Dog with CCL rupture--now what

SuwaneeGirl

I have an 8-year-old male Westie, 25 lbs, who has been dxed with a ruptured CCL in his left hind leg.

I am running through the options to treat/not to treat and am curious if you have dealt with this, particularly in a smaller, mostly sedentary dog. Most info I see online is geared toward dogs in the 45 lb and up range and more active dogs.

Fergie (the Westie) is pretty chill. The most excitement he gets is chasing squirrels in the back yard or maybe sometimes a walk on level surfaces. He's bigger than most Westies, but his vet is OK with his weight because he is so big-boned. I am not sure if going to the expense and stress of the TPLO or TTA procedure is worth it for him since he probably only has 6-8 years ahead of him, anyway. His only health issue is skin allergies, which we treat with Atarax and occasionally, prednisone.

Anyone ever gone through this? What did you do? 

MMP

My dog has had two extracapsular surgeries. I'm not a fan of TTA and TPLO--and extracapsular is a little less expensive.

SuwaneeGirl

Hi MMP,

How big is your dog? We were suggested that extracapsular might be a better choice given our dog's size and activity level.

Did you have one done and then the other blew out during the dog's recovery?

How has the dog been? Was recovery hard?

Thanks... 

MMP

My dog was 66 lbs when the first one blew.  She was down to 56 lbs when the second one blew.  Her surgeries were a year and one day apart.

Her surgeon does extracapsular, TTA and TPLO.  He said he avoids those when possible--just asking for problems.  He said based on her weight and activity level, the extracapsular was the way to go.  The knee she had surgery on last year is perfect.

My friends who had TTA and TPLO had problems and resulted in more surgeries (different surgeon).

Mine had her last surgery two weeks ago. 

Recovery is uneventful. My other dog had a hip replacement a few years ago.  Similar recovery.  The difference this time- I had the surgery done while I was home on vacation.  I thought it would be nice to be with her while she recovered. Mistake.  I found that I annoyed her more and wantedt to take her out for short walks.  When my other dog had his hip done the surgeon told me not to take any time off.  Just crate him and go to work.  Looking back, that was smart and the way to go.

Have no worries about the extracapsular. With your dog's weight you won't have a problem. To give you an example--at five weeks post op (the 1st surgery) I screwed up and my dog got out and chased a fox through the yard.  The extracaspular suture held up. We had to rest her an additional three weeks, but she had free run of the yard again by the end of April--would have been sooner if she hadn't chased that fox.

boylema

Our 7y/o 65lb GSP has had bilat extracapsular Trad's (see siggie)

Here's a link to a post from last week w/links to some of my pp's about our experience:

http://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/61635381.aspx

Feel free to PM if you have any ?'s, thoughts, or need a shoulder to cry on!! Know you are not alone! ((hugs))

SuwaneeGirl

That's really interesting. I am really glad to hear your pup is doing well after the extracapsular procedure. I am leaning toward that for Fergie, too.