 Barked: Thu Oct 9, '08 9:53am PST |
 | |  | | First, even if your vet is "licensed" to perform TPLO - I would make sure he is a board certified ortho surgeon. Sasha had TPLO in May 2007. It cost almost exactly $2200 from beginning to end (initial consult, and post-op check-ups and x-rays). It was kind of nice b/c we paid for everything at one time - so there were no surprise fees due during her check-ups.
Charlie had the regular old-fashioned surgery a month ago (teflon/nylon ligament replacement - called lateral stabilization). Our vet did the surgery - he has performed over a 1000 and only had one of them fail. Of course, Charlie's failed as well. The implant actually broke. He had to have a second surgery to have it removed and he has been recouperating. We have his surgery rescheduled for next week - the vet is going to use two implants and go one size up in terms of weight tolerance. Just in the last week, I am noticing his other knee starting to "go" as well.
The reason we decided to try to "cheaper" surgery, is that I had been reading some literature (I have a biology degree) on the surgeries and overall, there is no objective data to suggest one is better than the other. So we thought we would give it a try (it only $1000).
The other reason is that the TPLO is so invasive. We are very happy with Sasha's knee right now, but for the first few weeks her bone was not healing back together (which happens sometimes) and we were maybe going to need to do a second surgery and bone graft to get the bone to heal. That whole process was really stressful. So I figured we would try the less invasive way, and can always do TPLO later if we need to.
Good luck - I know it's stressful! |  |  | |  |
|
| my page | msg me | gift me | become pals | |
My surgery so far to give you an all inclusive price from the consult with the surgeon up to now has been just under $3200. Post-op x-rays are extra and of course so is PT.
The Dog Show: Who's Your Mama?
9
