Leo recovered from his November 2017 TPLO surgery like a champ. At his eight-week X-rays, we learned that his fibula had broken during his recovery, but had already been healing for a few weeks, so there was nothing to be done, except feel completely devastated about my failure as a nurse. But he didn’t care. He was fine. Except for the part where the drugs made him start a couple of scary fights with Mia, and redirected a bite on my upper thigh that bruised and took longer to heal than Leo’s fibula, and the fact that I could not trick him into taking his medicine, so several times a day I had to force his maw open and shove a pill down his throat and hold his mouth closed until he swallowed… Those parts were trying.
But big picture, the surgery was a success and there were few complications. He enjoyed six adorable sessions on the underwater treadmill.
Unfortunately, it’s very common for a dog who tears a cruciate ligament on one knee to wind up tearing the other. And it appears, that’s where we are.
In late November 2018, more than a year since the surgery on his right leg, Leo’s regular vet did a thorough physical exam on his left leg and found nothing at all to be concerned about. A week later, after a brisk run-around at the dog park, Leo started toe-tapping with his left leg.
It comes and goes, and when we went back to the surgeon, they couldn’t tell for sure, but he probably has a partial tear on the left knee. Some people treat this with what’s called Conservative Management where you crate rest the dog, maybe get them a brace… but with a 100-pound dog, it’s only a matter of time. I couldn’t bear to watch him limp around the house, even occasionally, if I knew there was a surgery that could fix it.
So, he’s scheduled for surgery January 11, where they will X-ray and scope, and assuming his cruciate is torn, he will have TPLO number 2.
I went into the surgery consultation thinking this is the preferable outcome, because it’s something we can treat. But it’s also a major surgery with an eight- to twelve-week (at least) recovery period. Add to that Mia’s continuing care needs, and it’s a lot.
Which makes me all the more grateful for all the adventures we had this year.
Here’s us on Christmas Day:
And here’s us on New Year’s Eve:
Kari Neumeyer 
Homeopathy can help heal a torn cruciate without surgery. Especially if you are dealing with Mia and hoping the meds do not cause more fights. If you need help with finding a classical homeopath, email me. I have been using homeopathy for a number of years and have treated a lot with it with my homeopath.
I guess I was kind of lucky, if you can call it that. In February of last year my dog Siri (German shepherd) experienced tears in both of her back legs a few days apart, so she had both repaired at the same time. So, one day of surgery, one really big bill – there went my tax refund! – and now she gets around like nothing ever happened. The hardest part was limiting her activity the first few weeks, as she’s always been a very active girl, and walking slowly isn’t her style.
Yep. I’m the type to get it all taken care of as soon as possible so we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming!