Cruciate Injury

[lisanaaron2000]

Hello,

Please excuse me, I'm fairly new to all this, but at this point my husband and I are in search for help and advice regarding our best friend where ever we can find it a beautiful young hearted 4 year old Rottweiler named Rocky. My husband and I noticed Rocky becoming pretty lame back in January of this year and took him in to visit our wonderful vet in Williams Lake, British Columbia at that point we had X-rays done on him and found out he has severe hip dysplasia as well as a torn cruciate legiment on his left side. At that point we started him on aspirin which was a temporary fix and in June started him on Meloxicam which also was a temporary fix up until recently.

We noticed Rocky having a harding time then usual getting around a couple of weeks ago & made an appointment to see our vet this past Monday. This appointment brought even more bad news, since Rocky was so sore on his left side he has now injured his cruciate legiment on his right side. Our vet was in contact with a a vet in Calgary who could preform a surgery on Rocky that would repair both his cruciate legiments. Unfortunately this procedure is going to cost around $5000.00, which at this point in our lives is almost financially impossible for us. We have just been married 4 years and in the last year just relocated from Ontario to British Columbia, which drained our savings and credit for the next couple of years.

At this point we are seeking any advice on possible fundraising or pet insurance plans which would cover exsisting problems. Possilbe alternative procedures that may fit our budget. Any advice that anyone could email to us would be greatly appreciated. We still can't get past the idea on how we are ever going to put a price on this amazing creatures life.

Rocky is a beautiful Rotti with a heart of a pup!!! I just don't know how I could possibly let that heart go on something that could of been fixed.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Bugsy]

Hi

I'm so sorry to hear about Rocky. May I ask have you had him since he was a pup?

[lisanaaron2000]

Hello,

Thanks for your reply. We have had Rocky ever since he was a puppy. He is really amazing. I don't know what I would ever do without him, let alone having to make a decision on his life.

May I ask, how did you attach that picture of your dog? I would love to post some pictures of Rocky.

[krdahmer]

Have you discussed with your vet a possible payment plan....maybe you could swing it if it was spread out over a longer period of time. Don't give up, you will find a solution!!! And Rocky is lucky to have caring owners such as yourselves! I'll pray for you all.

[Bugsy]

Hi

My dog has hip dysplasia I adopted him when he was 5 months old and at 6 months old he started to show signs of
hip dysplasia, he walked with the back bottom part of his foot (hock) down. Did Rocky show any signs as a pup? Usually hip dysplasia is evident in puppyhood.

Will he also be needing a surgery for each hip?

[lisanaaron2000]

Hello,

We didn't notice Rocky lame as a pup at all. Even our vet at that point was amazed at his size and ability to get around so well. He would jump in and out of the back of our truck like nothing.

We moved about a year ago from Niagara Falls, Ont. to Nimpo Lake, B.C. and I think the long flight might have brought some of this out for him.

I hope everything works out for you and your puppy. Are you going to have the surgery done on his hips? Our vet advised us against the hip surgery because of Rocky's size. He's 150 pounds and not very overweight for his size at all. We put him on this Calorie Control Diet The Royal Canin Veterinary Diet to try and shed a few pounds in his favour.

[mastifflover]

I would try getting in touch with the vetrinary colleges in your area they are usually very helpful and a lot cheaper then a vet. clinic. Too bad you are so far away from Guelph University because they did TPLO surgery on a friends dog at it was nearly half the price. Maybe your vet could work out a payment plan for you, luckily I have one that will do that with expensive procedures. I would also suggest putting glucosamine and condriton capsules in his food the human variety are fine I buy mine at costco much cheaper. Also I have heard of people having great results with acupuntcure for and rimadyl for pain. This is a link to Dr Robyn Smith she specializes in Mastiffs but this is a common problem with these large and giant breeds and you might find some helpful info here. Good luck and your dog is lucky to have such caring owners
http://www.redwoodempiremastiffclub.org/

[glasslass]

When my brother's Akita had cancer, the surgery, radiation, and chemo ran $4000. The vet let him pay $1000 down, and the rest in payments. Several of his friends got together and threw a benefit for "Miko". I made a framed stained glass hanging that was raffled off. We raised $1400 for Miko's treatments. She was a wonderful dog and lived several additional years.

[Bugsy]

Hi

My dog is now 1 year and 1/2. He had a TPO done when he was 7 months old, which went very well & at the time the vet said he may not need another surgery (other hip) (keeping my fingers crossed). For now he is fine
he runs around ( can't get him to sit )...although on days
when he plays/runs hard he limps a little until he rests up and then goes back to his usual "dog on rollerblades" self. He is on glucosamine & metacam.

PS he was 89 pounds the day of his surgery & is now 118lbs.

I can't imagine how Rocky does it.. if he has hip dysplasia in both hips and torn cruciate ligaments in both knees. But
I had a rottweiler and I know that they are very stoic and proud dogs.

Please post a picture if you can & keep us posted.

[Hose]

Hi Lisanaaron,

I just got off the phone with the vet and started surfing on my lunch break and I found your post. My dog has the exact same problems and I am trying to decide what to do right now.

I have a Shepard/Rotti/????? dog and he has ligimate damage to his left knee, moderate displacia on his left hip, and deteriorating right hip and knee due to his left-side problems.

We've had Pancho since he was 5 months old. We got him from a lab. that was looking for homes for dogs. He hurt his knee slipping on ice when he was about 1 years old. It never healed very well, but he's been o.k. He's now 3 1/2 and his hips and knee is deteriorating. He is on Glucocimine and Metacam (if you know of any cheaper sources or substitutes please let me know)
We took him to get examined and the Vet recommended we fix his left knee and hopefully this will help his hips. His left hip will likely be next on the hit list. The vet said it would cost between $3 and $5 thousand dollars to fix his knee at the University of Guelph. I live in Toronto and Guelph is apparently worth the drive. She contacted them and made an appointment for me, but I think I'm going to try and call them myself. This oppointment was set-up today and because of the money and how young my dog is, and the very likely chances of hip surgury in the future, we are planning on going through with it but it is a very difficult moral delima for us. The appointment at Guelph is for October 19, 2004 and I'm trying to find out the most that I can before I go ahead. I just feel so vulnerable because I am willing to do anything for my dog, and I have to hope everyone is being on the level with me. He is very happy and mobile. Runs a little, walks alot, doesn't limp, jumps down stairs but climbs up stairs slowly.

Does the 3 to 5 thousand sound about right for evaluation and knee surgury? I've spend $1000.00 at the vet on X-rays and bloodwork and evaluation last week. Any opinion, advice, or suggestions would be greatly appreciate.

Thanks,

[mastifflover]

I honestly dont know the costs but if you called around and asked for an estimate of what the surgery would cost you might feel better knowing if the prices are in line. I buy Glucosamine and Condriton (sp) for my guy at either Costco or Walmart much less than the drugstore. Costco was the best price so far. I know Guelph is an incedible place to have this done very caring and keep the owners informed of everything, that is the experience of my friend and someone else was telling me the same thing about them. Also stated that they really go that extra mile for the pets.

[vestathepesta]

Hello all:

I have a fifteen month old Rottie who has been diagnosed with a ruptured cruciate ligament. Reading your posts I was wondering whether there is any correlation of hip dysplasia to the knee problems such as this. I am not sufficiently educated in this topic, and I am concerned that my pup may have hip dysplasia as well. We have not had her shoulders and hips checked since we adopted her ten months ago.

Our local vet has recommended us to go to a knee specialist, and we have been quoted $2100 for her surgery and post operative follow-up. This does include any pre-op blood tests and other analysis. The specialist can perform this surgery in Halifax, NS. Too far from the west coast, but for any maritimers this might be of FYI use.

Our primary concerns are proper recovery, post-operative problems (not just short term problems) and most importantly her quality of life. We want everything for her, but this is quite frightening to us, and we want to do the right thing. We have received varied advice, and we want to ensure that our vet is not being quick to make such a decision.

We lost our best friend from bone cancer last September, and he died from a post-op blood clot to his lungs. I believe this could have been avoided, but he was a very sick dog at that time and I believe that he was tired of suffering. His symptoms came on very suddenly by a sudden shortness of breath and within two weeks he had passed away.

If anyone can shed some light on my initial question, I would be very grateful.

Best wishes for Rocky, don't give up. You will find a way.

[micsmom]

So sorry to hear about you dog's knee/hip problems. I can shed a little light on costs and prognosis... My good dog, Mic who is a collie/shepherd mix has had 2 cruciate surgeries, one on each knee. He has mild dysplasia in the left hip, but hurt his right knee first, slipping on ice. He tore the left knee within a year of the right which the vet told me is common. If one knee is weak, usually they both are. The first surgery was done in my vets office by our local vet and cost about $1500 all included. The second was done in the office, but by a travelling specialist who did a much better job. It cost $1600-$1700. By a much better job, I mean that Mic recovered much quicker, had no cast, only a bandage and was not so dopey for so long after the surgery, probably due to shortened time under the anesthetic. That's what I know about what it costs... The first surgery was in 2001 and the second was in 2002, so those figures are fairly current. Good luck!

[Spurby]

This is so sad reading about this poor guys and their surgerys. Sorry i don't have much advice to offer, after some intial concerns with my dogs hips, i asked around and got some great links, as well as did some interent research on this issue, this helped me a great deal.

I wish you guys the best of luck with your dogs, nice to see such caring owners out there