CCL repair

The doctor took x-rays and even before doing that confirmed the diagnosis of a torn/stretched/ruptured/whatever cranial cruticate ligament in her right rear leg. Dog's don't have knees, they have stifles. The CCL is akin to the human ACL. Based on what he saw and felt, Dr. Mouser put the injury at about 6 months to 1 year ago. She has quite a bit of inflammation and from the x-ray, quite a bit of calcification building up on the bones which means that even with surgery she will be arthritic in her older age (though supplements and anti-inflammatories will help). Right now, she needs surgery. The are 2 main types of surgery. One involves using a nylon line (like fishing wire) and some holes in the bones to create an artificial replacement for the ligament. The other called TPLO, Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy® (TPLO), is a more complicated (and twice as expensive procedure) where the tibia is fractured in surgery, rotated for correct orientation and then fixed in place with a metal plate and screws. TPLO requires a more specialized surgeon and is much more costly but yields quicker near term recovery. The doctor can provide us with a discount on the first type of surgery but it will still cost the shelter about $1200 and there may be other costs including medicines for post op and perhaps rehab therapy sessions. The outlook 2 months out from a successful surgery would be complete range of normal motion and no noticeable loss of function in Adrien. Now we just need to come up with the money.