Mocha-the-Dog is doing much better, since her spectacular football-esque knee injury mid-squirrel chase in the park on June 30, 2010. She was a broken dog and it was a horrible day, ending with our veterinarian's determination that she would require surgery: $3000 - $5000 TPLO surgery, a fancy new procedure in which the veterinarian surgeon specialist would reconstruct her knee by sawing away bone and installing metal plates and screws and other such hardware to re-build her knee. Better. Stronger. Faster... And that we'd best prepare to have to do the other knee as well -- sooner, rather than later, probably.
$6,000 - $10,000 for doggie knee surgery.
Really?!
Sadly, we couldn't afford that kind of high-tech medical care for one of our children. 13yo Drama Queen has a bad knee...we took her for full evaluation with a pediatric orthopedist: xrays, exam, special brace, orthotics, even a course of Physical Therapy (PT). At $350 per session, we requested a print-out of the suggested PT regimen and told Drama she'd have to PT it at home, with our help and encouragement. We will, of course, re-visit the issue with her pediatrician and if surgery becomes necessary, well, then, thank God for health insurance, such as it is. We'll still end up paying as much, but for a human child, who, I'm sorry, has much greater priority and potential...
My husband keeps pointing out and reminding me of all the very happy 3-legged dogs in the world. Fortunately, we're not to that, yet.
Against our (former) vet's recommendation, we decided to hold off on the immediate TPLO surgery for Mocha; to take some time to research and consider other opinions and options; perhaps get a second opinion, under less trauma and stress.
Fortunately, in my obsessive research in the days following her injury, I came across a very knowledgeable and supportive group online: Conservative Management (Yahoo Groups) and learned more about this specific injury (canine CCL) and alternatives to the aggressive TPLO surgery, both surgical and non-surgical approaches (Conservative Management (CM)). I am very pleased with the CM approach and progress she has made, so we will stick with that for the foreseeable future, as long as she continues to improve with dietary changes, restricted activity and careful physical therapy/rehab, as well as much-needed weight loss and supplements -- products from 1800PetMeds.com. Which is where all this started--so there you go.
I have been using 1800PetMeds.com for years:
Our 75lb Mutt & Saving Money on Pet Medications
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