Doggy ACL/Steele Vet office

Can't answer your question about the Vet in Steele. But my German Sheppard had torn his last fall. He actually healed on his own. But I won't be suprised if he ends up completely tearing it. I would think that the only way to know if your pups is completly torn or just pulled really bad is to do an MRI. Good luck with your pup. I was also told that with in a year of having surgery on the dog that it is highly likely that they will blow the other one out as well.

Birdhunter81 Said:
 I was also told that with in a year of having surgery on the dog that it is highly likely that they will blow the other one out as well.

true dat... tend to favor one and the added stress on the other will usually do it in.  happened to my springer.  pretty much spent two seasons on injured reserved.  however, if it makes you feel any better, both knees have held up great since then.  one surgery was 4-5 years ago and the other 3-4 years ago.  11 now and still hunting.  but, the heart failure might mean the end of all of that. 

This will sound cold.  Don't take it that way but instead call me a realist.

I am a huge dog fan, but after watching buddies struggle with multiple (repeat) surgeries, I am not sure I would ever do one.  Haven't seen one that really worked out if your intent is to really hunt the dog as opposed to an hour here or there.

Our "breeding" has resulted in many defective joints in our dogs and I am not sure it is something we can resolve.  I would think long and hard about making my injured dog a pet and begin grooming another hunter if it were me.

DOn't know anything about the Steele Vet,  but my advice is to go to Dr. Tom Bettenhausen at Missouri Valley in Bismarck.  He is the absolute best there is.  My dog had one acl done there and a hip socket reconstruction and today you wouldn't know she had either procedure done.  Granted i don't hunt her hard but she is as mobile as she used to be.  I think you will find a lot of people on here have had good luck with Dr. Tom.

I to have not heard anything of the vet in steele. I have a 3 yr old lab who did tear his ACL  last May and had the TPLO surgury.  after the rehab he was doing fine until he tore his ACL in his other knee. He had the TTA  done last december and seems to be doing well although he is not able to run, jump, or do any sort of stairs until March. Both surgurys were done by Dr. Tom from Missiouri valley. He does a great job and have heard nothing but great reviews on him. The surgury  is quite hard on the pocketbook but its worh it im my opinion.

I know of several people that came from out of state to Dr. Bettenhausen to have ACL surgery done on their hunting dogs because he has such a wonderful track record of sucessful surgeries of this type. I would not consider any other vet.

My 6 year old yellow lab hurt her knee this past august and we played it off until september when I had been taking her to the river for swimming, etc.  After coming home each time she would really favor her leg and not really put any pressure at all on it for a day or so.  I went to the vet two different times thinking myself that she had torn her acl.  Well two times the vets were pretty sure that she did not tear her acl.  So she was on rimadyl for two - three months to try and treat the inflamation,etc.  Well it is not mid January and she was still limping around, so we made another apointment but this time with Dr. Tom Bettenhausen.  He did a few range of motion tests on her to check stability, etc. and confirmed that it indeed was a torn ACL.  So we go in on February 9th for TPLO surgery.  It will for sure put a dent in the checkbook but I did not think twice about going ahead with it.  I guess if you tend to use your dog like a piece of equipment like some do then you can just get a new dog.  In my case, my dog to me has been my loyal companion and my hunting buddy and my 4 and 2 year olds best friend.  I cannot sit and watch her limp around for who knows how long.  I owe more to her than to just give up on her and just go get another dog.  I hope the surgery will go well and that she will recover as well as expected and that she will be back hunting next year.  If you wanna PM me we can discuss more of the symptoms my dog and your dog may have in common before you for sure schedule anything.  I wouldn't count on it healing on its own if it is possibly already torn, it will eventually snap all the way.

Bwana,

It will not heal on it's own and is worth getting checked by a vet who knows what to look for. An MRI is not necessary.

The guy who said his buddy's dogs never hunted the same after, my buddies would testify different about my dog.

I've rattled off my experience about this surgery a few times on this site already, so to save me some time, here is the most recent time the topic came up. Good luck! If your dog is young or even middle-aged, I would say it is worth it IF you can be faithful to the rehab process.


http://www.fishingbuddy.com/tplo_surgery_a/?commentId=523995

 Thanks for the input folks, it is very much appreciated. 

I understand the idea of going with the best when it comes to surgery but have to admit there is no way I am going to shell out that sort of money for a dog.  Heck, I'd have to think about it if it was one of the kids.  ;)

Guess we'll see what the vet has to say tomorrow but am guessing a procedure is in the near future.  Wish her luck.