Dog Knee Surgery & CCL Ligament Repair » Weight Management

Cost of Dog Knee Surgery – Are There Options to Reduce the Cost?

Kenneth — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:24:32 +0000

Dealing with a torn cranial crucial ligament in your dog is never an easy thing, and when you add in the high cost of dog knee surgery, it can become a very stressful situation for both the dog and the dog owner. When you begin to research the type of surgeries available to treat the injury, you’ll find the following primary surgery types which can range anywhere from $750-$3,000 depending on the type of surgery, the size of the dog, etc. Common surgery types used to treat a torn cranial crucial ligament in a dogs knee:

Each of the above types of surgeries is great in its own application, however the size and weight of your dog may disqualify it from receiving one or more of the particular types of surgeries. For instance, a large dog, such as a Rottweiler probably will not be eligible to receive a Traditional knee surgery strictly due to its size and weight. Most vets will probably recommend TPLO or TTA surgery for a dog this size, and unfortunately, TPLO and TTA are two of the more costly surgery types due to the fact that they are more invasive and involve cutting of the bone in the knee joint to create a new angle of the knee joint in order to reduce the amount of stress on both the joint itself and the surrounding ligaments.

Cost Reducing Options

At the end of the day, if your dog needs surgery, there really isn’t a way around it, though I have heard of some dog owners who have just not had the ways or means to cover the cost of dog knee surgery so they simply chose to use conservative management as their way of “treating” the injury. The reason that I put “treating” in quotes is because choosing not to repair a torn knee ligament will leave the knee unstable and it will really reduce the dogs quality of life in most cases – especially if the dog is overweight. Should you elect to avoid the cost of surgery by going the conservative management route, here are some things that may help you:

Limit the dogs activity
This may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how many dog owners will just forget about the injury all together after time. The dog may seem to be better, but chances are the injury is still there and the dog has just found a way to cope with it. Make sure you restrict or limit the dogs activity after it suffers a torn cranial cruciate ligament.
Manage the dogs diet
If the dog was overweight when the injury occurred, chances are the weight was a contributing factor in the torn/ruptured knee ligament in the first place. Putting the dog on a weight management diet can drastically improve the dogs quality of life (though many dogs will seem miserable when their food intake is limited) weight loss can definitely help improve mobility and recovery because the knee joint will have less force on it.
Anti-Inflammatory medications
Though this may be an option, it’s not recommended in cases where the dog owner has elected not to get a knee surgery for the dog. Giving anti-inflammatory medication to a dog with an untreated torn knee ligament may give the dog the false sense that the knee is actually better and more stable than it actually is, causing the potential for more injury.

Though most wouldn’t consider not treating a torn knee ligament as a treatment option, it is in fact the only option for some people out there, strictly due to the cost. If you ever find yourself in this circumstance, you could always try to negotiate with your veterinarian – they may be able to work with you on the price.

Homemade Dog Food Recipes – Best Dog Food for Your Best Friend

Kenneth — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:52:25 +0000

Let’s face it… unless you physically make your dogs food, you’re not going to know whats in it. I’ve heard horror stories about what is actually in dog food, but it wasn’t until our dog was injured and had to go on a weight control diet that I actually took a closer look at the food that we were feeding her. I was lucky to come across this eBook, after downloading and reading it, we changed Roxy’s diet and immediately notice increased energy, better skin (she was always itchy), and much less stiffness after long hikes.

After looking into options and talking to a couple veterinarians, my wife and I decided that our best option would be to start making our own dog food for our pets. This was the best decision that we had ever made. There are many benefits, but here are just a few that we’ve realized:

About a 50% savings in dog food cost
Increased energy
Healthier coat
Both of our dogs are now down to their optimal weight

If you’re at all interested in homemade food for your dog, I’d definitely recommend this book of over 200 recipes – Health Food for Dogs: Homemade Recipes.

Image by oceanviews.

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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.