Dog care, symptoms, health issues, and dog health advocacy from an owner's perspective. In loving memory of Jasmine.
When your dog sustains a serious injury it is always difficult to figure out what is the best treatment option. When the recommended treatment means surgery, it gets even more challenging. A surgical intervention always comes with risks. Knee repair surgeries are successful for most dogs. However, potential surgical complications range from minor to severe and include: anesthesia complications surgical…
Every surgery carries potential complications. Some of them are common and predictable, but sometimes your dog might surprise you with what they manage to inflict on themselves. The more invasive the surgery is, the more room for a disaster. Yet, serious complications are quite rare. Some of the common TPLO complications include: swelling, bruising, and seromas at the incision poor…
Cranial cruciate ligament tears are one of the most common causes of hind leg lameness in dogs. How often does it become a default diagnosis? Experience bias is a dangerous thing. If what CCL injuries are what you see most often, it is what your brain goes to when you see a dog lame on their hind leg. Yet, it…
The tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA) was one of the first modern surgical options to address cranial cruciate ligament tears in dogs. The TTA neutralizes the abnormal forces in the joint that result from a CCL rupture differently. Even though it also involves cutting a bone, it uses the strength of the patellar tendon to stabilize the knee. This technique underwent…
Are surgery or conservative management the only options for the treatment of CCL tears in dogs? Your dog has injured their cruciate ligament; now what? Invasive surgery is scary and conservative management can be daunting and has a questionable chance of success. Are there any other treatment possibilities? Could regenerative medicine work? Maybe. What is veterinary regenerative medicine? Regenerative medicine…