ACL and Meniscus Issues with 5 yr old rescue mastiff Please help!!

[surfboat23]

Hi am I am new Mastiff owner just adopted Jake from a wonderful group in florida and I have only had him about a month. I live in Massachusetts. Jake has what the orthopedic I saw says is a meniscus flapping issue and was limping on one of his legs possible ACL tear as well. He seems to do ok On pain meds currently he is 185 lbs not overweight. He is on Tramadol and with that he seems fairly comfortable. He is 5 years old.

My issue - I have spoken with 3 vets and they all are telling me he MUST have TPLO surgery. If I dont do it he will get worse and if he blows out or tears his other knee especially in his first new england winter that he will be in a dire situation. The vets are really urging me and making me feel like I am a bad owner if I do not to TPLO surgery. I have spoken to the rescue and some other people who are just as adamant against doing the surgery and tell me not to do it that it will be a nightmare, and he will need around the clock help and it could go horribly wrong and they have no experience with it going well.

I have only had this dog for a month and he is amazing but I do not know what to do. I am lucky to not have to care much about the expense, I just want to do what is right for my dog. I have read horror stories about the surgery and read people saying it works well. I am being scared by my vets and the orthopedic not to do it could put him in a dire situation. I am equally scared to do the surgery. I know nobody can decide for me but with my limited knowledge of the breed and limited time spent with him I really am very stressed out about this.

Any advice would be helpful. I have heard other people have done other things and lessor surgeries with varying success.

Please let me know any help you can give would be so greatly appreciate as I have a broken heart right now trying to figure out what to do and what is best for this dog I love so much. I do own him alone with 2 other dogs and have some help but I would have to move someone into my house to give him 24-7 care.

Anyway I figure I will take a few days or a week to make a decision so please be delicate with your answers I am easily influenced as I just do not know what to do correctly for him.

Thank you so much for any help from the bottom of my heart!

 

[angelbears]

Non-Surgical Treatment

The above link is a very good site. I rarely recommend surgery but I'm not a vet. When my dog tore his ACL I did a ton of research. I found that the success rates were about even, surgery vs. complete restriction of movement. I went with restriction of movement.that was about 5 years ago. He has not had a problem with it since. Although he is starting to have problems getting up but it has to do with his front, either his elbow or shoulder.

 

[angelbears]

A couple of more things. I would get him on phycox or something similar. It's a supplement. Read the reviews at Amazon.

Amazon.com : PSCH Phycox Max 90 Count Canine Soft Chews : Pet Bone And Joint Supplements : Pet Supplies

I would also be restricting his movement. No running, getting up on furniture, ect. I kept my dog leashed to me to control his movement. Is he crate trained? You really have to control his movements when he is on pain meds. They can do a lot of damage to the ligament and not even realize it.

 

[Dreadz]

My old dog buster had tplo surgery on one of his rear legs. The recovery process did mean crating him and being very watchful to restrict his movement but the recovery time was insignificant compared to the years of trouble and pain free life he had after the surgery.

 

[DMikeM]

did this vet do an exploritory surgery or do an MRI? You can't see torn legiments or cartalidge on a standard radiograph (x-ray). I need to go double check that but just 6 months ago this was fact.

 

[Dreadz]

He'd gone to my regular vet for ligament replacement surgery on his knee and if I remember correctly only had X ray's but upon going in and discovering the presence of spiney arthritic growths in the joint and seeing that the cartilage was so severely damaged instead referred us to a local specialist who then recommended the tplo surgery. The recovery was better than I'd hoped for. He was weightbearing within a day, albeit under supervision to make sure he didn't go mad and overdo it and I never saw him so much as limp again

 

[DMikeM]

My question was to surfboat,

I double checked and unless they did an MRI or an exploratory surgery on the dogs knee they could not know if the meniscus was torn. Also TPLO is not the recommended procedure for a torn meniscus.

Meniscal Injuries - TopDogHealth.com

Cranial Cruciate Ligament Disease | ACVS

 

[Simiakos]

I had to do it for my bordeaux and a few months after recovery she had to do her other leg. I am a believer of getting things over and done with so I wouldn't wait too long.