Surgery on CCL

wvlady1965 · Jul 8, 2013

Has your bully ever had to have CCL surgery on their knee? Our bully JD can barely get around and she's a big bully, not only in weight but size. She is 8 years old and 100# which makes it almost impossible for me to help her get around. The vet is trying her on pain meds first which seems to really help her one day but the next she's back to barely moving. Was wondering how your dog did after the surgery and if it really helped.

dolphin · Jul 8, 2013

wvlady1965 said:
Has your bully ever had to have CCL surgery on their knee? Our bully JD can barely get around and she's a big bully, not only in weight but size. She is 8 years old and 100# which makes it almost impossible for me to help her get around. The vet is trying her on pain meds first which seems to really help her one day but the next she's back to barely moving. Was wondering how your dog did after the surgery and if it really helped.

She's a 100 pound English Bulldog?

bullmama · Jul 8, 2013

I have no experience with any type of these surgeries, but I will tag some members who have.... poor girl. She's a big bully for sure.

cali~jenn · Jul 8, 2013

Well Cutty had great success with his surgery but he was also 6. (Somewhat younger) he was very fit so was able to do the easier of the surgeries and his vet (a real good bully vet) was certain at his age and weight he would be MUCH better off. He was right. (Told me to not let him gain any weight after surgery to help his knee stay strong) Not sure how well it would be for your baby at 8 and so heavy. What does the vet say about surgery for her? Is it a bulldog vet or specialist? I would get a second opinion if you haven't already as well. First thing I would try and get her weight down some, it will make her feel much better nomatter what you do about her knee.

cali~jenn · Jul 8, 2013

If you want help in how to get her dieting so she is happy we have some threads about it in the past. The Vegas stew diet is a good one. What I did with cutty was really cut back the food at each feeding (by say 1/4) and supplement with lots of frozen green beans or other veggies.

Sherry · Jul 8, 2013

a supplement of Glucosamine /chondroitin would help also. I use Regenex for horses, 8 drops once a day, if you would like the link I can send you a pm.

wvlady1965 · Jul 8, 2013

Yes my bully is big. Her parents were big,,not just overweight but tall. She has thyroid issues but the pills didn't help. I've had her on diets but the vet says I am feeding her right. She is fed what my basset hound is fed and she is 50#. My vet is very familiar with bullies and their problems and I trust her a lot. She did say with bullies that she does surgery on, she leaves in the air tube in until she is well awake and wanting it out. My concern was her age not just her weight. Her ideal weight for her size is 80# so she is 20# over. She has dry eye in both eyes and is losing her eye sight and now this. She just seems so miserable. I hate to put her through the surgery if it will not benefit her. Other than anesthesia, what other concerns should I have or expect?

JeannieCO · Jul 8, 2013

I've had no bulldogs that have had a torn CCL but I had a Pitty, Ace, that tore both of his and had a TPLO surgery on each hind leg. Did your vet recommend surgery? Depending on if the tear can replaced, a TPLO I believe is the only other alternative. What pain pill/anti-inflammatory is JD on? Ace was on Rimadyl for years after his surgery. Pain pills are only going to manage the pain and will not heal the tear unfortunately. Ace's surgery was very successful. He had his first leg done and then the other 1.5 years later. It's a 50/50 chance that they'll tear the other one. If a TPLO is what's going to be done, it's a very invasive surgery and has a very extensive rehabilitation (4-6 months) and you must follow the rehab closely so as to not have the screws be pulled out before they can heal. Ace seemed fine 2 weeks after that surgery but he was far from healed and that becomes the hard part really.

How much JD eat and I say this nicely, why does he weigh 100 pounds? That extremely heavy and having surgery on the legs at that weight is going to be very very hard on him. I'd be surprised if the vet did the surgery even until his weight is down.

The Regenex that [MENTION=1714]Sherry[/MENTION] mentions is really good stuff. I just started using it on all my bullies.

JeannieCO · Jul 8, 2013

I just saw that you posted at the same time. I know you're not concerned about the weight but it is quite a bit. On the age, you should be fine. Ace, while again not a bulldog, had his first surgery at 5 and then at 7. Is JD pretty active and healthy overall? That'll help on his recovery.

sheshistory · Jul 8, 2013

I understand your hesitations completely! I think you are right to think carefully about a significant surgery on an older bully - who is significantly overweight. I am not saying that to hurt you but 20 pounds overweight on a person is quite a bit, so on a dog, it's taking a tremendous toll on the body and all its functions.

I have an older bully too - he is 7.5 and, in his prime, he was 83 pounds but is now down to 71, which is where the doctor wanted him. Two pieces of advice:

First, as an owner of an older bully, I most likely would not have any kind of surgery on him at this point. Not only is he not as resilient as he was when he was young (I'd be afraid it would just exhaust him) but I'm not sure he'd do well during surgery and recovery. My bully is less active and less tolerant of so many things that he once was but you need to evaluation your bully's overall health and activity level to make a good decision.

How is your bully's overall health and demeanor? Do you think that your bully would weather surgery well?

Second, as someone who has had not one but TWO bully knees blow out on my first bulldog, Bentley, I can tell you that the first thing a good surgeon would recommend to you is to get your bully to an ideal weight, see how he does, and then do surgery, if indicated. Bentley was 10 months old when the first knee went and 21 months when the second blew out (they usually both go - one after another) and he wasn't in bad shape but the first thing the doctor told us to do was to get him down to 55 pounds and never let him above it to give him the best chance of a full and normal life.

We had both knees repaired and he did very, very well and never had another orthopedic issue until his death (which was only 6 years old) but it did take a toll on him. The recovery was long but he did regain all his mobility.

I am sorry you and JD are going through this. There are no easy answers but I think you're doing the right things by getting opinions and ideas about what your options are.

KentuckyBully · Jul 8, 2013

Minnie is five months post op from JPS surgery for her hips, but she is a puppy. She went to a specialist for this and where she is so much younger, it wasn't near as risky. What I can tell you from living with pugs for many years is that the leaner the better. My first two pugs became pretty over weight and my vet scared the crap out of me and I put them on the green bean diet and they lost weight and kept it off. I now measure all of their food, including the bully puppies. This is especially important for Minnie and her health if we want her to be mobile and pain free. Our almost 18 year old pug Max had a dental at 16 and he never would have been ale to if he had not been at a good weight. Before considering anything, I would talk to your vet about a healthy diet for your pup.

wvlady1965 · Aug 7, 2013

thank you all for your suggestions. I am sad to say her problem is a very aggressive bone cancer and she will soon be going to the rainbow bridge. I'm just devastated.