Getting worse!

[Vikinggirl]

I really grilled him about this too. I asked if he ever did a TPLO on bulldogs with their structures being the way they are, and he said that he does have experience with this and has done TPLOs on several bulldogs with great outcomes. He put me somewhat at ease, but I am so nervous putting Lola through this but I know she needs it. I just want her to feel better. Ugh I hear the recovery is the worst, anyone with TPLO experience?

I'm glad you're feeling better about the surgery and your vet, it really helps when you trust and are confident with your vet. I don't have any experience with this type of surgery, but I'm sure someone who has will be along soon to offer you some advice and information.

 

[Vikinggirl]

[h=1]Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO) for Treatment of Ruptured Cranial Cruciate Ligament[/h]TPLO is a very intensive procedure requiring exact precision to treat the cranial cruciate ligament deficiency. Dr.Sran has been performing this procedure as an orthopedic surgeon since 2003 with excellent results. We accept the referrals from other veterinarians across BC, Canada and Washington (WA) state, USA. Waiting period is only 1-2 weeks. Patients are sent home on 2nd day after the surgery. Follow-ups are usually done at the referring hospitals.
[h=3]What is a Ruptured cranial ligament?

[/h]The cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) is a structure in your dog's knee joint, that helps prevent excessive motion between the femur (thigh bone) and the tibia (shin bone). The CCL may become injured, either from trauma or due to dog's natural leg conformation, resulting in a sudden or gradual tear of the ligament. A torn CCL causes the knee joint to be unstable, resulting in joint pain, inflammation and hind leg lameness.
This initiates the development of arthritis and may damage another structure in the knee called meniscus.
[h=3]Can medication be used to treat a ruptured CCL?[/h]Anti-inflammatory medications prescribed by your veterinarian may help to decrease the pain and inflammation in the knee joint. Strict cage rest and exercise restriction may allow your dog's body to lay down scar tissue, in an effort to increase the stability of the knee. However, small breed dogs (under 4 kg) are typically more responsive to medical management of a ruptured CCL.For medium to large breed with ruptured CCL, especially active dogs or those with other orthopedic problems, surgical treatment is recommended.
[h=3]What is Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO)?

[/h]TPLO is a surgical procedure used to treat dogs with ruptured CCL. Developed by the late Dr. Barclay Slocum, the TPLO procedure may be performed by veterinary surgeons who have completed the TPLO training course.The procedure is based on the fact that the top part of the tibia bones normally
sloped, resulting in tendency for the femur to slide backward when the dog stands and puts weight on its knee. The CCL normally holds the femur in place and prevents this motion. But when the CCL has ruptured, the femur can slide back and forth along the sloped tibia, when the dog is standing or walking. The continued motion contributes to pain and degeneration in the knee joint.
[h=4]Cutting a bone to treat a ligament

[/h]A solution to the knee joint instability would be to either replace the torn CCL, or remove the slope in the tibia. The TPLO does the latter: after making a cut in the top part of the tibia, the surgeon rotates this segment of bone until it is almost perpendicular to the ground. To allow the cut bone segments to heal, the tibia is then stabilized with a bone plate and screws. The result is that when your dog stand on its leg, the femur is resting on a flat tibia surface, and there is no longer the sliding motion in the knee.
[h=3]Can any size of the dog have the TPLO surgery?[/h]The TPLO is recommended for medium to large or giant breeds of dogs, and is limited by the size of the TPLO bone plate.Most dogs greater than 15 Kg in body weight would be eligible for a TPLO.
[h=3]What is the hospital stay with the TPLO procedure and what follow-up visits are needed?[/h]Dogs are usually discharged next day in the afternoon from the Allwest Animal Hospital following the surgery. Follow-up appointments are usually scheduled at the referring hospital or at our hospital 1 week later for recheck and bandage removal , 2 weeks for recheck and skin suture removal, and in 6 weeks and 10 weeks for radiographs. Your dog may also need weekly Cartrophen shots for 5 weeks post-op.
[h=3]What is the expected outcome for my dog?[/h]Dogs who have had TPLO surgery are typically bearing some weight on their operated leg within 3 to 5 days following surgery. Your dog will need to have his or her exercise specifically restricted while the bone is healing, usually for 8 to 12 weeks. Physical therapy as well as gradual increase in on-lease activity will be permitted, according to how your dog is recovering. In general, the TPLO procedure for dogs with CCL rupture is associated with a very good early return to leg use: and some research suggests that there is less leg muscle loss and slower progression of knee arthritis following this procedure.
[h=3]What is the approximate cost of TPLO surgery?[/h]It depends upon few factors like ; Lifestyle, breed and weight of the dog, if x-rays & blood test are done or not, how old is the damage etc. Call or email us for proper estimate for your dog.
[h=3]How to decide which procedure is best suited for my dog?[/h]TPLO procedure is not for every cranial cruciate deficient dog but decision is made individually considering the following factors.

			Scores
Factors	1	2	3	4	5	Total
Age(Years)	>11	9-10	7-9	4-7	<4
Breed/Size	Toy/small	Small	Medium	Large	Giant
Weight(Lbs)	<15	15-30	30-45	45-70	>70
Life Style	Indoor	Indoor/backyard	confined outdoor	Acerage	Hiking/Hunting
Activity/Temperamnt	Very Quiet	Quiet	Active	Very active	Hyper active
Habitat	Plain	Plain/slopes	Slopes/Stairs	Hilly/stairs	Hilly/hiking
Duration of the Disease	Recent Acute	<10 days	10-25 days	>25 days	>3 months
Other MS (Hips/elbows) abnormalities	None	Mild	moderate	Severe, But only one joint	Severe in multiple joints
Radiographic DJD	Very clean	No DJD	Mild DJD	Moderate DJD	Severe DJD
Tibia/Femur configuration/deformity	Excellent	Good	Fair	Moderately deformed	Severely deformed
TPA(rads) if posible (degrees)	<15	15-20	20-25	25-30	>30
Overhall health	Very poor	Poor	Fair	Good	Excellent
Owner's Compliance	Very poor	Poor	Fair	Good	Excellent
rDVM's Preference	Only ECR	ECR/TR/TTA	ECR/TR or TPLO/TTA	TPLO/TTA	Only TPLO
Total scores & procedurerecommended	14 ECR	28 ECR/TR/TTA	42 TPLO/TTA TR/ECR	56 TPLO/TTA	70 TPLO

[h=1]TPLO Postoperative Care and Rehabilitation[/h]

Keep the bandage clean and dry, and check your dog's toes twice daily for swelling or irritation.You may remove the bandage at home in three days or sooner if it becomes soiled, wet or is bothering your dog.When the bandage is off and until the sutures are removed you should inspect the incision twice daily for signs of redness, swelling or increased pain.Contact us if any of these signs occur.Please contact us for an appointment to have the skin sutures removed in 14 days following surgery.For 10-12 weeks following surgery, you must restrict your dog's activity to permit normal healing.During this period the dog's activities will be gradually increased to build muscle, stretch scar tissue and strengthen bone.​

• For the first four weeks after surgery, restrict your dog to slow walks both inside and outside the house.Running, Jumping or rough-house play should not be allowed. Be careful on slippery surfaces so your dog doesn't slip or fall.

• Begin with a five minute walk, once a day, with the dog on a short lead, at the "heel" position. If the dog remains comfortable during the first 3-4 days, double the number of walks. The dog will benefit more from two, five minutes walk than a single ten minutes walk. If your dog remains comfortable and seems interested in more activity, continue double the distance, duration or frequency of the walks every 3-4 days. If the dog seems uncomfortable after a walk, reduce the distance to the level at which it was comfortable. After 3-4 days, try to double the distance.

• After four weeks, you can begin walking your dog on a long (10-15 foot) lease. For the first few days on a long lease, cut the duration of your walk in half. Your dog's trotting back and forth will make-up for your shorter walk. If the dog remains comfortable, the length or frequency of walks can be doubled every 3-4 days.
• 6-8 weeks after surgery, we would like to see your dog back at Allwest Animal Hospital for a recheck and radiographs to evaluate healing of the surgery site. If healing is progressing normally, you may start to exercise your dog off the lease. Off the lease activity should occur only after your normal long-lease walk and under your supervision. As with the lease walks, you should start with 5 minutes off lease and double the time every 3-4 days as long as your dog is comfortable. Jumping or free running with other animals or after toys should not be permitted.
• 10-12 weeks after surgery, A final examination with radiographs will be needed to evaluate final healing. Instructions will then be given for returning your pet to normal activity.

 

[bengardradar]

Good luck with the surgery radar had his done yesterday and we get to pick him up later today. He had the tplo. I agree make sure you are comfortable with the vet who is doing the surgery we went to a specialist we had never met and he is awesome made us feel comfortable, if he hadn't I would have walked out and gone somewhere else. Good luck

 

[Biogirl71]

Good luck! Sending positive thoughts to you and Lola! I know that a few people on EBN have had the surgery for their bulldogs but I cannot remember who. You can try typing it in the search bar at the top of EBN's page and I am sure some threads will come up from members whose bullies had the procedure done.

 

[Enjoimangos]

Thank you guys! Yeah WSU is about a 4 hour drive away, but I am almost desperate I might be willing to drive there. Thank you everyone for your well wishes and advise

You'd be surprised what you'll do for your Bully. We drove 5 hours to visit a specialist when Boris was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. Do you know if the joint supplement you're using has MSM in it? We had been using a joint supplement without it and Boris was a bit slow, but we moved to another supplement that included MSM and he's regained some pep to his step.

best wishes to your Family and Lola

 

[Cali Doll]

I really grilled him about this too. I asked if he ever did a TPLO on bulldogs with their structures being the way they are, and he said that he does have experience with this and has done TPLOs on several bulldogs with great outcomes. He put me somewhat at ease, but I am so nervous putting Lola through this but I know she needs it. I just want her to feel better. Ugh I hear the recovery is the worst, anyone with TPLO experience?

Hi LolaLover, can you tell me how you figured out what her injury is? Xray or something else? Bella sometimes limps and I almost want to ask the vet for an xray. Previously, they told me she has a sports injury, but her limping comes and goes so I want to make sure it's nothing more...

 

[LolaLover]

You'd be surprised what you'll do for your Bully. We drove 5 hours to visit a specialist when Boris was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. Do you know if the joint supplement you're using has MSM in it? We had been using a joint supplement without it and Boris was a bit slow, but we moved to another supplement that included MSM and he's regained some pep to his step.

best wishes to your Family and Lola

I would definitely do anything for her!! Yes the joint supplements do have MSM in them

 

[LolaLover]

Lola was limping severely on her left leg, and becoming increasingly lame. We took her to the vet he did a through physical exam of her leg, they also manipulate the leg and they check for something called the drawer sign that will be present if the ligament is ruptured. They also did x-rays. If your dog is still limping and it is not getting better with rest then I would ask for one.

 

[LolaLover]

Thank you all for your well wishes!

 

[My Otis]

Sending Loads Of Love to Lola, she is so Beautiful, I Love her Sweet Face. Elmo would fall in Love with her if he knew her.