Pet Surgery

CDGator

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My business partner: "You know, when I was a kid, we never took our dog to the vet, they never got shots. They would always get run over in the road and we would just go get another one."

Pets are a lot different now than they were when I was growing up. The idea of teeth cleaning or even surgery for an ACL was never even a consideration. When we bought our farm house 20 years ago it came with a golden retriever and two cats. The former owners "gave" them to us because they came with the house when they bought it. :lol:
 

crosscreekcooter

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Pets are a lot different now than they were when I was growing up. The idea of teeth cleaning or even surgery for an ACL was never even a consideration. When we bought our farm house 20 years ago it came with a golden retriever and two cats. The former owners "gave" them to us because they came with the house when they bought it. :lol:

I have been trying to get Peanut's teeth cleaned (deep clean) for 3 months but because of her age they won't anesthetize her without blood work ($175) which turned up high numbers in her kidney output so she's been on medication to get her levels right. She's now due for more blood work to see if they are at normal levels. They were originally at over 1200 and last month they dropped to just over 100 so she's getting close. She and Bear went in for their shots, annual tests and senior wellness tests which should have been $320 each, but after adding the Trifexis for 3 months, 25 tabs of Rimadyl for Bears hip dysplasia and a skin and ear infection the bill jumped from $640 to over $1500.
 

Nalt

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In that case, love for the pet outweighs the cost of surgery. Best wishes
I had a Pitbull when I was about 13. He and I loved one another and played together almost every day. He (Bandit) was MY dog even though he was born to our family dog that Dad actually owned in the legal sense. One day I was heading out to go mow our neighbor's yard when I car pulled in. Dad had sold Bandit. I was heart broken. He was the best dog. I got over it. At the cost of $10K my kids would have to learn to get over it to if my son's favorite pet needed surgery. I wouldn't euthanize it immediately but I wouldn't let it suffer either.
 

Bullag8r

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I had a Pitbull when I was about 13. He and I loved one another and played together almost every day. He (Bandit) was MY dog even though he was born to our family dog that Dad actually owned in the legal sense. One day I was heading out to go mow our neighbor's yard when I car pulled in. Dad had sold Bandit. I was heart broken. He was the best dog. I got over it. At the cost of $10K my kids would have to learn to get over it to if my son's favorite pet needed surgery. I wouldn't euthanize it immediately but I wouldn't let it suffer either.

It is a very personal decision. I know I couldn't pay that much but my daughter and son-in-law can afford it. To be honest, I love my granddog so much I am happy they did. He is a huge Doberman that runs like a Thoroughbred horse but he wants to be a chihuahua so he can sit in everybody's lap

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Gator By Marriage

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It is a very personal decision. I know I couldn't pay that much but my daughter and son-in-law can afford it. To be honest, I love my granddog so much I am happy they did. He is a huge Doberman that runs like a Thoroughbred horse but he wants to be a chihuahua so he can sit in everybody's lap

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My best friend growing up had an 80+ lb. cinnamon dobie like that. Despite his manly name, “Hammer”, he was more like Ferdinand the Bull and a real sweetheart. He was a great dog and a great kid dog.
 

Gatormac2112

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It really just depends on how much $10,000 means to you. I can't see spending that kind of money on a dog, but I totally understand that others would. I'm sorry that your puppy (and you) is going through this.
 

NVGator

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Had a 3rd opinion today. Agreed that the TPLO is necessary for the knees. Also identified the elbows suffer from early onset elbow dysplasia. This could be caused by over exhorting the front legs to compensate for hind leg issues. Back knees need the surgery especially at such a young age. Braces, as brought forward by @Zambo were only recommended for geriatric dogs with underlying issues. This has been the recommendation of multiple vets.

So, we have a 2 year old dog with leg issues across all 4 legs. I say put the fucher down.
 

Detroitgator

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Do you or don't you? Simple question.

This is Cowboy. We got him as a young 10 weeks old pup as a "rescue". We were told he was a Boxer/Lab mix which we were attracted to because we've had one previously.

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He's about 1 year and 10 months old at this point and a firecracker. Here's the problem. About 4-6 months ago we started noticing he was favoring his hind legs. What was a usual trip to the dog park or a hike turned into becoming lame and wiped out after 15 minutes of exercise. He isn't even 2 yet. What gives? We take him to daycare regularly and they also noticed he wasn't right. Based on the way he was sitting (off to one side) I though it was a hip issue, such as early onset hip dysplasia. We had XRays done and Doc said they look great. Recommended us to a Specialist.

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Come to find out the Ortho Doc took XRays and that he has partial Cranial Cruciate Ligament (CCL) Injuries in both knees. Otherwise known at partial ACL tears in both knees.

So, the repair is to have Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO) surgery on both knees and there's a 95% recovery to full health prognosis.

Cost is about $5,000 per knee. What would you do. I'm not creating a poll question for this thread as probably only 10 people will actually respond.
Man, that's tough... I just opened the thread, so haven't seen responses, but Wife #Only said, "Tell him to start a "gofundme," people are suckers for helping animals, especially rescue animals."
 

Detroitgator

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Had a 3rd opinion today. Agreed that the TPLO is necessary for the knees. Also identified the elbows suffer from early onset elbow dysplasia. This could be caused by over exhorting the front legs to compensate for hind leg issues. Back knees need the surgery especially at such a young age. Braces, as brought forward by @Zambo were only recommended for geriatric dogs with underlying issues. This has been the recommendation of multiple vets.

So, we have a 2 year old dog with leg issues across all 4 legs. I say put the fucher down.
Oh, well, that escalated quickly... yeah, go the "old yeller" route for sure.
 

Detroitgator

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Had a 3rd opinion today. Agreed that the TPLO is necessary for the knees. Also identified the elbows suffer from early onset elbow dysplasia. This could be caused by over exhorting the front legs to compensate for hind leg issues. Back knees need the surgery especially at such a young age. Braces, as brought forward by @Zambo were only recommended for geriatric dogs with underlying issues. This has been the recommendation of multiple vets.

So, we have a 2 year old dog with leg issues across all 4 legs. I say put the fucher down.
Oh, well, that escalated quickly... yeah, go the "old yeller" route for sure.
 

CDGator

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Had a 3rd opinion today. Agreed that the TPLO is necessary for the knees. Also identified the elbows suffer from early onset elbow dysplasia. This could be caused by over exhorting the front legs to compensate for hind leg issues. Back knees need the surgery especially at such a young age. Braces, as brought forward by @Zambo were only recommended for geriatric dogs with underlying issues. This has been the recommendation of multiple vets.

So, we have a 2 year old dog with leg issues across all 4 legs. I say put the fucher down.

That's awful news. I'm so sorry but you are making the right decision in my opinion. The only issue is how the kids will take it.
 
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CDGator

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A co-worker got a great deal on her first dog for her three kids. It was a designer dog and she got it from her cousin. After the first week she took it to the vet because it was sick. She said it had worms and was on meds. I said "Thank goodness it wasn't parvo!" The puppy got sicker and it turned out it had parvo. It lived a week at the vet with round the clock care before they finally had to put it down right after Christmas. Painful experience for her kids.

Her cousin told her they had a negative parvo test before it left and the other puppies that were sick got better.
:bsflag:
 

NVGator

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That's awful news. I'm so sorry but you are making the right decision in my opinion. The only issue is how the kids will take it.
Wife won’t take the Ole’ Yeller option. We had a discussion again this morning and she’s not having it, certainly not at his age and with the kids. We are on the schedule for February 16th. One knee at a time then the other 6 weeks later.
 

MJMGator

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Wife won’t take the Ole’ Yeller option. We had a discussion again this morning and she’s not having it, certainly not at his age and with the kids. We are on the schedule for February 16th. One knee at a time then the other 6 weeks later.
She’s making that decision purely out of emotion. Crazy to spend that kind of money on a dog, but sounds like it’ll cause a big problem if you don’t.
 

NVGator

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She’s making that decision purely out of emotion. Crazy to spend that kind of money on a dog, but sounds like it’ll cause a big problem if you don’t.
Of course she is. That’s what women do. We’re trying to see if the Veterinarian school would do it for less but they are in California and you know, Covid.
 

jeeping8r

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I have a lot of smart assed remarks but I'll keep them to myself, But I won't put that much into a pet. One year I lost 3, 1 to parvo and 2 to being poisoned. 2 that were poisoned were best dogs we ever had. Kids were grown but grands weren't happy.

Saving grace for us is I was in 4H and FFA, Kids same and grands same so we probably have a different point of view and experiences with animals, Be it a pet or market animal. Steers they have for 18+ months and hogs 3+ months then they show them, sell them then walk them to the holding pens and animals don't come home.

Kids are resilient, Explain what's up honestly in terms they can wrap their brains around and they usually understand.
 

Zambo

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Lots of pet drama here the last couple weeks. Our first and oldest dog Birdie, a yellow lab, got scanned due to some abnormal blood work from her yearly checkup and they found a big tumor on her spleen. Almost certainly cancer. But there is no way to be sure other than to open her up. If its not cancer, the thing is liable to burst and kill her anyway.

Surgery on Friday went great. Tumor was the size of a baseball and ready to burst any moment. There didn't seem to be any spreading but if its cancer you can't just look and see, you have to do a biopsy.

Meanwhile we brought her home, and when we parked the car in the driveway something in her abdomen let loose and blood started pouring out of her incision. Not dripping, pouring. My wife was hysterical but I was able to yank off my jacket and press it against the wound as she climbed in the back seat with her, then I sped off to the urgent vet about a mile away. Got there in about 4 minutes and ran her inside. They were able to stop the bleeding which thankfully was coming from a subcutaneous layer in her abdominal wall rather than an internal organ or artery. She spent 3 nights there until the would stopped suppurating for the most part. Her blood count was very low and she was set to get a transfusion from another dog when her count started climbing back up. We brought her home on Monday.

She's been resting comfortably, eating, drinking, pooping and peeing. She's gotten remarkably stronger each day and is damn near acting like a normal dog here one week after the operation.

The vet called this afternoon with the test results. Benign. No cancer detected. He couldn't believe it.

Looking like Birdie will make it to her 14th birthday in April after all. Today was a pretty good day around here.

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NVGator

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Lots of pet drama here the last couple weeks. Our first and oldest dog Birdie, a yellow lab, got scanned due to some abnormal blood work from her yearly checkup and they found a big tumor on her spleen. Almost certainly cancer. But there is no way to be sure other than to open her up. If its not cancer, the thing is liable to burst and kill her anyway.

Surgery on Friday went great. Tumor was the size of a baseball and ready to burst any moment. There didn't seem to be any spreading but if its cancer you can't just look and see, you have to do a biopsy.

Meanwhile we brought her home, and when we parked the car in the driveway something in her abdomen let loose and blood started pouring out of her incision. Not dripping, pouring. My wife was hysterical but I was able to yank off my jacket and press it against the wound as she climbed in the back seat with her, then I sped off to the urgent vet about a mile away. Got there in about 4 minutes and ran her inside. They were able to stop the bleeding which thankfully was coming from a subcutaneous layer in her abdominal wall rather than an internal organ or artery. She spent 3 nights there until the would stopped suppurating for the most part. Her blood count was very low and she was set to get a transfusion from another dog when her count started climbing back up. We brought her home on Monday.

She's been resting comfortably, eating, drinking, pooping and peeing. She's gotten remarkably stronger each day and is damn near acting like a normal dog here one week after the operation.

The vet called this afternoon with the test results. Benign. No cancer detected. He couldn't believe it.

Looking like Birdie will make it to her 14th birthday in April after all. Today was a pretty good day around here.

144162579_10220030718743895_2708131383734508596_n.jpg
Total cost spent?
 

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