Willing to explore all options / opinions. I'll shoot you a PM

From your post, I'm gathering my vet gave me a reasonable quote?

Take him to Dr. boogs. !

My Chesapeake Bay Retriever had this surgery in the fall so trust the docs on here for med advice but if you have questions about other stuff related to go through it happy to answer. And yes that's a reasonable price.

That's a fair point. I'm a member of a 5 person ortho section and none of us are on production. That's just not how faculty members that work for a teaching hospital are compensated. Academic faculty members don't make more or less as far as salary goes by recruiting more clients and patients. While that could be seen as a negative, it gives us the freedom to function as educators and teachers as well as surgeons and not have to think about meeting production numbers every week.

So for that reason I don't feel like I'm "selling" other than the fact that I know our group truly does cutting edge work and each case we see also benefits our students and residents, which helps train our future veterinarians. Don't get me wrong, we are busy and booked out but that's because of our referral base and quality services we strive to provide to every patient and client.

As far as the OP goes and my initial reply, happy to see you at aTm, but I'm just as content to help you by talking offline to discuss your dog's case with your dvm and make sure your surgical goals are achievable and recommend a surgeon in your area.

I get PMd on TexAgs all the time with these types of questions. Had one yesterday. I have to have a primary dvm in the loop and consult for specific treatment questions, but a lot of what I do for folks on this site is educate and point them to reputable surgical groups in their area if the clients can't travel to see us.

I wrote a long post about CCL rupture in dogs on another thread in the last couple of years if you want to search for it and find some solid background and surgery information.

dr_boogs said:

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That's a fair point. I'm a member of a 5 person ortho section and none of us are on production. That's just not how faculty members that work for a teaching hospital are compensated. Academic faculty members don't make more or less as far as salary goes by recruiting more clients and patients. While that could be seen as a negative, it gives us the freedom to function as educators and teachers as well as surgeons and not have to think about meeting production numbers every week.

So for that reason I don't feel like I'm "selling" other than the fact that I know our group truly does cutting edge work and each case we see also benefits our students and residents, which helps train our future veterinarians. Don't get me wrong, we are busy and booked out but that's because of our referral base and quality services we strive to provide to every patient and client.

As far as the OP goes and my initial reply, happy to see you at aTm, but I'm just as content to help you by talking offline to discuss your dog's case with your dvm and make sure your surgical goals are achievable and recommend a surgeon in your area.

I get PMd on TexAgs all the time with these types of questions. Had one yesterday. I have to have a primary dvm in the loop and consult for specific treatment questions, but a lot of what I do for folks on this site is educate and point them to reputable surgical groups in their area if the clients can't travel to see us.

I wrote a long post about CCL rupture in dogs on another thread in the last couple of years if you want to search for it and find some solid background and surgery information.

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Just a joke! Most of this board would riot if TexAgs ever pushed for that and I would be one of them. We all appreciate your knowledge and help that you've provided to so many over the years.

Besides, if the school has to start paying, my tuition will go up!

I had that happen to a Beagle and a Vet suggested I crate him for three weeks and make sure there is no running or jumping. He healed completely and was good for many more years.

If you're open to it, there are alternatives to TPLO surgery.

A few years back (2020 I believe), our boxer tore his CCL and we addressed it with stem cell injections (extracted from his own fat) + PRP (platelet rich plasma) + rehab (laser therapy, acupuncture, water treadmill). He was back to probably 85% after a few months. Then, as I hear is common when one CCL tears, he tore his other CCL about 18mo later and we followed the same process with the same results.

The first round was probably comparable in cost to TPLO, but the second round was 60% cheaper b/c we still had stem cells in the bank so we didn't have to go through the harvesting process again.

It all seems like voodoo magic without going in and physically repairing the ligament, but I can tell you from our experience that it worked twice for us.

Fast forward to today, our other boxer has a partial CCL tear and he's going in a couple of weeks for the same procedure. Hopefully we have the same success as before.

If you're in the Dallas area, I'm happy to refer you to who we saw - if nothing other than an initial consultation to hear what he has to say.

JAW3336 said:

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I had that happen to a Beagle and a Vet suggested I crate him for three weeks and make sure there is no running or jumping. He healed completely and was good for many more years.

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Same here. I had a female GSP that tore both CCLs. I crated her for a long time for each (had a "fishing line surgery done on one, which was later removed). She ended up doing fine until finally passing at 15 1/2 years. She had arthritis in her knees at the end, but probably would have even without the CCL tears. It didn't seem to slow her down or inhibit her at all during most of her life.

My vet was wondering why CCL tears are so much more common than they used to be. He graduated from A&M vet school in the early 80s and said back then he might see a couple a year. When I talked to him, he said he was seeing several a month.

I had a dog that had that in both legs. She had the surgery and peg legged around in casts on our wood floors. It was kind of funny how loud that was.

She did well and lived out the rest of her life... She eventually had other unrelated problems that we had to put her down for. Australian Shepherd. She lived to be like 16 or something crazy.

Also may consider one of the braces that are available to stabilize the joint. Most all of my clients who opted for conservative bracing have been happy. Contrary to several opinions, not every dog needs TPLO surgery.