One of the best things that you can do after a knee surgery where there was also meniscus damage is to start a supplement program. Three supplements that are extremely helpful in fighting arthritis are Omega 3′s, Glucosamine and Chondritin. I’m sure there are others out there, but these 3 supplements have been proven to help joint mobility. Here are some great supplement options for your dog following knee surgery.

Related posts:

1. Dog Knee Surgery Costs – Cost of Repairing a Torn Dog Knee Ligament
2. Canine Knee Surgery on Both Knees at the Same Time
3. CCL Knee Surgery Recovery – Keeping an Active Dog Inactive

In talking with our veterinarian, and after going through this experience first hand, I can tell you that trying to keep an active dog inactive is not an easy task. There are basically 3 options that you have which can be used together or independently of one another.

• Cage / Pen
  Restricting a dog who usually has free reign in the house or in the backyard is difficult, but the thing you have to keep in mind is that it is entirely for the good of the dog. The pen allows you to restrict your pets movement; if there is not enough space to walk/run around, your dog will most likely just lay down (hopefully). Our dog had a hard time adjusting to being in penned up, so we ended up using sedatives.
• Sedatives / Sedation
  We had a very hard time accepting this method, but when it comes down to it, movement and activity can cause your dog to re-injure its knee or damage the work that was done during the CCL surgery. Our veterinarian subscribed sedatives to us, but we were reluctant to use them at first. After the first day and a half of whining and standing at the door of the pen, we decided to start using the prescribed sedatives and it was the best thing that happened, for us and our dog.
• Diet Restriction
  We used diet restriction for 2 reasons. Firstly, our dog was overweight and that was a large part of the reason that she tore her CCL in the first place so the diet restriction helped to serve as a weight loss “tool”. Secondly, consuming less food will result in less energy, so your dog will more than likely be less active. Try it sometime, eat 25% less calories one day than you normally would, chances are that you’ll feel a bit lethargic.

When it comes down to it, none of these options are ideal, but when all is said and done, they do help to keep the dog from re-injuring itself after surgery, and they can also help to recover faster.

The following items don’t necessarily help keep an active dog inactive, but they can help contribute to joint health which in-turn will help your dog once it begins its “rehab” and gets to get back moving:

• Cosequin DS Double Strength Chewable Tablets, 250 Count
• DVM Resources SynoviG3 Soft Chews, 240 Chews

Related posts:

1. Treatment and Recovery of Torn Knee Ligament in Doberman Pinschers
2. Dog Knee Surgery Costs – Cost of Repairing a Torn Dog Knee Ligament
3. Canine Knee Surgery on Both Knees at the Same Time

The first step to take if your dog is diagnosed with 2 torn knee ligaments would be restriction. When I say restriction, I mean putting the dog in some sort of crate or pen that will drastically restrict movement. You don’t want the dog to have room to run and jump as sad as that is to say. While confined, icing the dogs knees can help reduce swelling and inflammation – if your dog will actually let you apply ice.

As the dog is confined, you’ll be left with some more questions to answer – Should we have both knees repaired at the same time, or should we do one, let it recover completely and then do the other. And then the next obvious question that comes after that is, can we afford it? I’ll address these questions together because they can tie directly into one another. We’ll look at these questions considering 2 cases. Case 1 – We get both knees operated on at the same time, and, Case 2 – We get one knee operated on, then wait for it to heal and then get the second knee operated on.

Option 1 – Repair both CCLs at the same time
I’m calling this option 1 because I think that this option will be the all around best option for both the dog and the owner(s). In terms of time commitment, this option will require less time because the knees will be recovering together, rather than waiting for one to recover, then waiting for the other. This option, though drastic, will be less harsh on the dog. With this option, the dog will only be required to be confined for 2-5 months (depending on the type of surgery, the veterinarians recommendations, etc.). This will essentially equate to half of the time as the other option. And the final reason that I think this is the better option is that there is greater potential for savings. If both knees are operated on at the same time, chance are you’ll be able to talk your vet into doing 2 for 1, or at least the second at a 50% discount.

Option 2 – Repair one knee at a time
With this option, you’ll be looking at strict confinement not just once, but twice. This was one of the hardest things when our dog had her knee surgery. There are many things that could come into play when deciding which option is best, age, activity level, attitude, etc, but if you have an active dog, I think that repairing one knee at a time would be absolute torture because it would lengthen the amount of time that the dog is penned up in a confined space. Though the possibility is there, I don’t believe the potential for savings is quite as large in this instance, because by spreading the surgeries out by 3-5 months, you’re in essence taking your dog back for an entirely separate surgery, and the veterinarian will probably want to bill you as such. It’s always worth trying to negotiate the price down a bit, but I would anticipate that the vet would be less willing to cut the price in this instance.

As terrible as this situation would be, it does happen, so I hope that this information helps in making decisions about how to treat a dog who does encounter a dual CCL rupture.

Related posts:

1. Cruciate Ligament in Dogs, Canine Cranial Cruciate Ligament (Crucial)
2. Dog Knee Surgery Costs – Cost of Repairing a Torn Dog Knee Ligament
3. Cost of TTA Surgery for Cranial Cruciate Ligament – Cost of Knee Surgery for Dogs

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

1. 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
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.

Related posts:

1. Cost of Repairing a Torn ACL/CCL Injury in a Dogs Knee
2. Cost of TPLO Surgery – Cost to Repair Torn Cruciate Ligament in Dogs
3. Hidden Costs and Unexpected Costs of Cranial Cruciate Ligament Repair in Dogs