TPLO Success Story

William Jasper Stone, our American pit bull, had his last follow up visit last Friday after his tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO). I am pleased to announce that Jasper (he prefers his middle name) was given a clean bill of health and that the procedure was a complete success. His knee is better than it was before his injury.

Jasper is about 95 pounds, big for a pit, and is very athletic. He is an avid Kong chaser and ball player and would play until his human companion tired. Then last Spring, he came up lame. He began to tire of his game more quickly and to favor his right rear leg. The diagnosis was severed ACL. His knee was blown. Pits have weird legs to begin with (not exactly a case for intelligent design) and ligament repair was considered a half measure. Luckily, the TPLO procedure was available. Basically, the surgeon breaks the dog's tibia and levels the plateau of the bone so as to stabilize the joint. The broken bone is strengthened with a metal plate and screws. Jasper had this done just before Christmas. As there is a long convalescent period with limited activity, we felt that Winter would be best for this.

We kept him sedated and under control or in a crate for several weeks, then gradually increased his activity level. He does not appear to favor the leg at all or to have any discomfort or disability. He can chase deer with his conspecific Jesse, the Ruthenian shepherd. He is eager to play and has tried to talk me into tossing the Kong around. He still has a few weeks of loosening restrictions, though. Besides, there is still snow on the ground.

If you can follow up on the post-op restrictions, I recommend the TPLO as a remedy for a lame dog.