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We are about 4 months post surgery. Reina's left front leg limp has completely resolved (i still blame the cipro) and her back right leg (surgery leg) is GREAT! Dr. Hay said the dogs will have intermittent lameness post surgery after exercise ...Reina..NONE! He also said that most dogs only get about 70% use back after surgery...Reina...seems like 100%! He said at 6 months that they will be as good as they are going to get...if nothing more improves...I am OK with it! She is doing great. Watching her run, it seems like she is putting equal weight on both legs..and never favors the other leg. I still know that most dogs within a year will blow out the other knee...I am hoping that since she is doing so well, that Reina will be an exception! Time will tell..but for now we are unrestricted and going strong :)
Hopefully there will be no more posts on this blog :)

Ok...Maybe not....

So last week we were cleared for off leash activity on Wednesday. It rained Wed and Thurs and Fri I worked all day...so nothing really but potty off leash. Sat. evening Reina started limping on her left front leg upon getting up from her bed. No trauma. No injury that I knew of. Sunday morning, everything was great...Sunday night...major limping. Monday same thing...so not only is she limping on her surgery leg in the back..she is limping on front too. She looks pathetic :( I happened to do some research on Cipro and dogs and found some scary stuff as far as side effects and lameness...called my ortho vet just in case and he told me to take her off Cipro and monitor the small open area and apply antibiotic ointment. If she doesnt improve in a few days he wants to see her. Today is Tuesday and she's not improving yet...she is obviously back on REST and we wait and see what to do. Hopefully some good news soon!

8 WEEK CHECK-UP!!!!!!!

I stand to be corrected.Today marks the END of week 8, which is when we had our 8 week follow up appt with Dr. Hay in Tampa....They brough her (and me and misty) in for xrays and I thought it would be a 3-4 hour ordeal cuz they normally have to sedate the dogs...but REINA was such a great patient that she didnt need sedation...took the films..did some weight bearing studies on the leg and dr. hay met with me. He said she is doing GREAT and cleared to be OFF LEASH!!!! WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!! He said the bone graft and plate and screws are going no where and the only issue we will have is periodic lameness from pain and discomfort. The next 6 months she should improve even more..She is putting 50% weight on her right leg, which he also said is great for just 8 weeks post op. He did notice some of the internal sutures are exposed through the skin and put her on Cipro for 14 days just to be safe. Because of this, he wants to see her in another 3 weeks to make sure all is well. Until then....she is allowed to be off leash starting slowly and working up to no restrictions...They say most dogs only get 70% function back in their leg after surgery. WE are shooting for 100%. So the next 6 months should be interesting. I do not want to go too crazy right away to put stress on the other good leg...cuz lord knows we do NOT want to go through this again....
I am still so glad this blog turned out to be pretty darn boring..and I hope it stays that way :)
Since it rained all day today...tomorrow after work is Reina's Day! OFF LEASH AT THE PARK!!!!!!!
Yay!

WEEK 8!

Tomorrow starts the beginning of week 8 post surgery for Reina. Which MEANS, Wednesday is our follow up vet appointment. They will sedate her and take some films. I am kinda nervous cuz I have had some scary twists and limp days. I will post Wed after the big check-up with the results. Reina is walking and trotting fine..still on the leash though. I do notice at times during the walk, her right paw drags and she almost trips about 1 to 2 times per walk. I also notice that she has adjusted her gait to not put as much pressure on the the surgery/bad leg..I hope this is just temporary..and if not..not wonder why a large percentage of dogs within a year have the other leg needing surgery. When standing still, she also has most of the pressure on the good leg..although weight-bearing on the other, she puts most of the weight on the good leg. When I slightly raise the good leg to allow all weight on the bad one, she doesnt seem to 'love' that very much. Hopefully in time she will strengthen.
So..will update on Wed. Until then, she is great..happy ...and not in pain. She just want to GO though. I hope we get some clearance to do more after Wed. We have 2 months of catching up to do! I didnt cut her food back b/c her weight seems to remain constant, even without exercise. Keep your fingers crossed for Wed!!!

WEEK 4 BEGINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well..this blog has turned out to be quite uneventful and I cant say that I am upset about that!!!!!!! Reina is doing great. She is putting weight on the leg while walking...if she tries to trot, she will do it on 3 legs still. For week four, it is pretty much the same as 3, but we can increase the 5 to 10 min walks to 10-15 min walks 2x a day. I must admit, I have been cheating. When we walk, I take her for about 15-20 min ...she seems to tolerate it well...Today we went to the dog park on Enterprise Rd. in Clearwater..Misty had a ball and Reina did too...she enjoyed walking around, even though she was on the leash!
Yup ...pretty uneventful. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WEEK 2.5!!!

Reina is doing well. She isnt bored, but I am! We are so used to going to parks...walks...dog beaches..etc...and having them in the house is tough. Reina is feeling really good. She puts weight on the leg...is off her pain meds....she still limps a lot and is still confined when I am not home. This wed. starts week THREE where we are allowed to take two 5-10 minute leash walks a day! I cant wait! The incision is healing nicely. She has slipped several times on the tile floor, which worried me, but she doesnt seem to be in any pain. Some friends brought over new toys which keep her occupied a lot. Not much to report really..just looking forward to week 3!

Day 3

Well...it's day 3 and it seems like day 20. Reina is doing better than I expected. Her right ankle is VERY swollen and her leg is bruised a bit. The rules for week one are to keep her in a pen or small room confined....Potty ONLY on a leash then back inside. These rules are pretty much for first 2 weeks. VERY strict. I have started gentle range of motion exercises on her and she is tolerating them well. When I leave the house I put her in my yoga room (empty room with a dog bed) and she has, each and every time, managed to get her e-collar off. I don't use the e collar when I am home...and probably won't when I am gone anymore because, thus far, she is not licking her incision site. She wants to use the leg. She still hops and limps, but puts weight on the leg occasionally. While on the leash she tries to pull to go run...not realizing she CANT DO THIS!!!!! Once she starts to feel really good....this will probably be the hardest part of it all.

WE'RE HOME!!!

Just picked her up and brought her home. She is doing great and much better than I thought. She is already putting weight on the leg. I was sent home with some pain killers and antibiotics and STRICT rules for the next 8 or so weeks. For now I am just happy to have her home.
The pics above are obviously of her post op xrays and her incision which looks great.

In recovery

Reina had her surgery finally at 7:30pm...the delay was from the xray machine breaking down ...they had to do pre-op xrays and couldn't get her in until that was done...that and the fact that he had 9 others in front of her...Dr. Hay called me at 845ish and said she was doing well. He said the CCL was completely torn and removed it and the debris and preformed the TTA procedure. When he called he said she was not awake yet but should be waking up soon. I will call before bed to make sure all is ok.. They said they will call in the morning to let me know how she is doing as well. He said I may or may not be able to take her tomorrow ...will see. I hope so!!!!
Misty is miserable without her sister. A lost soul!! It's so sad!!!!

And so we wait......

So I dropped Reina off at 10am. He had 10 surgeries scheduled today and Reina's was going to be later in the day....Misty is with me at work and pouting cuz she just wants her sister back NOW! I told them I want the TTA and if when they get in there, she is not a candidate for the TTA, I want the Tightrope. In no way do I want them to do the TPLO on her. They are going to call me as soon as she gets into recovery. Im getting really nervous.

Night before the big day....

Well...the past few days have been all about Reina. We went to the beach this weekend and the park daily. Tonight we went to the park until after dark...ate a great big dinner with lots of treats. No more food or water allowed after midnight..but we are all in bed now...Im dropping her off at 1030 am...and surgery is....i dont know what time. Im sick.

Shopping!!!

So far this is what I bought for the recovery period ...Probably will have to get lots more fun stuff to do....They actually make dog interactive games..and wow are they expensive!

Reina's Gait

This has been Reina's gait for several weeks.Getting worse and worse. She has adapted to run with a bunny hop. But when standing still...the tip toe position is all the time now. Misty says Hi in the background. (I actually wanted to just test how pics look in the post)

Ok...Maybe Not

After talking to a few more specialists..and several more days worth of research....I changed my mind. One specialist who actually teaches all of the procedures and is well published internationally told me this. ..If you brought your dog to me...strong, active Doberman, 87 lbs....I would do TTA. If you brought me your dog who was 30 to 40 lbs..I would definitely do Tightrope. If you brought me your dog who was 20 lbs or less..I would send you home and pretend I never met you. He was a pretty much straight shooter. I want Reina to go through this ONCE and only ONCE and I truly feel after WEEKS of research that her best shot at a normal, active, healthy life in the shortest amount of time is the TTA. We are scheduled for Tuesday!

OVERVIEW

Reina is my 4 year old Doberman.  She is healthy overall and large for a female dobe...weighing in at about 85 to 87 lbs. Reina tore her CCL sometime in November 2010. In hind site now, I think this was a long time coming. Ever since i had her (since 8 weeks old) ...she would always sit with her right leg out a bit. I assumed it was a hip issue that i would have to address late in life...now...I think it's just her anatomy and over the years with her "off" anatomy, the wear on the CCL caused it to tear.
After limping for several weeks, I took Reina to her vet. He took x-rays and said he did not think it was her knee and that it was her lower back. She had a large amount of arthritis in her low back, far more than expected for a dog of her age. We assumed there was some spinal stenosis involved too, and me (being a chiropractor) did not rule out a herniated disc as well. He gave me an rx for Rimidyl for a week to see how she would respond. I am not a huge fan of meds...so i tried it and it helped a little but did not completely alleviate the limping and discomfort. Knowing exercise is the best thing for arthritis...we continued to walk and go to the park. Over the week, I really kept a close eye on Reina and felt like it was probably not her lower back causing the limp and probably her right knee. After much research, low back arthritis is usually an incidental finding in most dogs and the problem is elsewhere. Watching her tip toe gait..bunny hopping...made me think knee was definitely involved. I immediately made an appointment with an ortho in Tampa, FL. He consulted with me and immediately said its her knee and needs surgery. He told me the 3 options. TPLO, TTA and Lateral suture technique. He said he would likely do the TTA procedure unless during the workup her tibial angle is greater than 30 degrees, where he would have no choice but to do the TPLO. I questioned him on the Tightrope procedure and he said he has done several but doesnt know the long term success with it because it is a relatively new procedure.
A lot has happened with this project..but the gist is...I questioned many and researched countless hours and had friends researching like crazy too, as to what procedure is the best. The TPLO was NOT an option for me. The bone cutting is way too aggressive for what might be a partial tear. Plus..in my opinon, the reason for the other knee going within 6 months is the redistribution of weight and gait putting more strain on the good CCL. The TTA was not an option yet for me either. The thought of cutting Reina's little (big) bones is not something I want to visit right now.
CM (conservative management) was my first choice. I joined a few yahoo groups and read about people's success with CM ..some did great...some did not and went on to surgery..others were a year into CM and still very careful with their dog. My problem with CM was...my heart. :( I didnt think my heart could not let my angel not run and play for 10-12 weeks or more ..knowing a real possibility would be surgery and another 10-12 weeks if CM didnt work. WHICH...is why i decided on the Tightrope procedure. I contacted Orthopets on a stifle brace for after surgery as well...not sure I will get it yet...still up in the air....There is another newer procedure that is called Securos...it is supposed to be stronger than tightrope...but i have talked to several and decided against it. The few vets I have contacted that did it, no longer do..Some do it only on small dogs.