Lab Knee Problem

[Gissert]

My nearly 5 year old female lab has had a bit of a gimpy left rear leg as of late. She is fine in the morning, but tends to favor it later in the day.

I took her to our vet yesterday, and he diagnosed a partial tear in a cruciate ligiment. Right now he suggests rest and buffered asprin/ibuprofen.

Knee replacement surgery is big bucks, and he did not think that was needed here as the knee still has some stability. He suggested a procedure where a monofilament line is placed around the knee joint to restore the stability.

Has anyone ever had this procedure done, and what were the results? This dog is fairly active, but is not a hunter.

[Jim Bob]

Our 12 yr old Lab tore both of his just over 4 years ago. We had a procedure done called Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO) surgery done. It's more costly but has better long term results from what we were told.

Our Lab has had no problems whatsoever since and he's also Pheasant hunted every season since.