Sully Surgery Question

[Ksullivan]

I took Sully to Purdue U yesterday. I tried to get him in just before Christmas, but it was emergencies only. He has a hormone imbalance and has been on meds for a couple of years. He has off and only lately had like hot spots. Our groomer gets him completely dry, so that is not the issue. I thought it was to do with the hormones, so I didn't want to take him to our Vet, (and our Vet told us the last time if it came back to go to Purdue) and get it cleared up where Purdue could not see the problem. So by the time we got there he is the worst he has ever been.
Adding to this he took a bad fall a few days ago on the skiff of ice on our deck.
He is on high does of antibiotics, and new food. They believe it is food alergies. The bad news is he tore his left crucaide ligament. We are to go back in three weeks, he has pain meds, and is to stay quiet. They want to make sure the skin condition has cleared up, so as not to infect the surgery.

The question is I remember reading of different types of surgery for the ligament I believe, and I remember people on here prefer one kind over another. I believe one was called a sling surgery? If you could help me with info I would appreciate it.

 

[DAWNMERIE]

I don't know anything about the surgeries but I remember seeing a thread where I think Donna posted about a new saliva test that Dr. Dodds has that might be worth a try if you think you have food allergies, here's the link http://www.hemopet.org/

But I also wanted to give you a newf hug

and let you know you've got well wishes coming from the east coast!

 

[YorkvilleNewfie]

I think you may be thinking of a tightrope.

My Mila had a TPLO and recovery, largely, went as good as can be. By 3 months post-op, her right leg was stronger than it has ever been. There are some people that aren't fans of TPLO for a few reasons, but personally, if I had to do it again, I wouldn't hesitate.

 

[Tricia2]

Seek out a Board Certified Surgeon and discuss which of the several surgical options is the best choice for your dog. All have similar outcomes but the rehab is slightly different in timeline and trajectory for traditional, tightrope or TTA/TPLO.

 

[Jager's Mom]

I took Sully to Purdue U yesterday. I tried to get him in just before Christmas, but it was emergencies only. He has a hormone imbalance and has been on meds for a couple of years. He has off and only lately had like hot spots. Our groomer gets him completely dry, so that is not the issue. I thought it was to do with the hormones, so I didn't want to take him to our Vet, (and our Vet told us the last time if it came back to go to Purdue) and get it cleared up where Purdue could not see the problem. So by the time we got there he is the worst he has ever been.
Adding to this he took a bad fall a few days ago on the skiff of ice on our deck.
He is on high does of antibiotics, and new food. They believe it is food alergies. The bad news is he tore his left crucaide ligament. We are to go back in three weeks, he has pain meds, and is to stay quiet. They want to make sure the skin condition has cleared up, so as not to infect the surgery.

The question is I remember reading of different types of surgery for the ligament I believe, and I remember people on here prefer one kind over another. I believe one was called a sling surgery? If you could help me with info I would appreciate it.

What timing...

Bear (my 2.5 year old newf) is at Ohio State University as we speak. He had TPLO surgery on Tuesday. He also had TPLO surgery on his other knee at the end of October.

I can tell you that he has done very well with his first surgery. At about week 6-8 it was difficult to keep him "calm" because he seemed to be feeling great!

Now, we just hoping for the same results on the current knee.

 

[Ivoryudx]

I don't know of anyone in IN doing the tightrope procedure but I highly recomend it. From what my Vet and his Ortho Surgeon is seeing, its success is amazing. We just had another one of our rescue's done this way on Dec 29th and she's already putting weight on that leg. The recovery time is MUCH less than other procedures and my Vet told me he's seeing dogs who had their other knee previously repaired with another procedure, standing with more weight on the tightrope repaired knee. The statistics are starting to come in, and there may be a decreased incident of the second knee blowing when the first one is repaired with the tightrope. Of course its still too soon to get results for large number of repairs, but its promising.

 

[Jager's Mom]

I should have added in my previous post... Bear tore both knees at the same time. That's the reason we had to do both knees.

I sure hope the TPLO works for us...fingers and paws crossed.

I will say that he was putting weight on the first knee within the first week. And doing very well by week 3-4... although he was still dealing with the tear on the other knee...so that may have hindered him a bit.


Here are a few videos

4 days post-op
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAbS9lHlpwY&list=UU7xInUre_pDFti4F4UW08sw&index=2&feature=plcp

Just under 8 weeks post-op
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jTvle5tbxI&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

 

[Ksullivan]

Thanks for all the info. The tightrope is what I am curiours about. hen we took him in the other day after our consult we left him there for several hours for different skin tests, and blood work up to do with his hormne imbalance. At that time they had the orthopedics look at him, so we did not get to talk to them due to their tight schedule, he as a appointmet in a few weeks (waiting for skin to clear up).
The pain meds, and antibiotics seem to help keep him calm. He isn't real active anyway.

I am going to talk with Purdue about the tightrope procedure, hopefully they do it there also.

 

[Ksullivan]

Jagers Mom
How is Bear doing after this surgery?

 

[Ivoryudx]

Sorry Jager's mom, I should have been more clear in my post. I was posting in general, not directly at anyone. I should have added that it is very typical that if one crutiate is torn by something other than an abvious injury, it is very common for other knee's crutiate to blow within a year.

 

[BethNC]

No experience but wishing Sully a speedy recovery.

 

[jane]

When my Roger tore his cruciates, in 2007, I tried to heal him without surgery. It worked for a while but eventually he needed surgery. I was not comfortable with the TPLO. I was told he was too big for tight rope. I took him to a ortho who suggested the TTA. He sent me to one of the best. Roger had bilateral TTA's and is doing marvelous! TTA is still kind of new, so you want to make sure you go to someone with experience. I don't know how big Sully is, but I do know the Traditional/Tight Rope repair does work for some newfs. Roger is just a very tall boy!

 

[Ivoryudx]

Hey Jane! When I started doing research on the tightrope a couple of years ago, one of the calls I made was to MedVet as they had showed up as ordering from the manufacturer of the rope. They flat out told me that it was not for overly large dogs, and they highly recommended the TPLO as the 'only' option for giant breeds. So given my skeptical side, I dug a little deeper, and found out that they had not actually done the tightrope procedure at that time, so they were refering to what they knew.

Then I researched some more and found that the tightrope is actually better for the larger dogs as it is stronger sooner after surgery. with more bone to work with, it really has better benefits.

As a follow up to that, I discussed this with the Ortho Surgeon doing the surgery at my Vet's office and he confirmed that it really is good for the larger dogs. They have done a Mastiff over 200 pounds and several other giant breeds with great success. The first boy, Rescue had done, is a very tall guy, but thin at 138 pounds. He could easily be 15 pounds heavier but due to his front, he is kept thin.

The most recent one we had done (Dec 29th), is a female who is only 114 pounds and a little on the chunkie side, but she's trying to run. The challenge is to keep her from over doing it, but she's recovered very well. I wouldn't hesitate to have one of my own dogs done with this if needed.

 

[jane]

Hey Jane! When I started doing research on the tightrope a couple of years ago, one of the calls I made was to MedVet as they had showed up as ordering from the manufacturer of the rope. They flat out told me that it was not for overly large dogs, and they highly recommended the TPLO as the 'only' option for giant breeds. So given my skeptical side, I dug a little deeper, and found out that they had not actually done the tightrope procedure at that time, so they were refering to what they knew.

Then I researched some more and found that the tightrope is actually better for the larger dogs as it is stronger sooner after surgery. with more bone to work with, it really has better benefits.

As a follow up to that, I discussed this with the Ortho Surgeon doing the surgery at my Vet's office and he confirmed that it really is good for the larger dogs. They have done a Mastiff over 200 pounds and several other giant breeds with great success. The first boy, Rescue had done, is a very tall guy, but thin at 138 pounds. He could easily be 15 pounds heavier but due to his front, he is kept thin.

The most recent one we had done (Dec 29th), is a female who is only 114 pounds and a little on the chunkie side, but she's trying to run. The challenge is to keep her from over doing it, but she's recovered very well. I wouldn't hesitate to have one of my own dogs done with this if needed.

You know I would never question you Susan. I was just going by what I was told when Roger needed surgery. I think I was more comfortable with the TTA for him. Between his height and long legs I just feel it was better. The recuperation from the TTA is very easy too. Especially doing the aggresive rehab like I did.

 

[Ksullivan]

Sully weighs 145 lbs. and is thin at this weight. He is a big bog. I looked at Purdue's website, and it looks like they do the tightrope there.
Our appointment for consultation is February 6, they want his skin to heal up first, they said if he gets any worse to call. He has been on pain meds, which will probably be gone by tomorrow, so we will see then.
The picture on my avatar is not Sully, I need to try to change that sometime.

 

[Jager's Mom]

Sorry Jager's mom, I should have been more clear in my post. I was posting in general, not directly at anyone. I should have added that it is very typical that if one crutiate is torn by something other than an abvious injury, it is very common for other knee's crutiate to blow within a year.

No worries, that's what I figured you meant. It just reminded me that I didn't share that both his tore at the same time.

 

[Jager's Mom]

Jagers Mom
How is Bear doing after this surgery?

Thanks for asking about Bear.... He is doing very well. He did have much more swelling and bruising this time. They said it was probably because he was up and using the leg more this time around...since his other wheel (from the previous surgery) was feeling so good. Good thing, is that we had the vet keep him for a longer period to monitor him.

As soon as we can get re-size our pics, I'll start a thread to share.

 

[Ivoryudx]

Jane, its just good to know that this is happening. I have no problem with a Vet telling me that they don't have experience doing something, but that isn't what they did. It irritates me to think that they would tell me that the TPLO was the only choice. It is THEIR only choice, not the only choice available elsewhere. They were charging about $1,000 more, per knee, for the TPLO so I think that may have played a part in it.

Doing Rescue has really educated me and I'm still learning how to ask questions of Vets to be sure we're getting what we need. Its very hard because we can't always bring the dogs to a Vet we know. Sometimes they are in a foster home a few hours away, so we have to work with a variety of Offices and price is important as there are a WIDE range in rates depending on the different Vets used. We try to just make sure they are in the same range as our own Vets but for the big issues, we have to be very smart, how we spend our dollars.

 

[B-Dubs]

I've had great success here with TTAs. Mabel is very tall and long, also lean, but still weighs 155. Mercedes is my "tea cup" and weighs 85. She had one infection we're working on, but surgeries went very well. As luck would have it, we did 4 TTAs in 2011!

 

[jane]

Jane, its just good to know that this is happening. I have no problem with a Vet telling me that they don't have experience doing something, but that isn't what they did. It irritates me to think that they would tell me that the TPLO was the only choice. It is THEIR only choice, not the only choice available elsewhere. They were charging about $1,000 more, per knee, for the TPLO so I think that may have played a part in it.

Doing Rescue has really educated me and I'm still learning how to ask questions of Vets to be sure we're getting what we need. Its very hard because we can't always bring the dogs to a Vet we know. Sometimes they are in a foster home a few hours away, so we have to work with a variety of Offices and price is important as there are a WIDE range in rates depending on the different Vets used. We try to just make sure they are in the same range as our own Vets but for the big issues, we have to be very smart, how we spend our dollars.

Susan...A couple of Dr.'s I spoke to tried to sell me on the TPLO. That's why I drove about 7 hours round trip to Northern CT, to see an ortho I had experience with before. He was the one who suggested TTA, and I was lucky that one of the best was located in Brooklyn, NY. Still a very annoying trip, because of traffic, with numerous trips back and forth. But, I wouldn't have it any other way. A lot of ortho's scare me and are knife happy. That's why I will travel a great distance to find the best care. I paid $3500 for each of Roger's knee's. When he went into kidney failure, after the second surgery, I wasn't charged a penny for the week he spent at the hospital receiving treatment.