Poor Flo :-(((

andreac

Well some of you might know that Flo was at the vets today to see what was wrong with her leg.
I suspected it was her Cruciate and i was right...:(

Its a full rupture so the whole joint is unstable. Im waiting to hear back from the vet as he refers his bigger dogs to UCD to have Cruciate repairs done.

I was so upset earlier as i know how long this is going to take to recover and its going to be very tough on her and me too.

Thankfully she is insured so she will be getting the best care there is.

Ill be updating this when i know more.

Whispered

Poor Flo and poor you. Hope you're ok.

anniehoo

Oh no! Worst news ever...so sorry Andrea.

andreac

Thanks, i was very upset when i heard and will probably be a bit teary for a while yet, but it was a shock to hear the extent of it even though i half knew it was coming.

Hopefully she will get in to UCD soon enough.

toadfly

So sorry to hear that Andrea. It's so upsetting when there is something wrong with them. At least you don't need to worry about insurance and know that she will get the best of care at UCD. keep us updated.

lrushe

Sorry it did turn out to be her ACL after all, UCD are brill though she will get 1st class care there.
Do you know how she injured it?

falabo

Hi andreac

oh no I cant believe this

well yeah haveing the dog restricted but occupied is going to be a challenge, I wont give you any advice on how to do this as u know yourself, I have read all the good advice you give to people in this situation. H

owever if u ever need some help, let me know, I think I'm in your area (Trim) so dont hesitate, even if you need a break I can come around especially at weekends

:-)

she'll be grand !

lorebringer

Oh dear, I'm so sorry to hear - poor Flo and poor you, such a stressful situation. Hope it all gets sorted soon and she is feeling better.

Allgäuerin

Poor Flo!:( I crossed my fingers & toes the whole morning that it would be not what u thought. But now let's hope that she will recover soon!

Shanao

Ah, poor Flo. At least she'll be getting the best of care. Keep us updated. Hope she recovers well the poor pup

andreac

Thanks everyone and Falabo, thats very kind of you to offer, it really is.

Im not 100% how it happened initially. It looks like she had a partial rupture 2 weeks ago and with the rest and Metacam it healed up quite well. Then she hopped through post and rail fence and seemed to rupture it completely.

The day of the initial injury they had their normal walk at work at lunchtime and at 5pm when i collected them she was hopping. So she either damaged it on the walk or she hurt it between 2.30 and 5pm when she was with Cooper.

Its a very common injury in rotties and nearly everyone i know in rotties has had at least one case of it.:(

ppink

thats terrible:(
will they be able to fix it ok?

andreac

Yeah it can be fixed. They have to do an operation on the joint. It is a long recovery though, minimum 6 months but could be more. Its quite tough as its literally crate to toilet and back in and again for the first while.

Tranceypoo

Really sorry to hear that Andrea, hope Flo's treatment and recovery goes as well as possible and it's not too hard on you both. Thank goodness at least you have insurance, what with all the stress and worry it's one less thing to have to think about. Do keep us posted.

tk123

Ah no bloody hell another member for the boards crate rest club!

anniehoo

tk123 wrote: »

boards crate rest club!

Crazy isnt it! This week is dragging for me (and Beanie im sure) so i can only imagine you're dreading Flos recuperation Andrea.

Whispered

Andrea, I know it's going to be hard to keep her in the crate. Would you consider a thundershirt to help keep her calm and relaxed?

I have a Harley sized one you can borrow to see if it works before splashing out if you like.

Blueprint

Commiserations, I know how hard it is!

My guy is 16 weeks post op with a traditional repair and is finally starting to resemble his old pre-injury gait, but still has a long way to go. I know it doesn't feel like it now, but at least a total tear is a nice easy decision to make. My guy started toe touching at the end of January, but not really limping and my vet was very anti-surgery considering that my dog is on the small side (13KG), so we ended up wasting months doing conservative management and then had to do the surgery in the end anyhow. I feel that's why he's kind of slow to recover too, as his muscle wastage was quite severe post op.

If I'd known how hard it would be in the beginning, I'd have been really upset too, but I'd never experienced it before and the surgery was actually a relief in the end as at least we were doing something! And now there is finally (touch wood) light at the end of the tunnel

Crating was actually easier than anticipated, as my guy was so shell shocked by the surgery that he accepted the new restrictions pretty well.

andreac

Thanks everyone, i have her home now and chilling out. She wolfed her dinner down so shes in good enough form all things considering.

Im waiting to hear from my vet on an appointment to get her op appt in the vet college so will keep you all updated.

Whispered: Thats very kind of you, i might take you up on that offer

Blueprint: God thats terrible but as you say, at least you know where you are going with it now. 4 months in is a good way on so you are doing great by sounds of it so hopefully your little one makes a full recovery. Did your own vet do the surgery? Do you know which type it was?

Blueprint

andreac wrote: »

Blueprint: God thats terrible but as you say, at least you know where you are going with it now. 4 months in is a good way on so you are doing great by sounds of it so hopefully your little one makes a full recovery. Did your own vet do the surgery? Do you know which type it was?

Jasper had the fascial graft traditional surgery, where they use a bit of the dogs muscle tissue to hold the joint in place until the scar tissue grows strong enough to do the job. I think it's kind of dying out, but it does have the advantage of not being as likely to snap than some of the nylon line repairs and I think there might be less chance of damage to the meniscus should the surgery fail. They still say the traditional surgery is best for small dogs, as anything else is just overkill, but it does have the disadvantage of a longer recovery time, as you can't be sure the scar tissue is strong enough and it's recommended you don't let your dog do anything too active for up to a year (no explosive movements!).

Whereas with the bone cutting techniques, once the bone is healed the leg is pretty stable and it's just a case of rebuilding condition. Which still takes 4 - 6 months, especially as you have to be careful not to put too much strain on the good leg, as quite often that can go too - my nightmare!

Looking back, I can't believe I waited so long before insisting on the surgery, but my 3 year old cat died of heart failure halfway through the conservative management period and I couldn't face surgery for Jasper on top of that, so when the vet insisted that he'd be grand in another 4 weeks, I was inclined to believe him. It worked out well in one respect as I was off for the summer and could really work on his rehab.

I was actually in despair a month ago, as he seemed more sore for a while and the vet was thinking he might have some undetected meniscus damage at his 12 week check up, but he seems to have got over that and he is actually starting to act a bit more normal. He's still not putting his full weight on it when standing though, hopefully that will come back in the next month. I think it's more habit than anything at this stage as he will use it to pee with quite happily when out and about!

The whole thing has been really stressful, but you do get through it, especially that magical moment when you get the all clear to start walking and you take your first 5 minute toddle in the great outdoors!

andreac

Well for anyone interested, Flo has gone in for her operation today. I dropped her to UCD last night and shes due to be done today, sometime this morning.

For anyone interested, she is getting a new procedure called a TTA, slightly different than the TPLO which is usually done.

They say the TTA is a more advanced procedure with less chance of infection and more successful in the long run.

For anyone who doesnt have insurance i cant stress how important it is. So far, ive prob clocked up around 2800 euro, the operation is going to cost about 2000, the visit to my own vet initially was nearly 300, and the same with UCD for the consultation on Friday. So all i can is thank god i have her insured as its one less thing i have to worry about.

Ill keep updating this with her progress as it might be good in case someone else ever has to go through the same thing with their dog.