Meldrew79

We took Brandy to her meadow tonight to run around. She was running, chasing some geese and all the sudden she was running on three legs. She didn't appear to have slipped and never yelped or anything. The way her leg was hanging though really scared us so we rushed her off to the ER vet. They did x-rays and determined she tore her ACL. We will be calling our vet tomorrow to go over our options.

As many of you know this couldn't have come at a worse time. We're already in the hole from my husband's fusion and he found out he'll be losing his job on Friday. Seems like something's out to get us and I don't know why.

I just want my baby to be ok.

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Beaumont67

This sadness me very much, you guys are one of my favorite DT couples, and we all like Brandy too.
My prayers are with your most wonderful and loving family, sometimes things just suck...and its not ever fair / hang in there, my friend.

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ZeldaRules

I think they have to do surgery for that and it's a slow recovery time? Poor Brandy and you guys! Even if she didnt show pain I'm sure something like that can't feel good.

VZ-Doberman

I hope Brandy recovers. Vet bills suck.

RedFawnRising

Sorry for the suckage.

Do you know if it's a partial tear, or full rupture?

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honda123

I will keep Brandy, your husband and you in my prayers tonight.

Rosemary

Man, it never rains but what it pours. Sorry to hear about Brandy's injury. Hopefully, things will start looking up soon.

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Dobes&Hounds

What an awful thing to happen. It can be repaired but costly and long recovery time. I would focus on getting the inflammation down. The good news is it isn't lethal and surgery CAN wait if it has to.
Just ask me... Brandy is in good company as *I* have a torn ACL (90% gone).
It was a dog inflicted injury when a certain Doberman slammed into the back of my leg while I was picking up poop in the yard.

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HarvestMoon

So sorry! Sending lots of good thoughts for you guys!!

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eegreen

I'm so sorry, poor Brandy! Sending good vibes your way .


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Meldrew79

The papers they sent home with us says a tear of her ACL.

I found a yahoo group through DT that I joined for dogs with ACL troubles. They linked this site: Dog ACL Injury-- Is Surgery Really Needed?, which gives me hope that surgery may not be needed.

Beyond the financial issues with surgery, I'm also really scared to do it. My in-laws dog had it done when she was about 4. The poor dog ended up having at least 3 surgeries that really messed up her. She never really recovered and they ended up having to put her down. So that experience terrifies me to move forward with something like that.

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Sam1491

Ask about low level laser therapy aka cold or non cutting laser therapy, it's a common procedure for half the cost as wvrc, it takes longer (2-4 months on crate/limited activity) but it's a non surgical option and at her age letting it heal naturally and incurring a little arthritis if it isn't a rupture of full tear would be my personal treatment plan versus costly painful surgery.

We also usually sent home homeopathic muscle and joint pain/stiffness products from the Heel company.

Just a thought since I know money is tight and it's always nice to have multiple options. Hugs to brandy

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Adara

Oh no, I'm sorry. Have you checed into care credit etc. as an absolute emergency?

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Thor_Red

So sorry to hear about Brandy. Cleo had 3 ACL surgeries. She was about 6 years old when the rescue got her and had a torn ACL probably close to a year from the amount of arthritic damage and complete lack of muscle in the left leg. The rescue did the surgery and I adopted her 5 weeks post op. I took her through hydro therapy to build the muscle back up which helped some. A year later that surgery failed. It apparently wasn't very well done or possible it was due to the amount of damage. The surgeon at my vet, who is quite experienced with ortho surgeries, redid the surgery and cleaned out a lot of "crud". As for the recovery, I think he had her on crate rest for close to 8 weeks. She recovered great from that surgery. She actually put her foot down the day after surgery when I leash walked her to go potty. It was snowing pretty bad at the time and I shoveled a path for her. A year later the other side tore which isn't unexpected. She had a harder time recovering from that one and after on and off crate rest for a couple of month and repeat X-Rays that showed she should be feeling better than she did, I ended up taking her to a Board Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner. She had 10 sessions each including Ultrasound to warm up the muscle, Cold Laser to break up scar tissue and then Hydro Therapy. Cleo wasn't fond of the water and didn't hesitate to let me know it . I'm very glad I went there as every session there including the other treatments was no more than a session at the first place I took her to and a lot more useful. The therapy really did wonders. I do try to watch her weight to help the legs so with her that isn't easy, and she is on Neurontin, Glucosamine and we recently started her on 1/2 Vetprofen as needed. But considering she is about 10 years old, oversized (she is a little over 30") she is doing amazingly well and will even run in the backyard with Thor and definitely gives him a run for his money when it comes to playing "Dobe style". I do still on occasion get her a Ultrasound and Coldlaser treatment just to stay on top of it and I can see a difference but I don't do it that often and the lady does not charge me an arm and a leg for those.

As for it being a partial tear I think there might be a possibility that strict crate rest might help, but I'm not a vet, and they should be able to tell you more. The last time Cleo's ACL tore, it didn't happen with her running at the time either. She was actually stretching getting up from the couch and I was quite taken by surprise too.

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Ahalvorsen

Ok so I am a tech at an orthopedic specialty hospital. The most common injury we see is CCL tears. This is my experience in what I see with them:

The best option is surgery. The surgery is called a Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO) but it is pricy and you are looking usually at 3+ month recovery.

The 2nd best option, that actually works well is a brace. Its a process to get it fitted but I've seen several dogs come to the hospital that are doing well in braces. The only thing is that the brace will not work if she also has a meniscal tear. We actually have a rottie that has been in a brace for 2 or 3 years now and he just blew out his other CCL so we fit him for his 2nd brace. The braces are expensive as well but about 1/3 of the cost of surgery. We use a company out of Canada called K9 Orthotics. Might be worth a try. K-9 Orthotics and Prosthetics - K-9 Orthotics & Prosthetics

Another option is DepoMedrol injections which can help with the pain. We have a dog that had come to us for one knee then went somewhere else for the other and had a procedure other than the TPLO done and it failed. One of her owners are going through chemotherapy so they can not afford the surgery financially or put in the time/after care involved. They got a Depo shot and she is feeling better. Unfortunately it doesn't fix the problem but can help to keep the pain at bay.

Sucks that you are going through this... I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination but this is what I've seen so far.

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EmilyB

The whole avoidance of surgery with the conservative care usually ends in having the surgery anyway, eventually. You can basically keep your dog crated mostly for six months, try to avoid surgery but they come out and re-injure a weak knee. With the TPLO they need slow rehab but if done properly you know at least THAT leg is good to go.

Doesn't mean the second knee won't go, we've been lucky with the GSD so far.

I hope you can find the financial solution.

dapple

Oh No
So sorry to hear that.
Been there done that. Lily had a full TPLO when she was six. She got her injury as well, just from running.

She also had a tear and not a full rupture. We went to a top vet specialist in orthopedics. The choices were....surgery, where the use a wire string to string the areas together. They don't recommend this for a dog of doberman size. They recommend the TPLO. Which are metal plates that hold the areas together. Lily is now 12 and has used her bionic leg for 6 years now. So in my opinion was worth it.
The recovery is slow.....tons of rest and staying off her leg. I had to carry her everywhere! Up and down stairs. It was a lot of work. But really there was no other choice!
The cost was somewhere between 4 and 6 thousand. Funny that I can't remember exactly as it was 6 years ago.

So it's expensive but gives them their lives back.

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4Dobes

I'm so sorry to hear this and wish I could give you better news.

My girl Darcy has just had a TTA op for the same thing.
A TTA is considered a better upgraded version of the TPLO.
It has a quicker recovery time too.
From what I can gather an operation is really the only way forward or she will have to be on restricted exercise forever.
Apparently they have to reshape the bone in the stifle so that they learn to use the leg without relaying on the cruciate ligament.
I research this like hell before agreeing to anything and many dogs once they had one leg go the other went within a year.
The other thing I found was to make sure you go to a surgeon who has performed the operation many times especially a TTA.

We were lucky as I'm only ( only I say !! ) 2 hours from a huge veterinary college who are at the forefront of veterinary technology in the UK.

It also not cheap. Darcy's just cost £3100 for one leg and has to go back for her second leg doing in a few weeks. Luckily she is insured.

So far we are in week 5 of recovery and she is doing great and to be honest was using her leg the day after the op.
she has been fantastic with the restricted exercise too.
I use a baby pen to confine her in a small area of the room as she isn't allowed on sofas or up stairs.
It been hard for us all, we are all sleeping in the living room so she still feels like part of the family. ( would hate for us all to trundle off to bed and leave her ). The hardest part is leaving her behind when it's walkies time but we just give her a chew and she seems happy with that and actually looks forward to it.

We go back on Thursday for her X-ray to see how she is healing and if its healing ok then she will be scheduled for the other leg doing ASAP.

I've attached a couple of links so you get an idea of the op and what's required during recovery.

http://ttasurgery.com/

http://charlotteveterinarysurgery.com/recovery-tta/

If you need any advise please don't hesitate to ask.


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dax0402

So very sorry to read this. Poor Brandy. I have no experience or input but I am hoping everything will be OK. Someone else mentioned Care Credit. I have used this option many times for myself and for Baron.

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Meldrew79

We will be looking in to Care Credit today. We were trying to hold off as we will have to use the interest option. We owe just over $8,000 for Drew's fusion, so what's a few grand more....

Brandy's appointment with her vet is at 9:30 this morning. We'll see how it goes. She's not putting any weight on it yet and had a rough night. I don't think she likes the Tramadol they put her on at the ER clinic. She cried all night unless one of us was holding her and soothing her. Once that wore off though this morning, she snuggled in and wants to sleep.

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monicaei

First off, Im SO sorry. Poor Brany, and poor you guys too.

I have expierence with sever adverse drug reaction in my dog, post FHO (hip surgery). It's AWFUL. If she isn't responding well to that drug, take her in as soon as you can to get something else. Mac had a horrible reaction to the morphine patch, and the longer you wait and the drugs are still given, the more builds up in their system. The whining and needing to be comforted is normal, but if you notice substantial behavioral changes (we got extreme aggression, lucky us) I'd get the vet to switch asap.

From what I understand there are 2 surgical options for ACL tears, the TPLO (EmilyB can probably give you all the info on that) and the TTA, which a friend of mine had done. Either way you go, get a GREAT ortho to do it, and stick religiously to the rehab schedule.

Good luck and I'm so sorry you guys have to deal with this.

flaminscotch

I'm feeling terrible for you guys.
It is so scary when we know our babies are in pain.

One of the foremost surgeons in North America lives in Caledon, Ontario, and is a friend of mine. Be careful who does the surgery for you.

We can have a private conversation, but if funds become too tight, I will see if I can help. We are just a regular family, hubby and I, and critters, but I always have a little something saved for emergencies.

Meldrew79

Brandy's vet referred us to a specialist in a nearby city. She is thinking TPLO. I asked about the TTA and she said it would be best to go over all that with the specialist. The doctors appear to be very educated and have a lot of experience: Fox Valley Animal Referral Animal Center | Meet Our Team. I will be calling them to set up a consult this afternoon.

We still don't know if we're going that route though. My father-in-law (whose dog had to have the three surgeries) is very against it. He wishes they never would have done it with their dog and said that if the failure rate in this surgery were the same in humans, the surgery would be banned. He has done a lot of research on it and recommends we try a brace for a month before we make any big decisions.

I just want to do right by my girl. Thankfully my work is very understanding, to the point of telling me if I wanted to bring Brandy and her crate here to keep an eye on her I'm more than welcome to.

Everyone has been so kind and the well wishes are very much appreciated.

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4Dobes

I can understand your father-in-laws opinion but I this is why you must check that the person doing the operation is a expert in this field.

Darcy's situation is rather different to Brandy's and I don't want to take up your post talking about her.
But she had a full rupture on the left and a partial rupture on the right. She also had a meniscal tear of the medial meniscus on the left.

I would never have done anything if I thought that the pros didn't out way the cons.
She was home the very next day after her op and only required pain killers for a few days. ( metacam )
She was walking the next day and has continued to recover well.

Attachment 19678

Attachment 19679

I know she will be back to her old self and able to run free in the forests as she used to.

The operation, which ever your surgeon advises is only as good as the person who performs it.
The fact that bone is reshaped and cut away would make it almost impossible to redo if thing do go wrong. Hence your father-in-law's situation.
Plus the control of the dog for months following either surgery is particulary important and has a significant effect on the long term future for the joint.

All I know is the TTA is less invasive and has less risks and failures but isn't performed often due to lack of knowledge.

Because your girl has only a tear I hope the brace works but I'm optimistic and feel that eventually she will need an operation.

Honestly I feel for you as I was in the same boat 6 weeks ago. That's why I joined DT but never got round to posting Darcy's story.
I can only tell you from my experience that its the best decision I made when I agreed to go ahead with surgery.

Fingers crossed I will be able to confirm this information as fact when she has her 6 week X-rays.

Good luck




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GrdnDelite

I'm so sorry you have this do deal with. Decisions, financial woes, and the love we all feel for our special dogs. Sucks.

Every wish for best fortune and a good outcome, regardless of the approach you choose.

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