Embrace Pet Insurance Blog

How Much Did You Say Surgery to Remove a Swallowed Foreign Object Cost?

In our experience, anywhere from $1,600 to $4,300 (even without surgery, costs range from $300 - $1,200)

Here's an example of emergency surgery and 2 additional hospital days to remove undergarments from a 2 year old mixed breed dog in Cleveland, Ohio (December 2008.)

The total cost for this surgery was $2,406.51 - I'd hate to think how much it would have cost in NY City or LA (at least $1,000 more).

DATE	ITEM	BILLED AMOUNT
Day 1	VSS CBC/Profile UA	$          0.00
Day 1	Sampling Fee	$       14.00
Day 1	Biohazard Fee	$          3.00
Day 1	CBC/Profile	$     100.20
Day 1	Medications	$       19.00
Day 1	VSS Exam Only	$          0.00
Day 1	OVSN SLP Exam	$       65.00
Day 1	VSS Soft Tissue	$          0.00
Day 1	IV Catheter	$       23.00
Day 1	Fluid Therapy	$       33.00
Day 1	Extension Set	$          7.00
Day 1	Anesthesia	$       69.00
Day 1	Large Suture Pack	$     168.00
Day 1	Suction	$       15.00
Day 1	Electrocaut	$       15.00
Day 1	Skin Staple	$       38.00
Day 1	ICU Cage Fee	$       82.00
Day 1	Intensive Nursing	$       22.00
Day 1	Medications	$       19.00
Day 1	Intensive Care Management	$       52.00
Day 1	Perisurgical Monitoring	$       51.00
Day 1	Technician - Anes	$       89.00
Day 1	Surgical Drape Pack	$       47.00
Day 1	Duragesic 100mcg	$     100.46
Day 1	Duragesic 50mcg	$       52.20
Day 1	Enterotomy	$     859.95
Day 1	Medications	$       19.00
Day 1	Fluid Therapy	$       92.00
Day 1	Medications	$       38.00
Day 2	Fluid Therapy	$       69.00
Day 2	Oral Medication	$       17.00
Day 2	Medications Inj	$       57.00
Day 2	Daily Cage Charge	$       41.00
Day 2	Intensive Care Management	$       52.00
Day 3	Daily Case Management	$       36.70
Day 3	Daily Cage Charge	$       41.00
Total		$  2,406.51

We paid out $1,715.86 on this claim as the pet parent had selected a $500 annual deductible, 10% copay with a $10,000 annual maximum. The policy's annual premium for this pet (there are 3 dogs on the policy) is $197.10.

As you can see, it's not a good idea to leave your undies out where your dog might find them :s

In our experience, anywhere from $1,600 to $4,300 (even without surgery, costs range from $300 - $1,200)

Here's an example of emergency surgery and 2 additional hospital days to remove undergarments from a 2 year old mixed breed dog in Cleveland, Ohio (December 2008.)

The total cost for this surgery was $2,406.51 - I'd hate to think how much it would have cost in NY City or LA (at least $1,000 more).

DATE	ITEM	BILLED AMOUNT
Day 1	VSS CBC/Profile UA	$          0.00
Day 1	Sampling Fee	$       14.00
Day 1	Biohazard Fee	$          3.00
Day 1	CBC/Profile	$     100.20
Day 1	Medications	$       19.00
Day 1	VSS Exam Only	$          0.00
Day 1	OVSN SLP Exam	$       65.00
Day 1	VSS Soft Tissue	$          0.00
Day 1	IV Catheter	$       23.00
Day 1	Fluid Therapy	$       33.00
Day 1	Extension Set	$          7.00
Day 1	Anesthesia	$       69.00
Day 1	Large Suture Pack	$     168.00
Day 1	Suction	$       15.00
Day 1	Electrocaut	$       15.00
Day 1	Skin Staple	$       38.00
Day 1	ICU Cage Fee	$       82.00
Day 1	Intensive Nursing	$       22.00
Day 1	Medications	$       19.00
Day 1	Intensive Care Management	$       52.00
Day 1	Perisurgical Monitoring	$       51.00
Day 1	Technician - Anes	$       89.00
Day 1	Surgical Drape Pack	$       47.00
Day 1	Duragesic 100mcg	$     100.46
Day 1	Duragesic 50mcg	$       52.20
Day 1	Enterotomy	$     859.95
Day 1	Medications	$       19.00
Day 1	Fluid Therapy	$       92.00
Day 1	Medications	$       38.00
Day 2	Fluid Therapy	$       69.00
Day 2	Oral Medication	$       17.00
Day 2	Medications Inj	$       57.00
Day 2	Daily Cage Charge	$       41.00
Day 2	Intensive Care Management	$       52.00
Day 3	Daily Case Management	$       36.70
Day 3	Daily Cage Charge	$       41.00
Total		$  2,406.51

Bilateral Elbow Dysplasia - $5,900 surgery

At Embrace, we aren't perfect but we darn well try hard to be. We are mere mortals though and it seems like we spend all our time focusing on our failings instead of celebrating the good that we do.

So I wanted to share with you an email we received today from Donna. She sent it after we approved a pre-certification for bilateral elbow dysplasia surgery that Huck, her Bull Mastiff puppy, is going to have before Christmas.

Huck's estimated surgical bill is $5,900 and if the actual vet bills comes out the same as the estimate, we'll be paying just over $4,100 (Donna has a $500 annual deductible, 20% copay and no take-home drug coverage - annual premium $349.06.)

When Donna heard this good news this afternoon, she sent us this email:

Dear Christine and everyone at Embrace,

Spread the word? I will SHOUT it from the roof tops!!!! Embrace has saved Huck and I. As a reasonably intelligent person, I did all my homework and thought I was doing my very best to purchase a great healthy puppy. Then real life happens, as it does with humans and here we are, in this terrible economy, with this very expensive problem.

My decision to purchase Embrace is the one of the wisest decisions I have made in my 52 years. You bet I will spread the word, and I know so many dog people who are as crazy in love with their dogs as I am Huck. Bless you all for this terrific news! You have saved my beloved pet as well as my 29 year marriage:) To see Huck pain free and happy and healthy will be our Christmas miracle. He is a wonderful, sweet soul, and he deserves to feel good. I cannot thank you all at Embrace Pet Insurance enough.

Very gratefully yours, Donna C & Huck the Mastiff

It's a nice way to end the week.

For Pixie, A Cavalier King Charles sweetheart who died of Dry Drowning

[get out the Kleenex, this moving story is likely to get you going]

A month ago, we received this desperate phone call from Suzie who told us that Pixie, her beloved Cavalier King Charles spaniel was hanging on to her life by a thread after experiencing "dry drowning" when playing with her daughter in a kiddy pool all afternoon.

She told us that after coming into the house from playing all afternoon, Pixie started coughing and wretching and became clearly in severe distress.

Suzie jumped into the car with her kids and drove to the emergency clinic 45 minutes away with Pixie in her lap and two minutes away from the hospital, Pixie's heart stopped and Suzie was administering CPR while driving with her.

Finally at the hospital, the veterinarians were able to revive Pixie but she died the next day on life support, not even 1 year old.

Suzie and her family have been struggling to make sense of what happened to Pixie and as part of their grieving, Suzie wrote a poem for Pixie that she shared with us. Here it is.

For Pixie by Suzie Vaughan

Your body held against my chest
long auburn ears fanned out in rest.
I look upon you long and deep
your image in my mind to keep,
and blink the tears that blur my view
of my last chance to gaze at you.

I long to feel you stir and wake
and watch you stretch and see you shake
and wag your tail and romp with me
but now you’ve gone where I can’t be.
I plant a kiss upon your head
and place you gently on your bed.

I do not want to lay you down
to dig the red clay Georgia ground,
my tears to loose the stubborn dirt
each spade-full filling me with hurt.
But you deserve a proper grave
and my children need to see me brave.

Now one last time I hold you close,
caress your fur and kiss your nose,
but your fading warmth says you’re not here
so with a sob and many a tear,
reluctantly I lay you down
with part of my heart, in the ground.

Thank you for your loving heart
your gentle soul, your happy bark.
When I, too, go beyond this place
I eagerly will seek your face.
Then I will hold you once again
my precious dog, my loyal friend.

Sometimes sharing the pain can mend the heart.

Guest Blogger: Lea on her dog's bulging disc issue

Here's a guest post from Lea going through a pet health moment in her household.

________________________________________________________________________________________

About 3 weeks ago we noticed that our dog, Lyger, an 8 year old Lab mix was favoring his left foreleg, and appeared to be limiting his shoulder movement.  The initial vet visit wrote it off as a strain, prescribing aspirin, but there was no improvement. 

A week later, we returned to see another veterinarian more adept in canine orthopedics and after a series of radio graphs, it was found that Lyger had a slight lesion on his neck, caused by a bulging disc. 

After just 7 days on Rimadyl (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory), he is doing much better!  The vet was pleasantly surprised as he admitted to me today during the recheck that he was anticipating this requiring steroids and possibly surgery, but that it appears to be minor.

So, it's temporarily painful, but the good news is that it looks like we'll be avoiding surgery.

When I asked the veterinarian what may have caused this, or what can we do to prevent further injury he responded with two points that I'll summarize:

Point one:

This type of disk degeneration is hereditary (I found web documentation that it's most common in Labs, Dobermans and Shepherds) but the condition is compounded by small injuries over time-typically jumping off of something, like furniture.

"So like him jumping down past 3 steps off of a porch to chase a squirrel?" I ask.

"Exactly!"

Point two: 

It's ideal if a harness can be used instead of a collar, that can cause sudden stopping injuries or strain from pulling.

Good to know, as Lyger is a notorious puller.

Lyger now has a standing prescription for Rimadyl at his veterinarian's office, because he is more likely to have issues with this again now.  Like people, dogs with "bad necks" or "bad backs" typically have chronic issues.  The things I should be careful to look for are any sort of lameness, dragging of limbs, or walking on his 'knuckles'.  These are signs of serious neurological problems, and indication that Lyger should see a vet immediately.

So this weekend, we'll be installing a few rails on the porch to keep Lyger from making any more flying leaps, and hope that this remains the extent of this condition.

Related Posts:
$4,825 Claim: Dachshund herniates a disc

How much did you say hip dysplasia surgery cost for my dog?

Anywhere from $1,700 to $4,700 depending on the treatment and where you live

Here's an example of hip replacement surgery performed on Cowboy, a one year old Labrador in Santa Clarita, California, December 2007.

Total cost for the surgery is $4,661 - gulp!

ITEM	BILLED AMOUNT
Examination	48.00
Operating Room Fee	175.00
Cardiac Monitor	45.00
Blood Pressure	45.00
Cefazolin	31.00
Torbutrol	45.00
Adequan	45.00
Pain Management Patch	64.62
Gas Anesthesia 60-120	375.00
Ortho Implants	1,250.00
Total Hip Replacement	1,750.00
Hospitalization Large Dog	285.00
Medication Bid	135.00
Injection Bid 1	120.00
Hazardous Waste Disposal	5.00
Cephalexin	30.00
Deramaxx	30.00
Synovi G3 Soft Chews #240	93.26
Synovi G3 Soft Chews #180	75.78
Tax	13.94
Acepromazine	30.00
	4,691.60

There were some items not covered by the Cowboy's Embrace Pet Insurance policy. Heather (Cowboy's owner) did not select the Drugs and Dental Extension for example so the Cephalexin and Deramaxx were not covered (a total of $273 of drugs not covered - a good lesson to get the Drugs and Dental Extension) - but the total Embrace payout in this case was $3,534.90.

Heather sent us a note about what happened:

Cowboy is not only my dog but my best friend. When I got him, I wanted to do my best to care of the little guy so I decided to get pet insurance.

One day when I was having a play day with Cowboy at the park, another dog charged at him and collied right into Cowboys side. I knew right away that he was hurting because he let out a loud yipe and from that moment on was limping. The following day, I took him to the vet and figured that he was going to have a sprain or a minor injury. To my surprise, the doctor wanted to take an X-ray and then diagnosed Cowboy with hip dysplasia. How could this happen to me and my dog? I didn't even know what hip dysplasia was.

The treatment that the doctors thought would be best for Cowboy was to undergo surgery. Thanks to Embrace Pet Insurance, my dog is now happy and healthy. Without this company's support and help my dog never would have gotten better!

Cowboy is once again going to the dog park and taking evening walks with me! Its nice to know that when something so devastating can happen that there is an insurance company that truly cares. The staff at Embrace was always friendly, constantly asking how cowboys surgery went and how the healing process was going, and always answered any questions i might have had! Cowboy and I are so grateful and will always consider them Cowboy's guardian angel.

Thanks Heather! That's what we are here for.

Note that if your pet insurance does not cover hereditary conditions or breed specific illnesses, this hip dysplasia claim would not have been covered as hip dysplasia is genetic.

As you can tell, Embrace does cover hip dysplasia, luxating patellas, cherry eye, and all those other hereditary conditions as long as your pet doesn't have any signs of them when you sign up for your insurance.

If you have a larger dog such as a Golden Retriever, German Shepherd or Rottweiler, you probably want dog insurance that covers hip dysplasia - you'd expect it to be covered, wouldn't you?

Related Posts:
Hip dysplasia in dogs (and cats)
$3,449 claim: Rottweiler with hip dysplasia has ACL repair
My dog or cat is limping

Update on Ski the Amazing Rottweiler

Some more outstanding news from Ski the Wonder Dog... (if you recall from my previous post about Ski, he had a ruptured cruciate ligament, which has healed with the aid of physical therapy, not surgery)

I thought I'd send an update on Ski's condition. Everyone who has read your blog about him has been touched by the story. Thank you.

During his re-evaluation a couple weeks ago, Dr. Mayer officially declared Ski out of Rehab and into the "Swim Club". She feels his muscle tone is exceptional. She can find no sign of scarring in his leg, though people have told me that is not possible. He has added 3 pounds (apparently all muscle) on his now grain-free diet. Ski has worked as hard as any dog they've ever seen, and can now "enjoy the fruits of his labor....it's time to let Ski be a dog once again". I am still cautious, but allow Ski to enjoy normal activities with his friends. He's back in Agility training and leading the class again, but not jumping above 16" just yet.

As far as the "Swim Club" is concerned, that refers to the fact that he no longer requires the land-base physical therapy, and can focus on the hydrotherapy he loves so much. We will continue with the land-based circuit training only once or twice a month, to keep him familiar with the routines. Truthfully, we're actively working on making him a good swimmer. Over the last few weeks, we've ended his underwater treadmill sessions by raising the water with the jets full force toward him, while helping him to swim (he wears a life jacket, as he is still uncomfortable when the water level rises). This came in handy last Saturday at my Farm, when our nesting Canadian Geese distracted him and he fell off the bridge. Don't worry, it was a 2' drop into 4' water, and I was ready to jump in, but the water was 45 degrees, so I was happy to see him paddle straight to shore on his own.

Tonight on the treadmill he ran for 20 minutes at speeds up to 2mph into the full power jets. One of the therapists remarked that he is easily the strongest dog they have there, even though there are many larger than him, and several outweigh him by more than 50 pounds. He did have a good nap when we got home. (Time for me to write this note.) Yes, I believe with all my heart that he will not revisit the CCL issue.

Related Posts:

Ski - a dog who recovered from a cruciate ligament injury without surgery
What happens when my dog's cruciate ligament tears?
How much did you say a ruptured cruciate ligament cost to treat in my dog?
My Dog or Cat is limping

How much did you say a ruptured cruciate ligament cost to treat in my dog?

Anywhere from $1,200 to $4,600 a knee - ouch!

Here's an example of TPLO surgery performed on a 7 year old mixed breed dog in Nashville, Tennessee, February 2008.

Total cost for the surgery is $2,765 - yes, that's really over two and a half thousand dollars.

ITEM	BILLED AMOUNT
Pre-op View X-Ray	144.00
Post-op View X-Ray	96.00
Radiographic Interpretation	15.00
H4 Serum Profile (IRMA)	45.00
Packed Cell Volume	14.00
Total Protein	10.00
IV Cephalic Catheter w/ Placement	21.00
IV Infusion Pump/Set/Monitor	34.00
Lactated Ringers Solution (Liter)	50.00
Surgical Prep Fee	40.00
Operating Room	80.00
Orthopedic Setup and Equipment	56.00
Disposables	41.00
Anesthesia Inhalent, Isoflourane	360.00
Anesthesia Monitoring Equipment Bundle	76.00
ACL Repair - TPLO LG	650.00
Plate TPLO (L) - LG	210.00
3.5m Bone Screw	126.00
Bandage - Pressure Wrap (LG)	24.00
Antibiotics	208.00
Analgesic	84.00
Misc In Hospital Meds	80.00
Elizabethan Collar	17.00
Antibiotics - Oral Dispensed	48.00
Acepromazine	30.00
Hospitalization	50.00
24 Hr Nursing Care Level 3	156.00
	$2,765.00

There were some items not covered by the pet parent's Embrace Pet Insurance policy - she did not select the Drugs and Dental Extension for example so the take-home antibiotics and Acepromazine were not covered - but the total Embrace payout in this case was $2,322.90.

As you can see, this treatment is not inexpensive. And you just know you've probably already spent $300 on your first visit to the vet and then a follow up visit just to make sure the surgery went well.

And just to rub salt into the wound, once one knee goes, the other is 40% more likely to go as well. That's why most pet insurance companies treat the second cruciate ligament tear as a continuation of the first. Something to consider if your insurance has per incident limits (which Embrace Pet Insurance does not.)

If you are in the mood for some feisty reading, check out Terrier Man on his opinion of cruciate ligament injuries. He doesn't hold back on his view that surgery is not necessary for smaller dogs and for partial tears. I don't feel qualified enough to opine on his perspective. Just something else to consider when facing a cruciate ligament injury.

Related posts:
What happens when my dog's cruciate ligament tears?
Ski - a dog who recovered from a cruciate ligament injury without surgery
My dog or cat is limping

What happens when my dog's cruciate ligament tears?

It's that awful nightmare that can happen to any dog owner. You are both out for your evening constitutional, doing the usual rounds of the neighborhood, when Max lunges on the leash at a chirping squirrel and wham, he suddenly pulls up short, limping severely. Poor old Max has likely torn a cruciate ligament in his knee. 

What are Cruciate Ligaments?

Cruciate ligaments are found in the stifle (knee) joint of dogs and cats. Surprisingly, dog and cat knees are very similar to human knees - who knew!

Cruciate ligaments are large and strong ligaments in the knee, keeping it stable and prevents inappropriate movements within the knee joint including hyperextension and excessive internal rotation.

What Happens When a Cruciate Ligament Tears?

When a cruciate ligament tears, the dog experiences sudden pain and often holds his leg up. The dog may put the leg down and start using the leg again within a day or so, but will continue to limp for several weeks. Normally, at the end of several weeks, the initial pain subsides and the dog is willing to use its leg more; however, the joint will stay unstable.

Longer term, when your dog puts his weight on the leg, the tibia (shin bone) slides forward in relationship to the femur (thigh bone). As you can imagine, this can be painful as the joint cartilage wears down, leading to arthritis. This motion can also put excessive stress on the menisci (C shaped pieces of cartilage within the knee joint), causing damage or tearing. Not a fun place for Max to be.

Diagnosis

Your veterinarian can diagnose a ruptured cruciate ligament by feeling your dog's knee moving abnormally. The knee feels like it's moving like a drawer of a cabinet instead of being locked in place.

Treatment

Complete tears are usually treated with surgery, which involves using synthetic suture material, or a portion of adjacent fibrous tissue to basically re-create the ligament. Types of treatment include the extracapsular imbrication technique, fibular head transfer, and tibial plateau leveling (aka TPLO).

The most important thing about the surgery is the after treatment that you must do. Your dog's movement must be severely restricted for 2 weeks. Of course, as the days tick by, your dog will be able to put some weight on the affected leg and then want to start running madly around (that's how he got the tear in the first place!) but it's really important to keep them restricted until the healing is complete. Definitely a case of following your veterinarian's instruction to the letter.

Sometimes, a cruciate ligament tear can be healed with medical treatment - see Ski's story for an excellent example of this. Basically, the treatment involves controlled swimming and walking, as instructed by a veterinarian, to keep up muscle strength.

Overweight dogs (no, we never have those!) need to go on a reduced-calorie diet to lose a few pounds and take the pressure of those poor knees. Your vet may also prescribe nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as carprofen, etodolac, meloxicam, deracoxib, buffered aspirin, or other medications to reduce inflammation in the joint and relieve pain (note: do NOT give your cat aspirin unless prescribed by your veterinarian.) Your vet might also recommend joint health supplements with glucosamine, chondroitin, perna mussel, polysulfated glycosaminoglycans, and other chondroprotective agents.

If you don't treat your dog with a ruptured cruciate, he will usually end up with a severe arthritis and may rupture the other knee because of the extra weight being put on it.

Prevention

How to avoid this in the first place:

• Keep your dog's weight down in the appropriate range.
• Use supplements for joint health (glucosamine, chondroitin, perna mussel, etc.)
• Keeping your dog from jumping up, suddenly going from 0-50mph in 5 seconds, and other normal doggy behaviour that is darn well impossible to prevent.

And of course, best to have your dog insurance before this happens to your dog because you can't get it after.

How much does a typical cruciate ligament rupture repair cost? Check out the next post How much did you say a ruptured cruciate ligament costs to treat in my dog? for the details.

Related Posts:
How much did you say a ruptured cruciate ligament costs to treat in my dog?
Ski - a dog who recovered from a cruciate ligament injury without surgery
My dog or cat is limping

Embrace Pet Insurance featured in MainStreet.com article

Last week, Meredith Blake posted an article over at MainStreet.com on pet insurance titled "How Much Do You Love Your Pet?" . MainStreet is the online addition to TheStreet.com where Embrace has been covered before in an article on pet spending (we're such media hounds - LOL)

...But does pet insurance make sense for you? It all depends on the attitude you have towards your furry friend. “There’s a subset of pet owners who treat their pets like their children," says Bennett. "If you’re the kind of person who would pay whatever it takes to make them better, pet insurance really is for you. If your pet’s disposable, then it’s not. You have to ask-are you a pet owner, or a pet parent?”

Bennett stresses that insurance is really intended for unexpected medical emergencies—the animal equivalent of “catastrophic coverage” for humans—and generally is not designed to cover routine check-ups or basic preventative care. For most pet owners, it makes more sense to pay out of pocket for these occasional visits. What becomes prohibitively expensive are the unexpected mishaps, like an infection or a broken limb. And as advanced treatments like CAT scans, prescription drugs, and specialized surgery are becoming more available for pets, it’s easy to rack up thousands of dollars in veterinary costs.

“It used to be if your dog got cancer, there wasn’t much you could do. Now there are all sorts of choices,” explains Bennett. This might be great news for your pet, but it can be catastrophic for your budget.

They go on to talk about an experience that Wendy Wilcox, one of our Embraced pet parents, and Termyte her cat had with Embrace's insurance. We couldn't ask for a better testimonial from Wendy if we tried.

Wilcox would do it all over again, even if Termyte hadn’t gotten sick. “I don’t want to have to decide, ‘Am I going to put them down, or am I going to spend the money?’”

Read the full article for more...

BTW, I thought it was funny that one of the tags for the article was "Howard Stern"! You'll just have to go read the article to find out why.

Related posts: 

• $2,456 claim: 1 year old mixed breed cat with bacterial sepsis with reactive lymph node
• Embrace media mentions
• Embraced pet case studies

Ski - a dog who recovered from a cruciate ligament injury without surgery

Ski is a remarkable dog. In fact, a remarkable 3 year old Rottweiler who recovered from a cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) injury without surgery. Can you believe it?!

For those not up on their doggie sports injuries, the cruciate ligament is one of the ligaments that holds the knee in place and most veterinarians recommend surgery if a cruciate ligament is torn.

At Embrace, we see a lot of cruciate ligament claims and every single one of them has involved surgery until Rich told us the story about his remarkable dog and I just had to share it with you.

Ski's injury occurred before Ski was covered by an Embrace policy so let this be a lesson to you - get your dog insurance before you have the CL injury, not after!

So, in Rich's words, here is Ski's story:

Ski is a very good dog with remarkable energy. He obtained his Canine Good Citizen (CGC) award at just over one year old. At that time I looked for something to challenge his intelligence and energy, ultimately deciding on Agility competition.

His injury was not due to Agility, but rather a stupid accident on our nightly walk in which I stepped on his foot and he pulled away with all his strength because of the pain, resulting in torn ligaments in his knee. This was sudden extreme trauma to the knee of a dog in the very best physical condition.

While waiting for an MRI before surgery, I remembered that at the Agility camp, he had a mini consultation with an individual listed as one of the "Ten Top Veterinarians in the Chicago Area". Chicago has a lot of vets, so that accolade is not insignificant.

After her examination of Ski, X-rays, and other data, Dr. Mayer of Integrative Pet Care (IPC) felt that because of his strength, stamina, drive, and overall physical condition, he was an excellent candidate of recovery through therapy, rather than surgery, though she mentioned that reasonable doctors could disagree on the prognosis. However, she's the best and this is her specialty, so we took a chance. Thus, we began a strenuous regime of physical therapy, both at IPC and at home every single night.

Since that day, Ski has worked harder than any dog they've ever seen. His recovery has been called "nothing short of remarkable". He now runs weekly on the land treadmill at 35 or 40mph (according to the gauge, though that still seems impossible to me), in addition to more than a dozen other land-based exercises. He is master of the underwater treadmill. He has progressed to the point that not only is he walking on a inclined underwater treadmill to the maximum time they allow any dog, but we've started putting the jets toward him at full force, so it's like he's walking upstream with the salmon against a raging current. He also has more fun than any other dog they see (see the video below.)

Three months ago Dr. Mayer gave her approval for Ski to re-enter Agility training, to challenge him further and give him an outlet for his limitless energy. The restriction is that he now jumps hurdles at 8" rather than 24", though I think he easily could.

Since his injury, I've talked to at least a hundred people with dogs with CCL injuries, as well as vets and medical professionals. I understand how common it is for the other leg to go out within a year. That's why our goal is to make each leg strong enough to do the work of two, when it is needed. I think we're getting close, judging from his bulging muscles.

His recovery is so impressive that one of the doctors at IPC has asked for permission to use Ski in a case study of what can be accomplished after a CCL injury. Obviously, many CCL injuries have a degenerative soft tissue disease playing a part, but that is clearly not the case with Ski. So, my hope, and my belief, is that he WILL beat the odds. That all the hard work of Ski, Dr. Mayer, IPC Staff, and myself will be rewarded with Ski living a healthy and active life until the age of 15 or 20. Sounds crazy, perhaps, but my last Rottie lived to 14, and he wasn't in this good shape.

Related Posts:
What happens when my dog's cruciate ligament tears?
How much did you say a ruptured cruciate ligament costs to treat in my dog?
My dog or cat is limping