My baby had the surgery on 12-5-09. He tried to jump up on the couch and did not make it and ended up tearing his acl, straining his CCL and also had a grade 3 LP. I originally went to my vet who thought he just sprained it and then went for a second opinion and got the bad news. I cried for days and felt a lot of guilt--thinking if I had only been sitting of the floor. I do have doggie steps for him, but he was so excited he just jumped up to see me. I o
I went with an orthopedic surgeon as I wanted somebody experienced in the area. Since Fredo is only 7 he did recommend surgery to repair the acl and said he would make a determination on the LP once he opened him up. If it was a grade 2, no repair, but anything higher he would do a repair since it would only put more strain on the ACL--it ended up he had a grade 3. He told me if I waited, chances were very high that he would injure his good leg while compensating for the bad which would mean 2 surgeries or lameness.
The surgery went great. Since it was an afternoon surgery he did spend the night for which I am thankful--especially since his surgeon is located in a 24 hour emergency clinic, I knew he would be monitored closely. He actually started putting weight on his leg before he was discharged.
I know this is very scary and stressful. I did not know how I would do it, especially the recovery. But it was not that bad. Fredo remained in a pack and play for about 10 weeks, and for potty breaks, I set up an x-pen in my basement. I believe the need to have limited mobility for about 8 weeks, but we had problems----like 2 feet of snow---that kept delaying our release visit.
He is fine now. I am still cautious and have not brought the steps back out and have the couch blocked so that he can not jump up. He is also on a joint supplement.
I think in the end, the surgery ended up being $2200.00 which included the x-rays and pain meds.
Hope this helps
