Not Good News for Journey and Me

  

 

To our friends  who may be interested in hearing information about Journey's injured leg and what his doctor had to say about it.

Our news is not good.  Journey and I went to see Dr. Lozier yesterday, at VCA Northwest Veterinary Specialists.

 

The injury in his right rear leg is to his cruciate ligament.  At this time it is a small tear. Most people will not notice his limp (I can barely see it), but it didn't take Dr. Lozier long to spot it. After a very thorough exam, he  X-rayed both back legs.  Journey needs a TPLO in the right leg where the ligament is torn.  Dr. Lozier hopes to be able to save the ligament, but won't know for sure if he can, until he opens the area in surgery.  If he cannot save the ligament, the TPLO will still stabilize the knee and he will be sound. Saving the ligament would just further stabilize his knee and prevent sliding movement in the joint.  (I am pretty sure I have this right, but keep in mind how frightened and nervous I was /and still am, when trying to remember all this.)

 

Dr. Lozier did this operation on Quest when he was about 7 years old. The outcome was perfect.  Quest never limped again and he was back to his normal self; running, swimming, jumping and enjoying the rest of his life.  I believe it was also his right leg.  He never had a problem with his other leg.

 

Journey has an additional complication - he has a few beginning signs of arthritis.  Not too unusual, however in his case you can see a few tiny spurs on the bones in his knees.  I don't think they are painful at this point, because he never limped until this right leg ligament tear.  I asked Dr. Lozier if he felt that agility caused his problems.  He said that he did not believe it caused it, as it was bound to happen given the factors at work in his structure. He said that at the most it may have made the inevitable occur a little sooner as would any activity increase the possibility of such an injury in an active dog.     

 

I remember asking Spirit's doctor some of the same questions in regards to his bad hips, when he had surgery on them.  His doctor said approximately the same thing, and he added that the benefits of him leading an active life, (in his opinion) far outweighed the risks. He said the hips were bound to go, as he had dysplasia.  After Spirit's operation he was even able to do agility again, though we did not compete. Spirit was older.  He lived to be 14.5 years old.  

 

Dr. Lozier also showed me on the X-rays, where the steep slope of Journey's structure on his legs almost guaranteed a similar future problem on Journey's left leg. Dr. Lozier proposed an option: he said it would be possible to do a bilateral operation, doing a TPLO ( Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy) on the left leg at the same time.  He went over the pros and cons of that and at this point I have not yet made my decision.  To me, the most important pros are that there would be just one operation, (instead of another looming somewhere down the line).  Very important to me would be only one period of recovery (4 to 6 months of restriction) instead of another later.  The price is lower if the surgery is done at the same time.  I believe there are more pros than cons, but I am open to more information and I have a few more questions for Dr. Lozier.

 

I just spent an hour or more reading all about non-surgical treatment for a CCL, by an "unnamed author" (which I found troubling).  The stories were not documented by any named DVMs.  In my own experiences of observation of people trying to heal dogs with torn CCLs, without surgery, I have just seen years of limping, pretty obvious pain, and restricted mobility.  I have listened to a lot of "make the best of a bad situation" discussions.  I realize that not everyone is willing or able to spend the money required for a TPLO. But I am not willing to try to turn my wonderful athletic partner into a couch potato when I have seen proof that it can be fixed.  As to turning Journey into a couch potato, I am not even sure I could do that if I tried. My dogs live to run and play.   

 

If Journey can not do agility again, I can live with that (I don't think I can do it for many more years.)  I just feel I must give him a chance to be able to still do the things he loves to do with his brothers, such as running and swimming and playing.  He is only five years old.  

 

So that is where we are at for the moment.  I have difficult decisions to make and some very fearful times to get through. I can hardly begin to think of the pain he must get through. The first 8 weeks after surgery will be the hardest. Keeping one of my best friends in a pen is not my idea of a good time either.  I hope we have friends who will come for visits and make life a little more interesting for us during the long restricted activity period. 

 

Bye for now.  I will keep you posted.  Betty