# Dog cruciate ligament injury



## iandsm (May 18, 2007)

Wouln't you just know it, we are just getting ready for a two month trip and the dog has ruptured a cruciate ligament in her back leg, The vet says he will refer us to a specilaist for surgery, has anyone got any ideas on cost and recovery times, or other experience of these injuries please ?


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## TR5 (Jun 6, 2007)

I can't give you a definitive answer, but my sister's dog suffered this in both back legs, one shortly after the other, and they had to be plated and screwed.
I would say weeks rather than days, and four figures in cost!

Oh dear!!


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## barrosa (May 9, 2005)

happend to both of ours vet said keep them on a lead and walk them twice a day and if they are not over weight shold be able to put the foot on the floor and stand, took about two months befor we let them of lead.Vet did not recomend an op to fix but said it may be needed if they wernt walking on all four after about six weeks.


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## ianhibs (May 1, 2005)

Happened 5 years ago. Sent to a specialist in Exeter who was brilliant. Cost was £1400 then. She was back to going out for short walks after about 1 month.

Ian


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## citroennut (May 16, 2005)

i have to take my hat off to some people, £30 odd quid fixes most serious pet problems :roll: and yes i'm a dog owner with a 13 yr old damnation which is coming quickly to that point.
simon


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## Hezbez (Feb 7, 2009)

My cross collie suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament in her back leg after chasing a rabbit. She was not overweight, but was 13 years old.

My vet (who is very good) told us to give it 3 weeks on very limited exercise to see if it would get better without surgery.

Unfortunately it didn't improve. She had fairly major surgery for an older dog, which involved trimming away all the wasted tissue, then holding it all together with a piece of high tensile nylon. The idea is that scar tissue eventually grows and helps repair the damage - or something like that!

The op lasted several hours, she had her leg in a hip high plaster bandage type dressing for about 10 days. Then she got the stiches out (4 inch scar) and was put onto Rimadyl (anti inflammatory pain killer).

After about 4 weeks she was much improved. The operation was a great success and she doesn't even have a limp now, despite her age (15).

Due to her age we didn't have her insured, so I was a bit concerned about the cost. The bill was very reasonable (about £350). This included the op, drugs and about 4 post op check ups.

Hope your dog makes a good recovery.

Regards 
Hezbez


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## 116882 (Sep 23, 2008)

I agree with Hezbez about details and cost. Our older rough collie (now 10) has had both cruciate ligaments in her back legs snap in recent years. Our vet was wonderful and overall cost came to £350 each time.
Leg in elasticated bandage and dressing changed weekly, with a lovely scar which eventually gets covered with a fresh hair growth.
Allow for 3 months recovery. the first few weeks are the worst for the dog with being unable to 'toilet' effectively and be prepared to clean up the soiled areas.
With a bit of tlc, the dog's distress will be minimised.
Encourage gentle exercise and he/she will make a full recovery.
Best of luck.
PS shop around if your vet is quoting £1000+ as this operation has become a lot cheaper in recent years.

Regards
Graham


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

The cost will denpend on the vet doing it. If you are referred to a "specialist" it will cost an awful lot more.
If your vet is referring you to a specialist it may be because there are complications that need specialist skills or equipment that he/she does not have.

Recovery time will vary but your vet will have more of an idea after the op. I had a rescue dog with two repaired cruciate ligaments and he did very well. If I hadn't been told he had them I would never have known. He had ruptured them because the previous owner let him get to 22kg when his ideal weight was 13kg! He ruptured them just jumping on the sofa.

We had a Rottweiler come in with a ruptured cruciate while I was working and the vet refused to operate because the dog was so overweight (zero tollerance Holby City) 8O. While the dog was slimming down it ruptured the other cruciate and had to be put down  I am not saying this to scare you but just to warn any owners of overweight pets that they need to get them slimmed down :wink: 

Hope everything goes well.

Pat


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## MalanCris (Apr 2, 2007)

Our Yorkie, Bonnie, has just had an op done. The cost was £460.00 plus extra for the x-ray (£105.00). She had a flexible wire thing fitted (Note the precise Medical terminology), the problem is that after recovering from the Op, she has developed a trapped nerve in her spine that is affecting the use of her good back leg so total costs to date are over £1,500.00!! :?


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## madontour (May 19, 2008)

Hi

The secondary injuries reported above are a very common phenomenon. A dog (or human for that matter) with cruciate damage tries to protect it while walking. This puts stress on other knees, hips and ankles and any weakness will manifest itself as another injury. Very common in older dogs.

Mike


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## iandsm (May 18, 2007)

*cruciate ligament*

Thanks to all for the replies. She was referred to a specialist and has now had the op. A technique which levels off the top of the bone where it makes the joint this therefore stopps the tendency for the bone to move forward when the dog stands on it. No need to repair ligament as cause of problem removed. Cost so far, well there won't be change from 3K. Our next dog will be insured!


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Phew! Makes insurance look positively essential doesn't it? I too will insure the next dog we get. In the meantime I will have to keep that little nest egg topped up just in case 8O 

Hope it all works out as you would wish. I am sure she is worth it.

Pat


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## locovan (Oct 17, 2007)

Im so glad everything has gone ok in the op and wish a speedy recovery.
:lol: 

Can I ask would an insurance company have paid out such a high sum though.
Mavis


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## Johnstorm (Sep 23, 2006)

Our Rotti had both go, not due to being overweight I would add, but an heredity thing. The cost £2000 for each leg. One of the same litter had the same problem. 

We are insured with the NFU, had only taken the policy out six months before, dog only two months old when we took the policy out. Paid up with no problem for both legs. Really good service.


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## iandsm (May 18, 2007)

*cruciate ligament*

The vet said this is a commom problem and becoming more so but could not say why, he said he was doing three or four ops a day of this sort so it does appear common. We thought saving a few quid a month over the dogs life would cover most things. How wrong we were. We did not think insurance was worth it because of the premiums and levels of cover. However, this could happen to any dog so in future the insurance route is the way to go for us. Particularly as our dog has a bladder tumor which has been kept at bay for the last three years with specilalist drug treatment (£100 a month for the drugs) So over the last two years we have spent an awful lot of money and if the insurance paid only half of that we would have bought a lot of diesel for the camper with the change.

Many thanks for all the good wishes. Today (Day three) the bruising is starting to go down already and miraculously she is starting to put weight on the leg and is obviously in no discomfort at all.


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## locovan (Oct 17, 2007)

Animals do recover quickly which is great to see.
They must wonder what happened though and when my Jack had her leg done I took her to work with me and she sat under my desk (thanks to a very understanding boss).
She loved all the attention from everybody. :roll: 

Insurances are a funny thing as some policies will stop paying out after the first 12 months of treatment or only pay up to a maximum benefit per condition - so continuous cover is invaluable if your pet develops a long term condition such as arthritis or eczema which of coarse is a dearer premimium.

Mavis


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

There has been a thread on insurance not so long ago.

The one to go for is called "lifetime". Most insurance companies will offer it. It means that all conditions will be covered for the lifetime of the dog. Any other type, in my opinion, is not worth having.

If your dog has an existing condition, of course you cannot get that condition insured.

As to how much they will pay out then the answer is that they will pay up to the maximum per condition that was specified when you took the policy out. So, if the policy says £5,000 per condition then that is the maximum they will pay for one operation or illness. 

Things like diabetes can cost a fortune and if the dog is quite young when diagnosed it is not difficult to reach the maximum within its lifetime if the maximum is set quite low.

As is often the case you get what you pay for :roll: 

The previous thread on this subject had some recommendations such as the one on here for NFU.

All I will say is stay away from E&L. We always found that they sought every loophole to avoid, or delay, paying out :evil:


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## Steamdrivenandy (Jun 18, 2007)

Our old beardie tore a rear cruciate whilst turning during a paddle in the sea (we think the water in his coat acted as a brake and caused the problem).

Anyway he was only a few months out of a major op for liver cancer and the vet had only given him 3 months to live. So we didn't have an operation (they weren't sure if his reduced liver function could handle the anaesthetic).

He used to stand with that leg hovering just above the floor and he had a bit of a hobble when he walked BUT if the other dogs ran, he ran too and did a good job at keeping up.

The lovely old boy kept going for another three years, until the cancer caught up with him and we had to let him go.

Run free Joshy boy, you were the best!

SDA


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## smick (Jun 1, 2005)

*Cruciate Inury*

Agree with the other comments - costs seem to vary enormously. As Training Officer for Lake District Mountain Rescue Search Dogs, we automatically insure all dogs in training because of the need to get them back on their feet as soon as possible. In my view, you should have your dog insured for a minimum of £3K Veterinary fees, and the bigger the dog, the more insurance you need.

Talking to vets who treat our dogs, they are all adamant about the need to keep your dog's weight down to the absolute minimum - the more weight they carry, the more prone to injury they are.

We have just bought a collie back on to the callout list that shattered a spinal disc whilst out for a run. Final cost was in the region of £8000, and the dog was out of action for 16 months.

Smick


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