Dog Knee Surgery & CCL Ligament Repair » Non-Surgical Options

Dog Knee Surgery Costs – Cost of Repairing a Torn Dog Knee Ligament

Kenneth — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 05:57:17 +0000

As a pet owner, one of the worst things that you could ever imagine happening is having your dog become injured to the point where it is painful for him/her to walk. When our dog tore her CCL (comparable to an ACL in humans) she couldn’t put any pressure at all on her leg. It was terrible to see, especially considering the fact that she was always such an active dog prior to her injury. The good news is that with dog knee injuries, there are many surgical repair options, just as knee injuries in humans, there are many repair and rehabilitation options.

When it comes to the cost of surgery, that is really going to depend on 5 major factors:

First and foremost, the type of surgery that you choose will be the biggest factor in determining cost. Here are some common types: TPLO, TTA, and Lateral Fabellar Technique
The veterinarian performing the surgery can substantially increase/decrease the cost. Believe it or not, just like human doctors, veterinarians also “specialize”, so if you go to a vet who only does dog knee surgery and knee repairs for dogs, chances are the price will be higher than if you go to your typical veterinarian.
Unfortunate, but true, I’ve come to learn that your location will greatly affect cost. I live in southern California, and we paid almost twice as someone in Texas who contacted us about having the same surgery performed on their dog.
The type of dog that you have. This effects the cost primarily due to the type of surgeries that are available, as larger breeds typically have less options available, through some veterinarians will perform any of the 3 techniques mentioned above regardless of the breed of the dog.
The final cost, that can be partially controlled by the owner is the follow-up visits, medication expenses, food expenses, care, rehab, etc.

So I’ve given you the factors, What is the Cost??? The thing is, there really isn’t a set cost for the dog knee surgery, or knee repair. To give you a range, I’d say that you could expect anywhere from $1,000 all the way up to $5,000. $1,000 would probably be the very low end of the spectrum and $5,000 would be the very high end. I’d like to say that the average dog knee (CCL) surgery would cost you around $1,500, but depending on the factors above, it really can fall anywhere in that range. Ours was about $2,500, then after all the follow-up office visits and medications were factored in, our final cost was probably closer to $3,500.

If you and your dog are unlucky and this happens to you, I’d recommend shopping around before heading in for surgery. Obviously, the first choice would be your primary care veterinarian, but don’t be afraid to ask them if they have any recommendations (even if they are capable of performing the surgery).

As always, I hope this information is helpful, and I always love to hear comments, so don’t be afraid to drop a line below.

Image by jstar.

Cruciate Ligament in Dogs, Canine Cranial Cruciate Ligament (Crucial)

Kenneth — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:06:53 +0000

The cranial cruciate ligament in dogs provides stability to the knee (stifle) joint. Any strain, tearing or rupture of the cranial cruciate ligament can, and will, result in knee (stifle) instability. A strained cranial cruciate ligament can, in many cases, be repaired or heal itself without surgery. Strains should be treated with conservative management. Tears and ruptures of the cranial cruciate ligament require more drastic treatments such as orthopedic surgery. When it comes to surgical repair of the CCL, there are multiple CCL surgery options available and it is always best to consult with your veterinarian prior to deciding which option is best for your dog.

The necessity of the cranial crucial ligament (CCL) can be compared to the necessity of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) that is found in humans. While there are people who have bypassed having surgery with a torn ACL, their knees are typically less stable for the remainder of their lives and their activity has to be severly limited. The same holds true for canines – should a torn or ruptured CCL be left untreated, the dog will survive, but may display lameness in the limb with the torn ligament, and the dogs activity level will not be the same as that of what it was prior to damaging the ligament.

Conservative Management as a Cranial Cruciate Ligament (CCL) Treatment Option

Kenneth — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:14:20 +0000

Though this wasn’t our first choice when dealing with our dogs ruptured cranial cruciate ligament, Conservative Management (or Conservative Treatment) is a non-surgical option of CCL treatment that should be considered by all dog owners prior to surgery.

Consider the human knee for example, you’ve all probably heard of torn or ruptured ACL’s (meaning the ligament is entirely severed), and you’ve also heard of partially torn ACL’s (meaning the ligament is still intact, but has definiate damage. Now, let’s consider a pro athlete, surgery will be necessary for either case – torn ACL or partially torn ACL. However, let’s say we have a 40 year old man with a desk job who doesn’t do too much physical activity. Surgery would be the best bet for a torn ACL, however he could probably get through the rest of his life with a partially torn ACL, and using a brace and conservative management in situations where any further damage to the ligament could occur.

The same hold true for dogs, however, the unfortunate thing is that we don’t have the option of giving a dog an MRI, which will actually show the extent of ligament damage. With dogs, we can have an x-ray, and we can have veterinarians check for instability (drawer movement), but we will not not for sure if the ligament is completely torn, or just partially torn. This is where conservative management comes in. Depending on the size of your dog (conservative management is typically not an option for large dogs – 40+ lbs), the amount of instability (drawer movement) in the stifle (knee) joint and the amount of lameness your dog displays in the injured limb, your veterinarian may recommend conservative management rather than a surgical procedure.

For conservative management, these principles must be strictly adhered to, otherwise the stifle joint will be unable to recover naturally:

Weight management / Diet control – Here are some weight management dog foods
Complete restriction of movement in the beginning, along with rest
Use of anti-inflammatory medications

Weight Management is not only something that will be recommended in the case of conservative management, but it will often be recommended following surgical procedures as well. Our dog dropped 1/3 of her body weight after surgery through diet control and weight management.

Rest & Restriction is required to allow the knee joint to heal in any way if its going to. This process can take 4-8 weeks, and at the end of this period, if the dog is still exhibiting lameness in the limb, surgery might be the best option. During this period, it’s a good idea to keep your dog in a crate or pen. We actually ordered these two plastic pens for Roxy during her recovery.

Anti-Inflammatory Medications can be used in combination with weight management and rest & restriction to help remove the swelling in the limb and let it recover. Here are some natural and over the counter anti-inflammatories that can aid in conservative management.

Before beginning a conservative management regimen, it is always best to contact your veterinarian and have the CCL injury professionaly diagnosed. After seeing a friend of mine try conservative management with a Labrador, I’d recommend seeing a vet ASAP after the injury.