Lucy's TPLO Story

We got Lucy from an area rescue group. She's a Shar-Pei and pit bull terrier mix, about three or four years old. Lucy is a wonderful dog with a great temperament and we love her to death. She came to us with an injured back right leg that turned out to be a ruptured cranial cruciate ligament. We had a lateral suture surgery done on her right leg. The surgery itself went well, but the recovery time was pretty rough. At week 12 postoperative she was still not able to go on a full walk.
The day she injured the left leg, I had her out on a walk, playing with a neighbor's dog and no more than maybe two minutes into playing she pulled up lame. The next day we scheduled an appointment at the vet where they confirmed that she either had a partial or full rupture of the cruciate ligament.
We ultimately decided that we wanted to go forward with the TPLO procedure. We knew that with the TPLO procedure, versus the lateral suture, she could bear weight on the leg quickly and get off the leg that had recently undergone surgery.
Lucy hasn't had the setbacks she had with the first procedure. The initial recovery time was comparable since they're both pretty invasive procedures. But with the TPLO, we had to restrict her more because the bone needed to heal, even though she felt great and wanted to use it. With lateral suture, we had to go through physical therapy to force activity to help promote the healing of the joint and muscle strength around the joint.
I would recommend TPLO. To be where we are today - ten weeks postoperative - and have her be able to run around a play a little bit, it's awesome. We're thrilled with the outcome. ​​

[@uglydogadventures]

Omg she is so adorable

[@andrewwilson2959]

Thanks for sharing. Our mastiff mix is 3 days post op from tplo surgery. Hope we have as good a recover. We have him confined right now and are hopeful he will be back to normal soon!

[@ale7501]

Thnx for sharing this!

[@elanshudnow]

Thanks for sharing. Our dog is 1.5 days post op.

[@animalhouseIZ]

How is you fur baby now? I ask cause we go to talk to the surgeon today about the TPLO procedure.

[@dru123456789]

How does this happen?

[@animalhouseIZ]

I have read that there can are reported to be three main causes:
1. Being overweight
2. Can be caused by landing wrong from a jump
3. Can be caused by running and doing a “sudden” change in direction.
Reasons two and three can also so be repetitive injury leading from a sprain to a full rupture.

[@Яна.Яновна]

@@animalhouseIZ genetic predisposition may also be the cause