Bad day: Dog tore his ACL

[duffyc]

Same thing happened to my friend's 120lb Akita.

Hey, That would be me! So just for the record, MSU isn't the only place to have this done. Please get second opinions, at least for the knowledge. MVS at 12mi & Inkster has an amazing facility and group of vet specialists. I'm not sure but there may be a cost save having it done at MSU if vet students are doing the work (supervised obviously) to learn. I mainly chose MVS over MSU because the operation could be done sooner, by specialists, and it is much closer. When my 1.5yr old male Akita tore his cruciate I did a lot of research on the methods as well as discussed with my cousin (vet grad student a KSU) and the TPLO seemed the only way to go for my large young dog. If he was much older, I would have chosen another method since the TPLO would not pay off. But the TPLO certainly did pay off for Ninja. He tore the cruciate in his other leg just over a year later and we had that one done as well. They say there is a 30% chance this will happen within 1yr but I would plan on it happening for sure if your dog is active or heavy (or both like mine). So both rear legs on my Akita have metal plates in them....but you would never know it. He functions as if nothing ever happened. Dr. Kerstetter did both operations. Ninja is 5yrs old now and doing great. Oh, all said and done (meds, follow-ups, etc) it was about $3400 each time. Yea, I love my dog. So the 7 other Akita's I could have purchased instead would not "replace" him. The cost will depend somewhat on the size of the dog. Larger hardware, more drugs, etc.

Here is a linky to the MVS site for info on cruciate tear repair. Even if you choose MSU instead, stop by MVS and talk to them about it.

http://www.michvet.com/library/index.asp#bones

Whatever procedure you have done, watch his weight...especially to try and avoid the other leg from needing surgery.

Let me know if you have any specific questions and I will try to answer them the best I can. I can even provide post-op pics if needed. Anyway, I hope the best for you and your dog. -duff

 

[avbcon12]

Hey, That would be me! So just for the record, MSU isn't the only place to have this done. Please get second opinions, at least for the knowledge. MVS at 12mi & Inkster has an amazing facility and group of vet specialists. I'm not sure but there may be a cost save having it done at MSU if vet students are doing the work (supervised obviously) to learn. I mainly chose MVS over MSU because the operation could be done sooner, by specialists, and it is much closer. When my 1.5yr old male Akita tore his cruciate I did a lot of research on the methods as well as discussed with my cousin (vet grad student a KSU) and the TPLO seemed the only way to go for my large young dog. If he was much older, I would have chosen another method since the TPLO would not pay off. But the TPLO certainly did pay off for Ninja. He tore the cruciate in his other leg just over a year later and we had that one done as well. They say there is a 30% chance this will happen within 1yr but I would plan on it happening for sure if your dog is active or heavy (or both like mine). So both rear legs on my Akita have metal plates in them....but you would never know it. He functions as if nothing ever happened. Dr. Kerstetter did both operations. Ninja is 5yrs old now and doing great. Oh, all said and done (meds, follow-ups, etc) it was about $3400 each time. Yea, I love my dog. So the 7 other Akita's I could have purchased instead would not "replace" him. The cost will depend somewhat on the size of the dog. Larger hardware, more drugs, etc.

Here is a linky to the MVS site for info on cruciate tear repair. Even if you choose MSU instead, stop by MVS and talk to them about it.

http://www.michvet.com/library/index.asp#bones

Whatever procedure you have done, watch his weight...especially to try and avoid the other leg from needing surgery.

Let me know if you have any specific questions and I will try to answer them the best I can. I can even provide post-op pics if needed. Anyway, I hope the best for you and your dog. -duff

FYI students dont do TPLOs at MSU. also, the cost at MSU to do it is almost half of MVS and MSU does about 3 of them a day. They are far more experienced just by the volume of them they get in alone.

thats not to say dont get all the opinions you can.

 

[5.8Coupe]

Thanks guys, I'd definately have the tplo done if i could get some kind of payment plan. I'm pretty sure he tore it when he ran into the pond at my inlaws house, not sure if it was a freak thing or not.

 

[duffyc]

I used CareCredit both times and it helped me manage the cost. It was a zero percent interest if paid off within a year. So I divided the balance by 12 and put that in my savings each month. Of course, you gotta get approved. And if you don't pay it off in time, all of the interest get thrown on top. So you just gotta be good about it. Anyway, I'm sure there are some other options out there also but I figured I'd share this since it worked well for me. Good luck.

 

[FBODGRL]

I was going to suggest carecredit too. I know alot of people who have had to use it for pet emergency stuff.

I started a savings account for my animals and have an emergency credit card for them too. I only hope I never have to use it and they stay healthy.

 

[5.8Coupe]

I used CareCredit both times and it helped me manage the cost. It was a zero percent interest if paid off within a year. So I divided the balance by 12 and put that in my savings each month. Of course, you gotta get approved. And if you don't pay it off in time, all of the interest get thrown on top. So you just gotta be good about it. Anyway, I'm sure there are some other options out there also but I figured I'd share this since it worked well for me. Good luck.

I was going to suggest carecredit too. I know alot of people who have had to use it for pet emergency stuff.

I started a savings account for my animals and have an emergency credit card for them too. I only hope I never have to use it and they stay healthy.

Carecredit turned me down....boooo

 

[FBODGRL]

That sucks!

 

[5.8Coupe]

That sucks!

Ya it does, I'll have to use my boat money on the dog, he better appreciate it, lol.

 

[RyeLou]

I wasn't a huge fan of MVS at 12 and Inkster. When my dog had problems with his eyes I took him there to get a second opinion after originally having his eyes tacks for $100 by an eye specialist in Rochester Hills. They charged me $600 for literally the same thing (I found out later) and it lasted not even 24 hours. Then quoted me over $3,000 for the entropian surgery. I went back to the original eye specialist for the eye surgery and paid about $1,200 and had no problems. Money wasn't my main concern, but the vets at MVS seemed very unwilling to help me with much of anything let alone give an honest answer to all the questions I had. Their main concern seemed to be all about money.