Winter brings beastly injuries
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Dr. Kevin Kreier performs an ACL repair on the rear leg of Chloe with veterinary technician Janet Pezzi assisting on 01/30/09 at Badger Veterinary Hospital.
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Dr. Kevin Kreier and veterinary technician Janet Pezzi perform an ACL repair on the rear leg of Chloe, an 11-year-old golden retriever owned vy Sondra Klipp of Janesville at Badger Veterinary Hospital.
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Dr. Kevin Kreier focuses on the task at hand as he repairs an ACL injury on the rear leg of a dog named Chloe at Badger Veterinary Hospital.
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Dr. Kevin Kreier uses surgical nylon to repair Chloe's torn ligament at Badger Veterinary Hospital.
JANESVILLE — Poor Chloe.
For the next few weeks, the sweet old gal will have to give up exploring the world and be content with belly rubs and subdued play.
She's also taken on the depressing role of object lesson for other dogs and their owners.
Last week, Chloe—an 11-year-old golden retriever—tore her anterior cruciate ligament on an outdoor jaunt with her owner, Sondra Klipp.
"It's just like what happens in sports," said Dr. Kevin Kreier of the Badger Veterinary Clinic, Janesville.
ACL injuries occur in athletes "coming to a quick stop with a directional change while running, pivoting, landing, or overextending the joint in either direction," according to the National Institutes of Health.
"We get lots of them at this time of year," said Kreier.
Dogs jumping over snow banks, dogs slipping on the ice, dogs losing traction—all can lead to torn ACLs.
Overweight dogs are more at risk for such accidents, but they can happen to any pooch, Kreier said.
Take Chloe. She's in excellent shape thanks to regular activity that includes 2- and 4-mile jaunts through the woods.
"She's a very active dog," Klipp said.
Klipp took Chloe on a jaunt to the Janesville Outdoor Lab last week. While Klipp snow-shoed, Chloe explored.
Klipp doesn't know exactly when the accident happened, but she saw Chloe gnawing on her dog boots. The dog also seemed distressed.
A trip to the vet provided the diagnosis, and Chloe had her surgery Friday.
Controlled, leashed walks in the winter are the best way to avoid such accidents, Kreier said. And pet owners will want to avoid them or they'll end up paying the cost—between $1,400 and $3,500 per surgery.
That number goes up significantly if the injury happens on the weekend, or if the pet's owner has to travel to Rockford or Madison to get the work done.
As for Chloe, she'd rather be outside—or at least have been able to enjoy the Super Bowl properly.
"She's doing remarkably well," Klipp said Sunday. "But we're making her lay down for the football game."
Feb 9, 2009 at 8:37 p.m.
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Did anyone read the stupid soundoff on Sunday about how this is an "expensive surgery for an overprivelaged animal?" Yes... an overprivelaged animal; with owners who care for her and love her and provide her excellent medical care. Gosh, that's terrible. How can someone take an informative article with a happy ending and turn it into the privelaged vs. the non privelaged?
Feb 5, 2009 at 6:35 p.m.
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Our dog had this surgery at age 10. She recovered wonderfully! Our vet (in Beloit) charged under $800 and was willing to set up a payment plan with us. She lived to 17 and was a hyper terrier for 6 years after the surgery! Her other one never did give out. Now that we are aware of the problems like this, we are very carefull of our 12 year old and 8 year old dogs in the snow and ice! (The first one did it in the summer playing frisbee...).
Feb 3, 2009 at 8:48 a.m.
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greengina maybe its the vet you go to. I would switch we take are animals to Badger and Dr Kreier is awesome!
Feb 2, 2009 at 8:42 p.m.
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My dog blew out her ACL last year on Christmas Day. Dr. Kreier did the surgery on her and she is just fine. True to what they told us, she repeated with the other ACL and, once again, she was fixed up by Badger Vet. The care they gave Roxie and and our other 3 dogs cannot be matched anywhere.
Feb 2, 2009 at 7:58 p.m.
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greengina8 - I have worked in the veterinary field for 7 years and have seen numerous of these ortho surgeries. IF YOU FOLLOW POST OP instructions, you're recovery gaurantee is much higher. Many times owners just don't follow through with post-op instructions from their vet, leading to a poor recovery. Have faith in your doctor and the procedure, and you're dog will benefit greatly.
Feb 2, 2009 at 7:05 p.m.
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Greengina8: Could give the University of Wisconsin-Madison vet school a call. They sometimes will do procedures free or at lowered cost if the surgery can be used as part of an internship. At least, they used to do things that way.
Feb 2, 2009 at 6:37 p.m.
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I hope Chloe has a speedy recovery :)
Feb 2, 2009 at 6:37 p.m.
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My lab mutt Bubba, has this same injury. He has had it for 1.5 years and still has not fully recovered. Our vet told us there is no guarantee that the surgery will be successful and it's a 50-50 chance for partial recovery. We can't afford a surgery that may not work. Any suggestions?
Feb 2, 2009 at 6:23 p.m.
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This happen to our yorkie and we had to take him to madison he was to small and the surgery was around $3500. It was a deep pocket bill but our dogs are like are kids.It took a little while but he was back on his feet and boucing around like nothing happen.
Feb 2, 2009 at 6:04 p.m.
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I hope Chole has a speedy recovery and Sondra thank you for bringing this to our attention. I lost my loving companion of 12 years to cancer last spring. I believe that we need to remember that our pets age more rapidly than we do and because of this we have to pay attention to their needs.
Feb 2, 2009 at 2:57 p.m.
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Went through this last winter with my Lab. Right around $1500. The Vet said that most likely it would occur in the other leg within a couple of years. Trying to set the extra money aside now.
Feb 2, 2009 at 12:47 p.m.
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Thank you for the information, dflood.
Feb 2, 2009 at 10:55 a.m.
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No. Dog boots are just like boots humans wear. They provide more traction(once the dog is used to them) and helps avoid foot pad injuries.
Feb 2, 2009 at 10:40 a.m.
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Dog boots? Could they add to the risk of injury?
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