked him in for surgery next week after a consult this morning, but I have some lingering concerns. 1. When I asked the vet about risk factors to surgery, she only talked about the anaesthesia (saying it was no more risky than for a human). However, the concern is more around risk factors resulting from invasive surgery and post-op. 2. I have read previously that it isn't necessarily recommended for young dogs to have invasive surgery, but the vet actually suggested that it was the other way around (e.g. she might not recommend it to an older sedentary dog, which seems consistent with other forum posts). Essentially, I just want to confirm that surgery is the correct action for a small young dog. Also, is there a preferred CI operation for a small dog, e.g. I've read about Suture, TPLO, TTA? The surgery estimate doesn't outline which method will be performed by the vet. Appreciate any comments and thoughts. Thanks