ness

Is cost a consideration? Maybe it would be worth having a chat to an orthospecialist and getting some advice from them. They seem pretty upfront as to whether surgery is a good consideration and whether the dogs limitations would present much of an additional burden post-op. One he has had surgery if you opt for a bone cutting procedure such as a TPLO or a TTA the actual cruciate ligament is then no longer required so there is nothing to "reinjure". The success rate of the procedure is particularly good - it changes the mechanics so the dog has a functional leg without the use of a cruciate ligament.

Still tossing up trying the SuperFuel for Kenz. Grasping at really thin straws with a dog who now has almost zero exercise tolerance and ends up collapsed. Not sure its going to help her though .

Kenz's luxating patella diagnosis took ages to rear its ugly head despite multiple vet/chiro vet/specialist visits. So I wouldn't even necessary be ruling that out. But hopefully its a once off and it improves with rest and anti-inflams.

Depends on the grading but yes its normally relatively straightforward procedure with normally a good success rate however with any surgery things don't always go according to plan.

Potentially does sound like a patella luxation rather than a cruciate if it comes and goes. My only experience with a cruciate rupture was the dog was non-weight bearing and things didn't improve with rest but yes it can just happen while the dog is walking around. It is possible for a low grade patella luxation to go undetected and they can deteriorate with age and only be picked up on when the dog is much older. Might also be due to a pinched/trapped nerve issue in the back. Hopefully you can get answers tomorrow :).

Jumps are easy - get a couple of wooden broomstick handles. Cut in half. Or you can use a full handle for 1 upright but I use a half height set for training. Cut the head off a nail and glue in the bottom. Get some PVC T sections and cut in half for jump cups. Screw on at appropriate height. Grab length of PVC for bar.

Here you go Teela - I came across this video the other day and thought it relevant to post. Clearly a high energy dog with a mobility scooter. A little different scenario though because this dog was already older when it suffered an accident.

Yeah I will have to say that is one hard part for a larger dog - the quantity required. I am lucky both of mine are relatively small (16 kg BC bitches) and even my fussy girl was able to have her powder hidden in her meals. I also feed twice a day so was able to split the quantity where needed when I left Kenz on the loading dose.

How much was the deposit and yes was there a receipt provided? Small claims or could try calling legal aid and seeing what their advice would be. http://www.lsc.sa.gov.au/cb_pages/legal_advice.php

No words of wisdom but I know what your going through - having my own issues with my Kenz and the brothers new girlfriend who has practically moved in overnight. She was never keen on the old one but she wasn't spending most nights here. Poor Kenz I hope you work out a solution for her.

I just want to bump this thread with a bit of an update. My old girl Ness (13 years 2 months) ruptured her cruciate just over 2.5 months ago and did some meniscus damage. She is now 7 weeks post-op (lateral suture) and taking nothing other than the Rose-Hip Vital Canine supplement plus fish oil. She only had the usual 10 day course of standard anti-inflams and pain relief. The specialist has been particularly impressed with her recovery and I think she is going brilliantly and thought I'd share some video.

put a call out on FB and yes training buddies = although what happened last time is hmmm multiple bits of orders and lots of combined orders .

Kenz: Well we finished up with an Rally Advanced title and a track 1 pass in the last tracking trial of the year. She has now been "released" back to agility and obedience if I want as of a fortnight ago. The jury is still out on how long I can keep her unlame in any one given week but given there is nothing catastrophic we can do to her she is allowed to do what she wants. We have therefore recommenced some foundation agility type work, a little obedience and she had a short session on sheep today and very clearly will excel if she stays sound enough. Ness: Managed to get Ness through her track 3 at the second last trial of the year and then retired her having finished off her TD title. She is now 6 weeks post-op for surgery to repair a ruptured cruciate (which she did unfortunately one day after she turned 13). She is still doing well otherwise though and I am sure will be back to her normal antics soon enough and will continue to enjoy her retirement days for many years to come.

Kenz had to be clipped for knee surgery and her coat on that side hasn't grown back any differently to the coat on the non shaved side. I wouldn't be clipping/shaving a BC by choice though.

Managed to have a phone conversation with the specialist - not sure I am fully happy with things but we do have a plan for moving forwards. All I can say is Kenz will be 100% in approval of the plan whereas I still have some serious reservations . Slowly slowly might be the way it pans out. At least there is no rush to expensive diagnostics for the moment. I can certainly cope with that.

Every day its the only exercise she gets because leash walking brings her up lame. We go out a couple of times a day to the local oval which is a couple of hundred meters or jump in the car and drive to the other oval which is 5 min away :laugh:.

When it was looking as though my 13 year old BC may possibly not be able to have cruciate surgery I was chatting to a rehab guy in the US who did suggest a brace might be ok as an alternative. I would have to go through and look at which brand he suggested though. You could also try contacting these guys who handle braces/supports in Australia - http://www.dogsinmotion.com.au/portfolio/custom-orthotics-and-prosthetics/ ETA. I think it was the atrac dynamic brace from wound wear.

hmmm nope I could never get over the guilt complex. Not even with Kenz needing to be crate rested after surgery. Took me a good fortnight before I would leave Kenz crated and walk Ness. Mostly I gave up and would drive her to the park with us and Ness could have her wander around and Kenz would sit in the car with me and have cuddles. When the tables were turned and Ness was injured I shipped her off to live with the grand parents because there is no way she was going to be happy being crated while Kenz went out for walks :laugh:.

Luxating patellas aren't a BC thing either supposedly - which part of me wonders still if there isn't more going on. I am just struggling to make sense of everything when really only relatively recently I was told she would need surgery so find it a little strange for it to have settled. I also know how hard they were to pick up on initially so makes me wonder if the new person isn't just not finding it to be a huge problem because hers has never presented in a typical fashion. In the end not enough was done to fix her LH and at the point surgery was done there was no suggestion she had bilateral MPL issues so I guess it was felt that they could get away with the minimum because the rest appeared normal. Now I just don't know. The frustration for me is the shoulder issue is where we started with this mess and now its coming back to haunt me. I know I should have had it scoped at the time she had her MPL surgery but I really hoped it had improved and gone away and I didn't have the extra money to spare on top of an already expensive MPL repair surgery.

Thanks Jules - its just hard Kenz is still youngish and still so much dog and it breaks my heart to see her struggle. Not to say she doesn't have good and even brilliant days but whenever I try and put it behind us we get bought back to reality with a crash and she runs into problems again. Definitely a gold plated BC . I am really second guessing the first surgery call now after everything that has transpired and feel like I shouldn't have put her through it especially since there was no real improved outcome for her .

Kenz was assessed by yet another orthospecialist on Monday last week. Her shoulder has gone bad again and she keeps coming up lame in the front end. The same front shoulder where the mess started. Given Kenz's ortho has left we were seen by the other ortho at the centre. Now I am seriously confused because her RH MPL has gone from probably needing surgery and being worse then her LH was at the time we elected to operate last year to nothing much to worry about. Have some expensive options to consider over the shoulder but not sure if we are going to go down that path. So over this she has spent 3 years of her 5.5 years on and off restricted exercise and really we are no closer to resolution over any of it and I am left wondering if she ever needed surgery on the other patella to begin with.

I had mine all up on a pin board draped over in batches but I hung up another one the other day and they all fell down . First world problem associated with having clever dogs . I then ended up in tears because most are my old girls ribbons/sashes and she hasn't lived at home for the last couple of month and I am missing her to bits. I did think I should box all her ribbons and trophies up and send up them to my parents where she has moved for display purposes :laugh:.

Good news and glad to hear she is home again. Fingers crossed for a good recovery .

Not a dental but for recent orthopedic surgery it was no food after 10pm and water any time up until she was dropped off in the morning. The no water bit seems to depend on who the vet is. I know Kenz's instructions have always been no food or water after 10pm.

Video comps and submission of 1 exercise at a time - Kenz UD easy :laugh:.